MIA

“A nation of amnesiacs marching into quicksand” is how Vietnam Veteran Eli Lovett describes the invasion of Iraq. But Lovett’s fellow soldier and friend, Gary Pritchard, sees in this latest military adventure a way to redeem himself, and to free Eli, MIA for 30 years, and exiled in America. Pritchard long ago branded himself a coward for failing to stop a massacre of civilians in Vietnam. Pritchard has been free to roam, but Eli, who saved his life in battle, is a hunted man. There is no justice. Pritchard will be a coward no more. Posing as Eli, and borrowing from the Buddhist priests in Saigon, in spectacular style he will set himself on fire. Will this brave act ensure that Eli will rise like a phoenix from the ashes of a protest the world will not soon forget?

“Tom Puckett writes with the merciless accuracy of an expert sniper and the compassion of a battle-weary chaplain. With an ear attuned to the rhythms of regional speech and an inner eye sharply focused on the map of moral cowardice, Puckett draws parallels between America’s broader failure as a nation, and the individual failings of its reluctant, traumatized soldiers.”

—Mark Werlin, nonfiction videomaker, co-author of “The Savior”