SALISBURY — Former Salisburian Richard “Gene” Dukes recently published a book.

Bio of “The Forgotten Son” is now available on Amazon.

The book takes place during and after the Vietnam War era, a time of successes and failures.

According to the summary on Amazon, “Hugh Thornwell went through that struggle in Vietnam, and although not realizing it, he left behind a secret that would one day come back and disrupt his life. You see, he fell in love, at age 22, with a beautiful Vietnamese girl, and this affair would one day come back and change his life.”

It continues, “Hugh had his whole life planned out, just graduated from LSU, preparing to go to LSU Law School, etc. Well, things don’t always work out the way we plan. He didn’t plan on Vietnam. His draft notice came one week after graduating from LSU, and he could see four years of his life taken from him! What a bummer, he thought. After all, he should be proud to serve his country. He was proud, he just didn’t believe in this war. And his story begins.”

Dukes is a previous resident of Salisbury. He always had a creative mind, which is a God-given gift. Story telling is one of those gifts. Dukes is reportedly looking forward to completing a sequel called “Jonathan’s Story.”

It begins where “The Forgotten Son” ends. He has always enjoyed writing and his dream has come true of being a published author.

Dukes is a vet having served in U.S. Army Reserve from 1963-1969. This was a time during the Vietnam era. Most of the basic training part of the story is true except he was stationed at Ft. Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina and not Ft. Hood, Texas. Part of the Vietnam fighting is based on stories from other vets.

His book can be purchased as e-book on all social media and paperback can be purchased on Amazon & Barnes and Noble online stores.

Richard and his wife now live in Mississippi.