Just One Thing with Ursula Villarreal-Moura

Ursula Villarreal-Moura’s memoir “Contradictory Accounts of My Father’s Return from Vietnam, August 1970” features competing memories, pulp novels, and a whole lot of breakfast. Here she shares just one thing about the piece:

“For so long, I avoided writing about my father's experiences in Vietnam. Even though I found the stories to be fascinating, there was so much I didn't or couldn't ever know. One day when I was talking to my parents about my father's return from Vietnam, I realized even they couldn't agree on the events of that particular August day in 1970. They'd lived through it together yet their accounts overlapped only a smidgen. My trepidation about this project didn't vanish that day, but I began to realize there was room for me to write this memoir. It's helped that I've done years' worth of research on many related topics such as US military history, Agent Orange, war music, and the like. This particular excerpt delights me because it's upbeat. The memoir definitely contains some tragic moments, but this piece marks the day my family could start to rebuild.”