Dear Vineland Rotary,

Many of you may remember that, in years past, you would have seen me in attendance at last week’s meeting with my dad. For most of my life, this was an annual tradition to mark the end of summer vacation and forecast the start of the school year to come.

In recent years, I’ve missed having the opportunity to do that. There’s some poetic justice, then, that this September I find myself able to send you an autographed copy of “The War Within”, the book I’ve been privileged to work on for the past year and a half with journalist Bob Woodward and a talented reporter named Brady Dennis.

It was at a Rotary lunch meeting before I left for school that Marty Hoag gave me some advice that served me well as a student and even better as a writer: When in doubt, keep your ears open and your mouth shut.

As I grew up around and within the Vineland Rotary Club, all of you gave me a shining example of how individuals can shape events across the world or across the street, simply by having the willingness to show up and give and do what you are able.

This book is the story of many oft-debated events and draws several controversial conclusions, but at its core it isn’t about Iraq or the White House or politics at all. This book has at its core an unshakeable admiration for the people who have embraced service above self in its most potent form: those who have volunteered to serve in a dangerous place, far away from their families and all things familiar. Through your kind advice over the years, by having me as your guest at countless club meetings, by sending me to RYLA and supporting my founding of an Interact Club at Vineland High School, it was you, Rotarians, who helped me recognize the bigger picture when I saw it and appreciate what it is to serve the larger purpose.

Mostly I’m sending this to you because I’m grateful for your encouragement and friendship over the years, and happy for all the times I’ve shared with you.

Thanks for everything,
Evelyn