Former heavyweight champion Joe Louis, just before his 1946 rematch victory over the lighter, faster Billy Conn, was quoted as saying: "You can run, but you can't hide." You will understand the significance of that cliche after you read J.W. Clark's amazing memoir "Flashback." Ostensibly, Clark's story details the tragic events of a battle he was involved in at Quang Tri Province, as a member of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Infantry. This occurred in the early months of 1968, right at the waning days of the North Vietnamese "Tet Offensive." This was a military campaign that commenced on January 31, 1968. Both hard core North Vietnamese regular troops as well as their Southern brethren, the Viet Cong, attacked all of South Vietnam and its forces, i.e., the U.S. and their Allies, e.g. the Republic of Korea and Australian forces. This offensive's intention was to strike military and civilian command and control centers throughout South Vietnam and to spark a general uprising among the population that would then topple the South's government located centrally in Saigon, thus ending the war in a single blow. Hanoi's most ambitious goal, producing a general uprising, had ended in a dismal failure, with Military Assistance Command of Vietnam estimating that 181,149 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops were killed. The real significance of this offensive was that it was the beginning of the end for American involvement in Vietnam. President Johnson, despite the Tet Offensive being a clear cut military victory, was unable to convince the American public that it had been a major Communist defeat. L.B.J.'s optimistic assessments made prior to the offensive came under heavy criticism and ridicule as the "credibility gap" that had opened in 1967 widened into an outright rift. Around the same time that C.W. Clark arrived in Camp Carroll, 60 miles south of the Demilitarized Zone, which was the demarcation between North and South Vietnam, MACV posted the highest U.S. casualty figures for a single week during the entire war: 543 killed and 2,547 wounded. As he was the sole survivor of that firefight that claimed the lives of two companies of Marines, unless he spoke about the battle, no one would know what happened on that fateful day. Clark kept quiet about it, and bore his shame and guilt, with only the publication of this book exorcising his demons. Thinking he would be arrested for murder, Clark silently grieved until the cliche "you are only as sick as your secrets" ate him alive. Clark made medical history by successfully undergoing an amazing surgery to reattach his arm in San Diego. From marrying a devout Catholic woman and adopting her faith to fathering seven children, recovering from malaria and running from his thoughts and memories of Vietnam, here lies an incredible story of dodging PTSD. From being a workaholic, geographical changes, medication with alcohol, nothing worked. He left jobs, divorced, and eventually remarried, still suffering from the war's aftereffects. Eventually vivid flashbacks occurred. J.C. Clark, while unequivocally stating: "I do not intend to make this a tell-all story for others to gossip over: I believe my family is entitled to privacy," leaves no stones upturned in explaining how he eventually asked for and received help. After a series of terrifying nightmares and flashbacks, he discovered that in order to save his future, he had to resurrect his past. Clark did the footwork, with intense therapy with a skilled clinician well versed in treating PTSD. He warns the veteran of both yesteryear and today that asking for help is not a sign of weakness, and that using drugs and alcohol might temporarily ease the pain, but it always returns and with a vengeance. He urges Vets afflicted with this horrific byproduct of war to reach out, that attempting to overcome PTSD by oneself is an exercise in futility. With the help of therapy, reaching out to others and a strong belief in a higher power it is possible to recover. J.C. Clark concludes that even though he could not consciously remember what he did in Vietnam, subconsciously he did remember it, and that part of his mind wanted to punish him for his actions of killing Bravo Company. Forgiving oneself is the start of the path that leads to forgiving others. The choice is yours, continue to be resentful and destroy what remains of your life, or chose to forgive." Clark ends this incredible memoir by stating that writing about one's combat experience is like going back to war again. Therapy is a veteran's boot camp, information is his weapon and insight is his shield against PTSD. His final sage words speak volumes: "The events I refused to remember for most of my adult life because the memories contained such sorrow, grief and guilt, now I refuse to forget." This book is mandatory reading for any Vietnam Veteran, or for that matter, any soldier exposed to the trauma of combat! A must read for any Vietnam or Gulf War Vet!