author Frank Bocci
I never had the pleasure of meeting Frank Boccia in person, but I grew to have a deep and profound respect for the man.
We became “virtual” friends on the internet, via Facebook, once Frank and I realized how many interests we seemed to have in common.
We both loved and pampered our dogs. Frank spoiled Mr. Smith rotten, but I’m no one to talk. When I eat steak, so do my furry babies, sliced on top of their kibble.
We’re both patriotic Americans and published authors of nonfiction books — Frank’s story was an exceptionally interesting and powerful one. He survived a literal hell on earth, and somehow managed to walk away from Dong Ap Bia, the infamous “Hamburger Hill” battle in Vietnam. Frank was a true American hero.
Frank saw the senseless, savage brutality of war, up close and personal. However, his most serious wounds from the war were invisible — Frank’s psyche had been damaged by the carnage he witnessed.
After the war Frank struggled to understand how he had cheated death, when so many friends and other good men had not been so lucky. America didn’t treat our fighting men as heroes returning from the field of battle after Vietnam. For the most part, we treated those who fought and died for us like dirt.
About his book Frank said,
“I want to convey the real face of war, both its mindless carnage and its nobility of spirit. Above all, I want to convey what happened to both the casual reader and the military historian and make them aware of the extraordinary spirit of the men of First Platoon, Bravo Company. They were ordinary men doing extraordinary things.”
He would know. Frank led those extraordinary men into battle.
Later in life Frank spent a lot of time thinking about luck and probability, which is perhaps why certain sections of my book Counterargument for God seemed to interest him. We had some great “offline” philosophical discussions about how luck and statistical probability might factor in a world created by divine intervention. I was very honored when Frank submitted something that he’d written with permission to publish it on my website.
Frank considered himself a very rational person, which he was — and his mind was as sharp as a tack. With time, Frank managed to heal himself and slay the demons that had followed him home from Vietnam. He found happiness in the love of his family and a good woman who filled his heart with happiness. He even got married. In time, Frank found peace.
First Lieutenant Frank Boccia had the heart of a lion. But even lions don’t live forever. I just learned the news that Frank had passed away earlier this morning. His time on this earth has finally run out. Rest in peace, my friend. Thank you for your sacrifice, and your service to our country.
I look forward to meeting you one day, when my time here is over.
Beautiful words. I never met Frank in person either. I read his book, then told a girl I went to grade school and high school with, who is married to one of the enlisted men mentioned in Frank’s bTook about Hamburger Hill that I had read it, and she suggested that I send Frank an IM via Facebook to tell him what I thought about his book. I sent an IM, and within a matter of hours I received a very nice reply from Frank, thanking me for reading his book and for contacting him to give him my thoughts. I was born in 1958 and Saigon fell in I think april of 1975, when I still had one more year of high school to go. I knew and still know several men who fought in the war, and I have nothing but respect for them. IMHO, any veteran who receives the CIB for being in combat, should receive at least 25K/yr in retirement as a token of the esteem of the American people. I’m sure we can cut plenty of pork elsewhere to come up with the dough.