“Miss Moon” is the more recent of two books released within the past year by author Alan Ramais of Chandler.
Courtesy of Alan Ramais
Alan Ramias is a Vietnam War veteran living in Chandler. His second work of fiction, “Miss Moon: Stories and Poems” was released in June.
Courtesy of Alan Ramais
Alan Ramias began writing stories as a child and never stopped.
After graduating from high school in rural Wisconsin in 1965 — just as the Vietnam War was escalating — he served as an Army reporter and editor, documenting life on the ground in the Mekong Delta and other regions, according to a news release.
“Miss Moon: Stories and Poems” was released in June. It follows his first work, “The Bridge,” released last year.
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Alan Ramias began writing stories as a child and never stopped.
After graduating from high school in rural Wisconsin in 1965 — just as the Vietnam War was escalating — he served as an Army reporter and editor, documenting life on the ground in the Mekong Delta and other regions, according to a news release.
“Miss Moon: Stories and Poems” was released in June. It follows his first work, “The Bridge,” released last year.
When Ramias returned home from Vietnam, he earned degrees in English, philosophy, and business, launching a corporate career that blended communication, learning and performance strategy.
Ramias eventually made his way to Chandler.
Working at Motorola, he helped found Motorola University and played a key role in early process improvement projects that laid the groundwork for Six Sigma.
Ramias later became a partner at the Rummler-Brache Group, leading global consulting engagements for major companies like Shell, 3M, and HP, and mentoring teams across Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
As a partner at The Performance Design Lab, he co-authored two foundational books on organizational performance with his mentor, Geary Rummler, the release states.
Now turning his attention back to storytelling, Ramias draws on decades of personal and professional experiences to craft fiction that explores the complexities of memory, war, and human motivation.
Ramias’ first two works draw deeply from his service as a U.S. Army journalist and court-martial clerk in Vietnam, blending fiction and poetry to capture the unspoken aftermath of war, the release states.
Through the eyes of Charlie, a recently returned soldier haunted by memory and betrayal, Ramias layers intimate stories and lyrical poems that speak both to veterans seeking recognition and to civilians looking for understanding.
The release states readers of Tim O’Brien’s or Karl Marlantes’ work will enjoy it. Ramias’ work offers the perspective of the interior lives of ordinary enlisted men, around themes like loneliness, survival, friendship, love in impossible circumstances.
The book attempts to reach deep into the psyches of soldiers sent to Vietnam, offering three stories — each based on real-life characters and incidents:
• Friends struggle with clashing emotions of love and jealousy while navigating loneliness and the dangers of a war that had no boundaries or front lines.
• A young man is forced to live the ungodly experiences of war by a controlling monster of a father.
• A worn and tattered veteran returns home to an endless darkness of broken promises, trashed friendships, an unfeeling family and an indifferent hometown.
The second half of the book, according to its online description, is a collection of poetry written by Ramias over a span of 40 years: humorous, reflective, experimental, and always fascinated with language and imagery, the description states.
“The Bridge,” released in August 2024, is a tale about the bridges — real and imagined — that soldiers built in Southeast Asia or that we build in our minds just to get through, the release states.
Ramias weaves together fiction, raw memory, poetic fragments, and documentary realism to deliver an account of what it meant to serve, survive and remember, the release states.
Moving between gritty squad banter, haunting lyricism, and the quiet desperation of men unprepared for the long shadows of war, this is a novel viewed through the eyes of four soldiers and other characters amid the humid confusion of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.
