The Book
Apache Blues: In Their Own Words
For many, the Vietnam War did not end when they came home.
In 2012, Dave Merlino and Dustin Sweet set out to interview Vietnam veterans, hoping to understand a war that happened before they were born. Those conversations carried them 30,000 miles across the country and into the lives of the men who served.
Many had spent decades speaking little about combat, loss, and returning home. Their wives and families carried those experiences alongside them, often without knowing the stories behind them.
Beyond the Screen
Apache Blues: In Their Own Words presents the complete interviews that shaped the documentary Apache Blues: Welcome Home. More than one hundred hours of conversations were recorded during production—far more than a single film could hold.
Collected here, those interviews give readers time to follow the veterans’ accounts in depth, including personal stories and reflections that never reached the screen.
Direct, intimate, and often unexpectedly funny, these conversations move from combat and brotherhood to marriage, family, grief, and life after war. The men recall the friends they depended on, the people they lost, and the lives they built after returning home.
The Power of Being Heard
As filming continued, veterans and their families described what those conversations had opened up: greater understanding, more willingness to talk, and connections with loved ones who had struggled to understand what they were carrying.
Their stories reveal how the experience of war can reach across decades and generations—and how much it can mean to finally be heard.
Apache Blues: In Their Own Words is a testament to friendship, survival, and the healing power of telling your story.