Bucks Coal Dark Days

A powerful story of endurance, shifting from the deep coal mines of Virginia to the fire-swept hills of Vietnam.

In the small town of St. Charles, Virginia, Jerry Buchanan watched his father, "Buck," battle the narrow seams of the Appalachian earth. It was a life shaped by coal dust, hand-to-mouth survival, and a father's quiet resilience—even as Black Lung claimed his breath. But the lessons Jerry learned in those hollers would soon be tested in a far different kind of trench.

In 1968, Jerry traded the coal dust for the red dirt of Vietnam. Serving with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, he faced the raw realities of war: from the devastating tragedy of May 19th to the heroic stand at Mutters Ridge and the shocking betrayal during the attack on Landing Zone Ross.

Buck's Coal-Dark Days is more than a memoir of combat and hardship; it is a moving tribute to the "silence between"—the unspoken bond between a father and son and the grit required to find one's way back home.