T.L. Gould’s fictional work, How Can You Mend This Purple Heart: A Novel, is an unforgettable, compelling story. Although it is a novel, the author shares that it is based on his own life experience. The setting is a military hospital located in south Philadelphia during the Vietnam War. A group of severely wounded soldiers is struggling to heal physically, mentally and emotionally. The main character is Jeremy Shoff, who was badly injured in a car accident after his graduation ceremony to be a Navy radioman. Not only does Jeremy have his own recovery issues, but he battles with feelings of guilt and shame as his fellow ward mates deal with lost limbs, excruciating pain, flashbacks, and other combat-related horrors. The close bonds and enduring friendships the men form are truly awe-inspiring.

Although How Can You Mend This Purple Heart is fictional, the authentic tone of the writing suggests that author T.L. Gould has included many real life situations. The narration is realistic; it is easy to imagine that young men detained on a hospital ward for months would give each other nicknames, use swear words, and have physical altercations. Character development is well done as each man’s struggles are revealed. How each man’s recovery is affected by his beliefs, personal relationships and life goals is thought-provoking. Because of the realistic nature of the book, there are some graphic and gruesome sections. However, these accounts are necessary for one to fully understand what these young men experienced. This is a very important book.

During the Vietnam War, Jeremy Shoff receives his call up papers, but is talked out of joining the Marines by his girlfriend. He joins the navy instead, with happy visions of world travel and visits to exotic ports - which are quickly dispelled when he is involved in a bad road traffic accident. Severely injured, he wakes up in a navy hospital where ward 2B will become his home for some considerable time. How Can You Mend This Purple Heart goes on to describe how he comes face to face with the harsh realities of war - brutally injured young men, victims of bombs and land mines, missing limbs and organs, with splintered bones and broken spirits, struggling to come to terms with their shattered lives. As Shoff’s injuries were not received in combat, he is riddled with guilt, feeling that he does not belong amongst these battle veterans, and faces violent derision from some of his fellow patients, who label him a ‘non-combat mothafucker.’ Slowly though, he is accepted and the hard hitting story which is based on true events follows the fortunes of a group of young soldiers, most still in their teens, as they try to mend their broken lives. It is a long hard road described in unflinching detail by the author, Terry Gould; the physical pain, the mental suffering, but also the lighter moments, the black humour, and the kindness and sympathy of strangers. This is not an easy read, but I urge you read this book for the sake of all the broken young men, victims of the endless wars we seem unable to stop.

This is one of the hardest reviews I have undertaken - trying to do justice to the subject matter of How Can You Mend This Purple Heart. T.S. Gould has produced a hard hitting, unblinking narrative which at times brought me close to tears. I am thinking particularly of one episode where a young marine is brought into the ward. Not only having had parts of his body blown off, but also suffering from extensive phosphorous burns, he is in desperate pain and pleading piteously to be allowed to die. This book should be required reading for all those politicians and men of religion who would send our young men and women to war. Sadly, however, during the sixty-five years I have been on this planet, I have seen such a stream of wars, skirmishes, so called police actions and atrocities in the name of some faction or religion or other that I have come to believe that as long as wars are good for business we are just going to keep having them. When will we ever learn?

First, I like the title, How Can You Mend This Purple Heart. I don’t know if T.L. Gould was thinking of “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?” when he wrote this title, but if he was, this is a great play on words. Either way, it is a good title and an awesome book. This is an important book. This is an emotional book. Better than that, it is a true story. I like to think this is a story that Lieutenant Dan from the Forrest Gump movie could tell. I laughed and I cried as I read this book. I admit, I’m an easy target. I cry if my children tell me they love me at the right time. I’m willing to bet most of you will cry and laugh as you read this too.

How Can You Mend This Purple Heart is beautifully written. It is easily the best first-person account of the healing process I have ever read. Soldiers can be irreverent sometimes, and for me it is important that a writer captures that irreverence while leaving them the dignity and honor they deserve. T.L. Gould does this with the artistry of a poet, and the truth of someone who has been there. The words ring true. The settings ring true. Most of all, the characters ring true. They are us. They are our friends and family. They are America. This is a book every American should read. If our soldiers are important to you, and you do like to read, then pick up How Can You Mend This Purple Heart by T.L. Gould.

A well deserved honor for this remarkable book!

This story truly touched my heart and there were many times I had to wipe away the tears, but I finally finished reading. This is a totally honest book and one of the best first person narratives I have read about the Vietnam War. It is simple and straightforward but also a compulsive page turner. This is not a story for the fainthearted, but it’s one that should not be missed. It stands tall with the best books ever written about men in combat.

There are not many books that can make you laugh and also make you cry—sometimes laughing through sorrow and crying out of joy—but Terry has crafted such a story. I dare you not to fall in love with every character, and I dare you not to come away from this story wanting to hug every soldier you meet. I don’t think you’ll be able to do it.

Thank you so much for writing this book. Vietnam hit Australia in the gut as well. I watched dear friends leave to fight as young men and return aged and broken. The time of shame and guilt that tore your country and mine apart needs to be told to generations that simply do not or will not remember. Your wonderful writing has provoked anger, sadness and pride. This book is cleansing, powerful, emotional and a must read.

This book was a difficult read for me. I had to take breaks to keep from just quitting the reading altogether. But the real-life story of the wounded soldiers on Ward 2B, and the portrayal of their struggles, was too compelling to put it down. Their experiences, while unpleasant and very real, made their journey to recovery heartwarming and joyous. Thank you, Terry, for all the blood sweat and tears you put into this book.