Gregory G. Abati Sr.

I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on November 5, 1949. My mother and father were in Hawaii when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. I grew up on military bases and truly believed it was one's duty to serve your country.

I joined the United States Marine Corps in May, 1968 and arrived in Vietnam on October 25, of that year (during the height of the Vietnam War). I was assigned as a machine gunner (MOS-0331)to Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 26 Marines.

The 2nd Battalion was a Battalion Landing Team (BLT) that operated off the USS Okinawa a helicopter carrier (platform). The 2nd Battalion was a combat unit spending most of its time in the mud and the blood, known as the Vietnam War. On January 28, 1969 nine men were killed within 30 yards of my machine gun position. With my gunner lying dead behind me, I found myself alone in a bomb crater forty-fifty yards out in front of Golf Company facing at least two enemy soldiers.

My first book; In the Shadows of the Dead, is an account of my personal experience as a combat veteran of the Vietnam War. It is a straight forward historical narrative. The war left me deeply troubled shattering my basic belief system; about our country, religion, our sense of humanity, our regard for Nature and this Earth. www.amazon.com/dp/0991502922

This led me to my second book; The Journey, a metaphysical journey through time and space to discover the meaning of life. This is a modern American fable about a raccoon named Marcus, (me) who leaves home (the sacred circle) to travel across North America before the arrival of the humans. The story is full of characters (the wild ones) all eager to teach Marcus a lesson.The story is about self discovery and growth and the one path we all must follow if the human race is going to survive. www.amazon.com/dp/0991502914