The Heart That Fed, (Gallery, 2023)

A Publisher’s Weekly Top Ten Best Book of 2024

A graphic memoir debut, R.E.M.F. is a loving son’s exploration of his relationship with his father, told through the lens of his father’s experiences in Vietnam and their long-lasting after-effects. Carl’s father, David Sciacchitano, decided to enlist in the Air Force and volunteered to be sent to Vietnam. As an aircraft mechanic he was considered a R.E.M.F. (Rear-Echelon Mother-Fucker, a pejorative term in the military for anyone not on the front lines), but he nevertheless experienced the war up close. After the war ended, he stayed and worked in Southeast Asia, on a constant quest for the adrenaline high of war. He eventually returned home. Thanks to his experiences in the war and his knowledge of the region and language, he was posted to the one place he had hoped to escape: Vietnam. And so he bore witness to the bitter last days of the war, and to the evacuation in 1975, when the South fell to the North. Set against one of the most tumultuous events of the 20th century, R.E.M.F. will speak to any child whose parent has participated in a war and come home somehow changed--and to any child who has sought to understand a parent, and that parent’s past, in an effort to strengthen their relationship.

PRAISE

“Potent…Unlike many children of Vietnam veterans, Sciacchitano heard plenty…but the narrative is still structured as an investigation…conducting research and reconstructing his father [David]’s memories. Subtly sketched, with pops of emotive rawness in dialogue and evocative drawings, the book elegantly braids David’s professional arc (military, Foreign Service, war victims’ NGO work) with his psychological journey. The result is a complex and empathetic portrait of war and its consequences.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Weaving images and stories from past and near present, [Carl Sciacchitano creates a meticulously crafted narrative—illustrated with evocatively nostalgic black-and-white or sepia-colored pencil images—about a war that psychologically devastated his father and also helped define their relationship…A powerful and quietly poignant memoir and tribute.” —Kirkus Reviews

"[A] powerful memoir." —Booklist

“Part family memoir, part graphic history of America’s long and traumatic war in Vietnam, this is an emotionally honest portrayal of the generational consequences of war. A truly superb, gorgeously illustrated rendition of wars aboard coming back home.” —Gregory A. Daddis, USS Midway Chair in Modern U.S. Military History, San Diego State University

“Powerful and engaging. The talented Carl Sciacchitano uses his illustrative skills to recreate the horrors of the Vietnam War and its ongoing legacy. You won’t regret reading this one.” —Jan Scruggs, founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

“A moving story that discusses an experience that affects many veterans and their sons, not just those who served in Vietnam...Highly recommended for those wanting to understand war’s human cost and lasting legacies." —James H. Willbanks, Vietnam War veteran and author of Abandoning Vietnam and A Raid Too Far

"In this powerful memoir, Sciacchitano makes expert use of the graphic novel format and the language of comics to tell his father’s story through the interplay of past and present, of memory and the moment, and the lasting impact of the Vietnam War, both on those who lived through it and those who came after them." —Chris Roberson, co-creator of IZombie

"A brilliant story on life during wartime and survival in peacetime—on the reconciliations of fathers, sons, our histories, and legacies." —Joseph Keatinge, writer/editor, Shutter, Ringside, Moonray, Vast Vision