We Regret To Inform You...

A moving, thought provoking and honest account of combat in Vietnam. The true story of the many challenges faced by an infantry company in 1968. It may well answer many questions you might still have since the hasty withdrawal of America from that troubled land.

A moving, thought provoking and honest account of combat in Vietnam. The true story of the many challenges faced by an infantry company in 1968. It may well answer many questions you might still have since the hasty withdrawal of America from that troubled land. We Regret To Inform You... is a brief but accurate account of the trials and tribulations faced by our young men. The author touches on many historical events during 1968 including the Tet Offensive for which he arrived in Vietnam just in time. He was at the Air Base in Chu Lai when it came under attack at the beginning of that offensive. From that experience he moves on to describe the next eight months as an infantryman in the American Division stationed in the northernmost I Corps area. John also describes the relationships that naturally developed between the many young soldiers from vastly different social and economical backgrounds. He also gives an account of growing up in Roxbury Massachusetts in the sixties and how that influenced his conduct as a soldier in a confusing and distant land. Lastly, he tells of the strained relationships between the soldiers and the Vietnamese civilians which many times evolved into more positive and sympathetic feelings of trust and compassion.

John Olivere is a songwriter, author and lecturer from Boston. His music is available on iTunes and CDbaby.com. He spent eight months in Vietnam as an infantryman in 1968 and was awarded a Purple Heart. John left Vietnam in September and was a patient in the Chelsea Naval Hospital for the next eleven months. The two years he was in the army have had a significant influence on his songwriting. John is well known in the Boston Folk Music and coffee house scene. His Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day concerts are much anticipated and very well received. John also appears on Radio Station WATD (95.9 FM) in Marshfield, Massachusetts on each of those days. John’s lectures are designed to augment courses on the History of the Vietnam War or war in general. He frequently incorporates his music as well as that of other songwriters into these classes when appropriate. He has lectured at Northern Essex Community College, Boston College, and Fitchburg State University. John feels a deep and profound obligation to the truth when talking or writing about Vietnam. In fact, he is very troubled by the abundance of military fiction that has been written about the war. What is most disturbing to him is how much of that fiction is mistaken for truth. He continues to lecture, write, and perform his music in an effort to shed light on the truth about Vietnam.