The Power of Ducks

About the Book

Synopsis of The Power of Ducks Reaching manhood in an African American family during the turbulent 1960’s , the author watched his father and brother challenge the system, only to be struck down and ruined. Choosing a safer path, he stayed in school and was the first in his family to graduate from college. To fulfill his military obligation he joined the Naval Reserves. Initially, he adhered to his father’s admonition to do what he was told and keep quiet, but eventually he faced a life defining choice - confronted with deplorable living conditions, rampant racism, denial of basic human rights, and an illegal war, should he suppress his core life values or should he speak out? This story is about the actions taken by the author and his fellow sailors, or ducks, that led to the creation of GI’s Against Fascism, the first major movement within the Navy in southern California to expand sailors’ rights and challenge the Vietnam War. Each paid a price for speaking out, but by forming a bond cemented by courage, determination, and loyalty, they raised the awareness of issues that contributed to a new navy and the end of the Vietnam War.

About the Author

Biography of Robert G. Mahoney Robert G. Mahoney is a retired educator who worked for thrity-eight years in educational institutions in the San Francisco East Bay. A love of writing developed through preparing job-related reports, program evaluations, and top rated proposals that won millions of dollars of federal funding. Effective writing also led to obtaining a master’s degree in Educational Psychology and a doctorate in Higher Education Administration. Now free to write his own story, in this first work the author wrote a memoir of his experiences attaining manhood as the youngest son in a middle class African American family during one of the most turbulent decades in American history - the 1960’s. The author currently lives in Danville, California with his wife, two children, mother, and mother-in-law.