cover image Keeping the Promise: The Story of MIA Jerry Elliott, a Family Shattered by His Disappearance, and His Sister's 40-Year Search for the Truth

Keeping the Promise: The Story of MIA Jerry Elliott, a Family Shattered by His Disappearance, and His Sister's 40-Year Search for the Truth

Donna E. Elliott, Hellgate (Midpoint, dist.), $24.95 (336p) ISBN 9781555716707

Told by military personnel in 1968 that her brother Jerry had been listed MIA, author Elliot and her parents "sat quietly in the living room, cloaked in shock." Elliott recalls her childhood in Greenville, Miss., and celebrates her older brother's spirit and courage. Enlisting in the Army shortly after turning 18, he "had no reservations about fighting in a foreign land; he believed he acted in the best interest of his country." Elliott describes Jerry's boot camp in Fort Polk, La., and his training in Fort Gordon, Ga. The pride she and her family felt for him is evident at each turn, but his days in Vietnam and the unsuccessful mission to rescue him haunt her still. Elliott bemoans the American government's slow reaction and inability to bring closure to her brother's status. To this day, there is "no credible proof he's either dead or alive." The uncertainty frustrates her, as it must thousands of American families with daughters or sons, sisters or brothers, mothers or fathers still listed MIA. They will take comfort in Elliott's resonant tale. (July)