“At the Mercy of Chance” [Breadalbane Publishing July, 2024] is a memoir that recounts a young man’s journey from humble beginnings in small town Illinois to combat in Vietnam. The author, Larry Crane of Southport, graduated from the United States Military Academy, completed Airborne and Ranger training at Fort Benning, served three years in the infantry in Germany, and commanded a basic training company at Fort Knox before becoming chief advisor to the 23rd Vietnamese Ranger Battalion fighting in the Central Highlands. Crane’s military service is an eye-opening dive into the gritty reality of a junior officer’s active-duty experience overseas and how the sacrifices involved altered his life and his marriage.  

Cranes immersion into the culture of the United States Military Academy multiplied the expectations his father unknowingly put on him and complicated his struggle to find his personal purpose in life. Through this account, the full meaning and relevance of West Point's soaring motto, Duty Honor Country, is tested and tried. This clear-eyed narrative exhibits the selflessness of service to the nation a soldier must give, while exploring the often-bewildering ambiguity facing those implementing a “boots on the ground” foreign policy. Crane’s own true account answers the question of how much a soldier is truly asked to give of himself in war.  

Larry Crane is available for interviews, Q&A’s, and bylined articles and can speak/write on topics including but not limited to: 

• The author’s writing process, what inspires him, and why he wrote the book 

• How the author was inspired by his own journey of training and active duty in the Vietnam War 

• How this story highlights the realistic challenges and struggles of life in America during and after the Vietnam War 

• The immense pressure a soldier feels to give their all to their country and to the cause of the Vietnam War 

Larry graduated from West Point in 1962, and served six and a half years in the Army. He commuted to Wall Street from his home in New Jersey, retiring from JP Morgan Chase in 1992. He did much of his early writing commuting on the train, producing articles for outdoor magazines, plays, and short fiction. His full-length play, “Baghdad on the Wabash,” was named Best Maine Play in Portland Stage Company’s Clauder Competition of 2006. His other writing includes the debut thriller novel, “A Bridge to Treachery: From Extortion to Terror,” a mystery/true crime mixed genre novel; “Missing Girls, In Truth Is Justice,” a coming of age memoir; “Up From Adams Street,” a short story anthology; “Baghdad on the Wabash and Other Plays and Stories,” as well as this memoir: “At The Mercy of Chance: A Pensive Warrior’s Field Notes from West Point to Kon Tum.”

Larry lives in splendid isolation on Southport Island.

For more information and to contact the author, visit www.mainelarrycrane.com.