"If any question why we died
Tell them, because our fathers lied"
~Rudyard Kipling
In this raw autobiography, Craig McNamara documents his search for an identity outside of and despite of being the son of a national pariah. His relationship to his father, former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, propels "Because Our Fathers Lied" beyond discussion of the Vietnam War into a larger discussion of finding our own paths.
"He intended to say, 'Vietnam ten thousand years,' a phrase used to wish long life -- or in this case, 'Long live Vietnam.' However, his pronunciation was off, and to Vietnamese listeners it sounded like he said, 'Ruptured duck wants to lie down.'"
A man with no country and no truth, McNamara escapes to the literal ends of the earth as he overcomes myriad obstacles to traverse South America before living extensively in a cave on Easter Island. "Because Our Fathers Lied" at times has a bit of a "Forrest Gump" feel, but the author digs deep to find the vulnerability necessary to power such a story.
Though no revelations are to be found here, that's kind of the point. This book is a quick, wrenching, fascinating read and an important entry into the pantheon of writing about this moment in American history.
"So much of being my father's son has been contained in that feeling of a missed connection and the inability to mark certain tragedies, so they linger."
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