This Is a True War Story: My Improbable History with Vietnam

by Robert K. Brigham

A personal account by a war historian and adoptee who discovers his biological father was a famous Marine combat photographer in Vietnam.

Robert K. Brigham has had a substantial career as a historian of the Vietnam War, with a hand in nine books, a documentary, public history projects, and more. While many a historian has felt compelled at some point to write about a subject close to them personally, Brigham did not think he was doing that. But, at age 58, Brigham, who had long known he was adopted, discovered that he'd improbably and unknowingly been studying and talking about his real father for decades. That man, Bruce Atwell, was a Marine Corps photographer who took some of that war's most indelible and widely reproduced pictures. Brigham had used those images over and over again in decades' worth of classes and public lectures, never knowing the truth.

Both Brigham and Atwell were products of the American foster care and adoption system, and both were defined professionally by Vietnam. In a story shot through with echoes and shadows, Brigham not only reveals his own history as an adoptee but opens a startlingly fresh vantage on the fragility of American families; the power of social norms and taboos to shape lives; and the forces that inequitably disrupt families, not least of them war. The result is an accessible and moving book that is at once both a powerful personal story and an illuminating social critique.

264 pages, Hardcover

Published May 5, 2026

About the author

Robert K. Brigham, Shirley Ecker Boskey Professor of History and International Relations, joined the Vassar faculty in 1994. He is a specialist on the history of US foreign policy, particularly the Vietnam War. Along with several teaching awards, he has also earned fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for Humanities, the Smith Richardson Foundation, and the Ford Foundation. In addition, Brigham has been Albert Shaw Endowed Lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, Mellon Senior Visiting Scholar at Cambridge University (Clare College), visiting professor of international relations at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University, summer seminar faculty at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and Mary Ball Washington Professor of American History (Fulbright) at University College Dublin. Brigham was a professor on the spring 2014 Semester at Sea voyage where he was recognized with an award for his teaching by the students. He resides in Poughkeepsie New York with his wife. He has one college aged daughter.

Reviews

[Liralen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brigham grew up with only the barest of information about his biological parents—what he gleaned was that his biological mother had died young from cancer, and his father had been in Vietnam. This spurred a decades-long search, starting when he was still a child...but when he eventually learned the truth, it was far more complicated, and closer to home, than he could have imagined.

I was realizing that my Vietnam War story was true and untrue. (loc. 2550*)

This Is a True War Story, says the title, and it is. But for years Brigham told himself other versions of a war story—first that his biological father was off at war and would come home and find him; then that his biological father must be a POW. Eventually Brigham concluded that his biological father must have died in the war. Some of this was based on a child's magical thinking, but as Brigham grew older, the research skills he developed for the sake of this quest led him to a career in academia, studying the Vietnam War.

Being adopted wasn't an event. It was an active part of my life and would be with me forever. (loc. 72)

I didn't always understand the assumptions Brigham led with—e.g., once he concluded as a child that his biological father had died in the war, he focused pretty much solely on the war dead rather than also looking for those who had come home alive. I understand that insinct for a child telling himself stories, but less so for an adult with a more sophisticated understanding of the world. Granted, the things I wondered throughout the book (why assume that if his mother had been sixteen—itself not information from a great source—his father would have had to be seventeen or eighteen? when he eventually received more information about his birth, why not include the name he learned in his search parameters?) would not likely have ended his search sooner (and also granted—the task sounds incredibly daunting as it was, and doing things like expanding search parameters to include all soldiers would have been...a lot), but I wondered nonetheless.

Much of this story is about the Vietnam War, of course, but just as much or more is about the trauma of foster care and adoption. Brigham had loving and supportive adoptive parents—but that wasn't the point. The point was that he didn't know his history; he didn't know his background; if there was pertinent family medical history, he didn't know it. He didn't know who his biological parents were, not their names nor their personalities, and he felt this as a loss.

It's well into the book before Brigham starts to make real progress into his quest. I admit that at times the earlier years felt a bit slow, but also, I'm cognizant of the fact that it took me two days to read the book, so I only had to wait until the next day to find out what happened; meanwhile, it took Brigham decades to find any kind of answers. And, again...that's where it gets more complicated.

