When writing Brothers and Heroes-A Chronicle of Military Service of Six Americans I planned it as the first work in a trilogy. Eddie, My Old Man represents the second book in the series. As the last arrival in the Lambert family of 8 boys, I did t get to kw my father Eddie very well due to the demands of his job and my career pursuits, yet he left me with an incredible legacy: that hard work and education can triumph over adversity. Eddie tells the story of an quiet man who suffered the lasting trauma of the death of his preteen second son, a man who while grieving for the death of one young son also coped with a toddler paralyzed by polio, a man who bore the life-long burden that he became personally responsible for the combat death of his oldest son by granting permission for this boy to enlist in the USMC at age of 17, a man who endured the pain of seeing his wife of over 45 years linger for years in a nursing home due to a debilitating stoke, and a man who despite his personal travails managed to find pleasure in simple things like playing cribbage, listening to Souza marches, entertaining his boys on the trombone, content with his lot and never begrudging the success of others. Eddie is the story t only of my father, the EVERY MAN ; it is also a story of courage and fortitude, of roots, family and community.