Fire in the Hole

About the Book

How does a young man coming of age in the 1960s go from seminarian to soldier? What can scare an average kid from Cleveland into killing for his country? The answer: Vietnam–that soul-sucking war that still invades dreams. After surviving a year of combat and the loss of fellow Marines, Orange came home in 1970 to another battlefield–Kent State University, where the Ohio National Guard gunned down his classmates. Reeling and confused, he went from soldier to seaman on a Great Lakes ore carrier. Then he became a hippie who fought against the same war he once supported, the same war that stole his youth and innocence. Orange reflects on his journey of tumult and tears from a vantage point of age and wisdom. This is a survivor’s tale, told with honesty and compassion for those who fought on both sides of a conflict that sliced through the lives of so many.

About the Author

Orange served with the Marines in Vietnam (1969-70). After his discharge, Orange witnessed the events precedent to the shootings at Kent State University and participated in the peace movement until the War’s end in 1975. Currently, he is a senior planner with the Minneapolis Planning Department. He and his wife, Cynthia, live in St. Paul. Their daughter, Jessica, is a graduate student at Mills College in Oakland.