The Second Truth: Korean War
GENRE
ACTION BIOGRAPHICAL DRAMA MEMOIR WAR
Core Theme
REMEMBRANCE
TIME PERIOD
1940s & '50s
COMPARABLE TITLES
M.A.S.H., IN COUNTRY
CHARACTER LIST
• NARRATOR/JOHN VIOLA: BRAVE, SAD, VETERAN OF KOREAN WAR. THERE REALLY AREN’T ANY OTHER NAMED CHARACTERS. THE NARRATOR/JOHN VIOLA GOES THROUGH LIFE WITH HIS FELLOW ENLISTED MEN DURING THE WAR.
Logline
This is a true story about a young man having to deal with a war. It takes you on a journey to boot camp training, training in the medical field, sea duty on a destroyer, and nineteen months in the combat zone.
Target Audiences
Age: 18-34,35-54,55+
Target Gender: Universal,Male Leaning
Setting
World War 2
Based on a True Story
Yes
Publishing Details
Status: Yes: with a Publisher
Publisher: Matchstick Literary
Year Published: 2015
Starting Description
This is the transition of a patriotic, naive young boy in a war that nobody cared about because everyone served somewhere in WW2. Tired of war and only want to get on with their lives, they didnt care, for they were in the big one.
Ending Description
He had been in is known as the forgotten war. There were no victory parades, no welcome home, only feelings of shame and being made foolish. Korean War Veterans never talk about the war.
Group Specific
Information not completed
Hard Copy Available
Yes
ISBN
978-1645504665
Mature Audience Themes
Extreme Violence
Plot - Other Elements
Meaningful Message
Plot - Premise
Internal Journey/Rebirth,Voyage and Return
Main Character Details
Name: John Viola
Age: 20s
Gender: Male
Role: Logical
Key Traits: Naive,Adventurous,Confident,Skillful
Additional Character Details
The author has not yet written this
Additional Character Details
The author has not yet written this
Additional Character Details
The author has not yet written this
Brief
A young man journeys from boot camp, to medical training, to sea destroyer duty; as well as nineteen months in the combat zone during the Korean War.
What We Liked
- This offers a chance to learn more about the history of the Korean War and the experiences of those who fought and sacrificed in service to the country;
- Creating a feature length documentary style memoir based on experiences from the Korean War would be a good way to develop this book into a film;
- The story of John Viola could be part of a documentary or docu-drama about the Korean War and those touched by it. This type of adaptation could be appropriate for a television project;
- Based on a real person;
- Raises awareness of Korean War;
- Strong Military content;
- Strong visuals;
- Historical relevance.
Synopsis
Korean War veteran, John Viola, gives his personal account of his experiences during the war.
As a young man of nineteen, John Viola, patriotic and naïve, decides to join the military and is ultimately assigned active duty during the Korean War.
John goes through boot camp training and then decides that training in the medical field would be the best way to ride out the war. He is deployed to run the sick bay while doing sea duty on a destroyer. While serving in this capacity, he endures the death of friends and colleagues. He also spends a scary nineteen months in the combat zone.
In joining another war at a time not very far removed from World War II, John is keenly aware that people are tired of war and just want to move on with their lives. The war ends up being known as the forgotten war.
Though the experiences of the war made him a man, John resents the fact that his sacrifice was not recognized like those who fought in World War II. He is sad that veterans from his war didn’t receive victory parades or even a welcome home. He feels only shame and foolishness at being in the war. Knowing that Korean War veterans feels as he does and never talk about the war, he wants his story to be read by many.
He conveys the feeling of a sad kinship between him and other Korean War vets.