PT Boat 81

<p><strong><em>PT Boat 81</em></strong> describes the World War II Navy Veteran and Purple Heart recipient Milt Rackham chronicles the years he spent peering down the sights of a PT boat's big guns during World War II. These stories along with others of ground action he experienced offer a unique glimpse into a hell that those who have never known combat can scarcely imagine; moments when life and death collide separated only by capricious fate the trajectory of a bullet a shard of shrapnel.</p><p>These are not easy stories to tell. It's only now more than three-quarters of a century later that Rackham can bring himself to talk about them at all.</p><p><em>While working on the project his co-author Myrl Thompson discovered that Rackham had applied for VA benefits several times beginning in 1972 and been repeatedly denied due to a lack of information.  He had stopped trying when he discovered that his military records were lost in a fire at the National Personnel Record Center in St. Louis MO in 1973. </em></p><p>As a result of writing this book Milt found the courage to make one last request and finally ended up receiving a partial monthly benefit at the age of 86. </p><p>Rackham's riveting book is a rare open sometimes disturbing chronicle of terror and personal triumph. It provides us with poignant insight into the ongoing impact of war on our veterans and their families. </p><p><br></p>