Showing results for "Secrets" in Military Families

Marriage is hard enough for the everyday civilian. But imagine marriage when you’re separated by thousands of miles, when one of you daily faces the dangers of combat, while the other shoulders all the burden of home-front duties. Add to that the unpredictable schedules, frequent moves, and the challenge of reintegration, and it’s no wonder military marriages are under stress.

In the wake of her mother's death, Jessica Pearce Rotondi uncovers boxes of letters, declassified CIA reports, and newspaper clippings that bring to light a family ghost: her uncle Jack, who disappeared during the CIA-led "Secret War" in Laos in 1972. The letters lead her across Southeast Asia in search of the truth that has eluded her family for decades. On the night of March 29, 1972, Jack's plane vanishes over the mountains bordering Vietnam. The crash eerily echoes the one Jack's father, Ed Pearce, survived in World War II, when Ed parachuted out of the plane before being captured.