Carey
Spearman joined the U.S. Army in 1965. He served in Vietnam in 1967, assigned to the 44th Medical
Group, 616th Medical Company. After his discharge, he would join the New York Police Department
in 1973. He was promoted to detective, and to the rank of Sergeant in the police department and distinguished
himself in undercover narcotics work and as supervisor of NYPD's Staten Island Community Affairs Division. Carey Spearman
retired from the New York Police Department in 1995 with twenty-five years of service. In 1997 he obtained his Bachelor of
Science degree from St. John's University, New York. Carey Spearman is the co-author of Vietnam Veteran's
Homecoming: Crossing the Line and 36 Years and a Wake-up: An American Returns to Vietnam.
According to the book description of Vietnam Veterans' Homecoming: Crossing
the Line “is a thoughful and moving account of the impact that the Vietnam War had on one veteran's
life. Medic Carey Spearman's emotional message will resonate in the hearts and souls of each and every veteran that picks
up this book, and enlighten anyone that did not live through the war. Carey Spearman has come home, and
his journey will quickly become the journey of those who read his book. In a sequence of profound meditations, rich in poetry
and deep in spirituality, Spearman draws insights from his experiences as a medic in Vietnam, and as a veteran returning home.
Insights which emphasize not so much the uniqueness of his own encounters and feelings but the mighty common bonds which unite
the courageous men and women who served this country during its longest war.
Crossing
the Line, without pretense or political agenda, reveals page after page that those who fought in Vietnam had to be heroes
twice; first in war, and then again as veterans returning home to a society that all too often failed to appreciate or understand
the enormity of their sacrifices on so many different levels.
Crossing
the Line is not just the story of one man, it sets down in meaningful terms the experience of an entire generation. It is
a powerful testimony to the far-reaching effects of the Vietnam War on virtually all aspects of American life.”
