I Was a Hero Once

An ordinary life, forever altered by extraordinary circumstances.

In 1968, Peter P. Mahoney's world was turned upside down when he joined the Army, became an infantry lieutenant, and was deployed to Vietnam. Upon his return, he found himself embroiled in the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) movement and indicted for conspiracy to incite a riot at the 1972 Republican Convention-the so-called Gainesville Eight case-where his friend surfaced as an FBI informer testifying against him.

In the early eighties, Mahoney played a pivotal role in establishing the New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial and later joined a delegation of veterans to meet with Soviet counterparts from their Afghanistan War. He fell in love with a Russian woman, married her, and spent nine years raising a family in a world vastly different from the suburban middle-class life he had left behind.

Now, he shares the extraordinary stories from that finite period that forever changed the trajectory of his ordinary existence.

"I Was a Hero Once is an amazing book. Mahoney is a natural storyteller and his sensitivity elevates the impact of what he's been through. Mahoney has blessed America with an astonishing piece of literature. Let us celebrate his achievement!" - Lamont B. Steptoe, author and founder of Whirlwind Press