Promise Lost: Stephen Joyner, the Marine Corps, and the Vietnam War, Paperback

The true story of Lieutenant Steve Joyner, who carried all the traits of a "perfect Marine" - character, compassion, determination, patriotism . . . an All-American football star. But then came the harsh and unforgiving realities of combat in Vietnam. How the two worlds he inhabited both connected and conflicted reveals the character of an extraordinary man gone far too soon. "Promise Lost is a touching, crisply rendered account of a Marine lieutenant who fell heroically in the final, bloody days of the 1968 battle for Khe Sanh while leading a counterattack into the teeth of an overwhelming enemy assault force," writes Vietnam veteran and author Michael Archer. "Yet, the real story here is of Steve Joyner's life, his personal character, and enormous potential. Dan Moore reliably and deftly weaves this poignant tale of friendship, honor and fate; culminating in the agonizing reality that war does not end on the battlefield; but rather back home, often decades later, within a fallen warrior's circle of family and friends."

About the Author:

Upon returning from Vietnam in 1968, Lt. Dan Moore vowed to someday tell the story of a fallen Marine, a best friend. Moore had served in Vietnam as an artillery forward observer and battery executive officer. While staying with the Marine reserves, he earned a doctorate in history from the University of Pennsylvania and made the CIA his career. Following retirement in 2014, he finally began to research the life of Steve Joyner. Moore would interview more than 100 of Steve's friends and colleagues, from youth to college to the Marine Corps. The results are a fascinating story of a young Marine officer who pushed himself to the front lines of life and death. "The Joyner story, in part," writes Moore, "is a symbolic tribute to the Vietnam generation of servicemen and women who, without wavering, offered - and sometimes gave - their lives for their country.