2018 GOLD MEDAL WINNER (MILITARY WRITERS SOCIETY OF AMERICA)In 1971, United Air Force flight surgeon John Pendergrass spent much of his time in the backseat of an F-4 Phantom, racing across the skies of Vietnam.  Forty-five years later, he boards an altogether different type of aircraft and heads back to Vietnam for an altogether different kind of race—an IRONMAN® triathlon.   A veteran of IRONMAN triathlons on six continents, Racing Back to Vietnam follows John’s year in combat and his return to Vietnam, revisiting a country that, for him, is bound up in history, memory and emotion. A memoir of war as seen from the skies and a reflection on life’s high adventure, John tries to reconcile the Vietnam he saw from the backseat of a fighter jet with today’s modern Vietnam.   Thought-provoking, heartfelt and gripping, Racing Back to Vietnam is one man’s trip back through time on a journey of rediscovery.

2018 GOLD MEDAL WINNER (MILITARY WRITERS SOCIETY OF AMERICA)In 1971, United Air Force flight surgeon John Pendergrass spent much of his time in the backseat of an F-4 Phantom, racing across the skies of Vietnam.  Forty-five years later, he boards an altogether different type of aircraft and heads back to Vietnam for an altogether different kind of race—an IRONMAN® triathlon.   A veteran of IRONMAN triathlons on six continents, Racing Back to Vietnam follows John’s year in combat and his return to Vietnam, revisiting a country that, for him, is bound up in history, memory and emotion. A memoir of war as seen from the skies and a reflection on life’s high adventure, John tries to reconcile the Vietnam he saw from the backseat of a fighter jet with today’s modern Vietnam.   Thought-provoking, heartfelt and gripping, Racing Back to Vietnam is one man’s trip back through time on a journey of rediscovery.