On Saturday, Sept. 9, at 1 p.m., at the Vietnam Era Educational Center in Holmdel, the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Foundation will host an author lecture and book signing by Vietnam Veteran Carey J. Spearman about his newest book, 36 Years and a Wake-up: An American Returns to Vietnam.

      Carey J. Spearman, of Staten Island , joined the Army in 1965 and was sent to X-ray training and combat medical training.  By 1967, he was in Vietnam, serving with the 44th Medical Group, 616th Medical Company as the Non-Commissioned Officer-In-Charge of the X-ray clinic at the First Cavalry Division (Airmobile) Base Camp at An Khe, Vietnam, and later at the 91st Evacuation Hospital in Tuy Hoa , Vietnam.   Back home in 1968, he first worked as a hospital X-ray technician.   He then joined the New York City Police Department in 1973 and retired in 1995.

      36 Years and a Wake-up: An American Returns to Vietnam is Spearman's second published literary work about coping with life after the Vietnam War.   Spearman writes poetic vignettes about his thoughts and encounters on his first trip back to the former battleground after 36 years.  He shares valuable lessons learned and recounts the lives he touched and suffering he witnessed during the Vietnam War.