There is so much I would like to say about the circumstances of Brigham's birth and what he eventually found out about his parents' lives, but that's information that comes late in the book, so I think it's best left out of a review. What I will say is that I'd recommend Claudia Rowe's excellent book on foster care, Wards of the State, to anyone wanting to know more about the failings of foster care.

Brigham eventually got answers, if not always the ones he was hoping for and only after many, many dead ends. But it's a hell of a story along the way.

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic. I can’t even begin to describe how much I enjoyed reading Robert K Brigham’s journey of finding both self and learning about his birth families identities. Genealogy is a huge passion of mine and as the daughter of a Vietnam veteran I had personal interest in this story. The pacing of this book was perfect. Even between chapters I found myself thinking and reflecting on this book throughout my day. This such a raw and real story of adoption, self discovery and most importantly family, both blood and those that chose us.



Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. A great experience

[David Jonescu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am always interested in books around the Vietnam era and this one did not disappoint. Although different than I usually read, it is a journey of self discovery for Robert Brigham as he learns more about his genealogy and his connection to the very thing he spent his life studying. Overall great book!

I received a free advanced copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for the autobiographical story of a man adopted as child who is determined to find his biological parents. When he is ten years old, he overhears someone say that his biological mother is dead. He rides his bicycle to the two cemeteries in his town to search for his mother's grave, even though he doesn't know her name. He continues his search for over 40 years. He overhears his adoption mother and his social worker mention Vietnam in connection with his bio dad. He then starts reading obituaries across New York state.
He finds out that he was born in Buffalo, NY. He writes to the Erie County clerk, where Buffalo is located, to get information on his birth parents. He writes to the US Department of Defense for a list of all soldiers killed in Vietnam from New York state.
He does finally find out who his bio parents are, with the help of modern consumer DNA testing. There are extensive footnotes, giving sources for all of his research.
He explains that he wants to know his medical history because he is having heart problems.
One quote: "This looks benign as I write it, but the worrisome feeling you have as an adoptee when something goes wrong is all too real. The not knowing what might impact your health and when it might happen. The not knowing what to tell your doctors about what illnesses run in your family. The not knowing what might be important to your long-term health and survival."
Two of my three grandchildren have an incurable, terminal genetic disease, called Cystic Fibrosis,
and I understand his viewpoint. Coincidentally, they were also born in Buffalo, NY.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in adoption issues and genetic disease issues.
Thank You Robert K Brigham and the University of Chicago Press for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.
#ThisIsaTrueWarStory #NetGalley

Pub Date May 05 2026

[lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC from NetGalley
Review: 5⭐️s

Going in, I wasn’t sure what the balance would be between personal memoir and factual information about the war. While I find the Vietnam War interesting, it isn’t an area I know a great deal about, so I was slightly apprehensive that I might not get everything the author intended from the book.

However, once I started reading, I quickly realised that wouldn’t be an issue.

The structure and pacing of the book taking the reader through Brigham’s life as he gradually learns more about the war made me feel as though I was on that journey alongside him.

The emotional experiences of being adopted and not knowing his birth family were captured so poignantly and beautifully that, even though I couldn’t personally relate, I could easily imagine how it must have felt. His attempts to trace his genealogy, along with his anger at the closed adoption system and its implications for genetic health, were particularly powerful and moving

[Cyrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard about this book and couldn't believe the premise. A Vietnam War historian finds out at age 58 that the famous Marine combat photographer whose images he'd been using in his classes for decades was his biological father. That alone is wild. But what got me was how Robert Brigham tells the story not like a cheap shock reveal, but like someone slowly putting together pieces of a puzzle he didn't even know existed. The part where he realizes he'd been lecturing about his own father's photos without knowing it? I had to put the book down for a minute. It's not just a family mystery, though. He also talks about growing up in foster care, the weirdness of adoption, and how war breaks families apart in ways you don't expect. I finished it feeling both sad and oddly hopeful. A really unique and moving read.