By: Bob McCarty
The Clapper Memo

After watching a news conference two months ago, I reached out to Billy and Karen Vaughn, the parents of Aaron Carson Vaughn, an elite U.S. Navy SEAL who died along with 29 other Americans after their helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan Aug. 6, 2011. Yesterday, they reached back to me.

Click image to visit the site dedicated to Aaron Carson Vaughn.

I had been drawn to Billy and Karen by the fact that they were among the SEAL Team Six family members speaking at the news conference who said they believed a flawed vetting process is partly to blame for the deaths of their loved ones. Because the flawed vetting process is at the heart of my latest book, THE CLAPPER MEMO, I simply had to get the book in front of them.

During a phone conversation, I told Billy about THE CLAPPER MEMO and asked if he would be willing to read it. After he said, “Yes,” I shipped him a copy and waited for feedback.

Left to right: Billy Vaughn, Bob McCarty and Karen Vaughn.

Three weeks later and quite unexpectedly, I ran into Billy and Karen in person. Both of us had both made last-minute decisions to attend an event in Fort Lauderdale.

While visiting over dinner the evening of June 8, I learned Billy was spending a great deal of his time searching for answers about his son’s final mission, call sign “Extortion 17,” and co-authoring a soon-to-be-released book, BETRAYED: Exposing the High Cost of the War on Terror. As a result, he had not yet finished reading THE CLAPPER MEMO. Still, he promised he would. As an added plus, Karen said she was reading the book whenever Billy didn’t have it in his hands.

On Saturday, after seven more weeks had passed, Karen sent me a powerful note in which she informed me that she and Billy had finished reading THE CLAPPER MEMO:

THE CLAPPER MEMO by Bob McCarty gives the reader an in-depth look into the dirty little secrets of politics and greed triumphing over safety and security for our fighting men and women as well as the average American citizen. In this gripping account of one man’s quest for truth, McCarty exposes filthy backroom deals bent on squelching the best technology available for securing quick, reliable, lifesaving information in the theater of battle.

The most shocking revelation for us, as parents of a fallen Navy SEAL, was learning that Army leadership was more willing to rely on laboratory studies commissioned by officials and agencies with vested interests in the outdated polygraph than in what they were being told by real-life heroes on the field of battle. The almighty dollar wins again…while the Soldier dies and Americans live at greater risk than necessary. – Billy & Karen Vaughn

If those words and the words of others who’ve endorsed the book do not make you want to read THE CLAPPER MEMO, then I don’t know what will. Thanks in advance for ordering a copy and spreading the word about my book.

SEE ALSO: After you order a copy of the book, please visit Operation300.com, the website of the non-profit foundation established in honor of Aaron Carson Vaughn. Funds raised support a camp designed to create week-long experiences for children who have lost their fathers as a result of service to our country.

Bob McCarty is the author of Three Days In August and THE CLAPPER MEMO. To learn more about either book or to place an order, click on the graphic above.