Finally, there was a breakthrough. The book "Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War by Black Veterans" was published in June 1984 by Random House () and became a national bestseller. "And that shadowy thing in our lives finally disappeared", Janice Terry wrote. "The New York Times" wrote that "many of the individuals featured in book's pages speak about their experiences with exceptional candor and passion; and in doing so, give the reader a visceral sense of what it was like, as a black man, to serve in Vietnam and what it was like to come back to 'the real world.'"