Ray Deptula’s new historical saga follows a soldier searching for home in the Revolution

Ray Deptula has released a two-book historical series, Those Damned Yankees, that tracks a young man’s survival, loyalties and search for belonging during the American Revolution. The books connect battlefield history with a more personal story about service, comradeship and what home means.

Why it matters: - The series uses the American Revolution to explore how ordinary people get pulled into war by survival, not ideology. - Deptula frames Jack Halliday’s journey as a story about belonging, loyalty and the human cost of conflict. - The books also draw a line between Revolutionary War struggles and the pressures faced by some veterans today.

What happened: - Ray Deptula released Those Damned Yankees, a two-book historical saga centered on Jack Halliday. - Book One, A Dog Before a Soldier, follows Jack as he joins the British Army in 1774 after three years on a slave ship. - Book Two, Can’t Find My Way Home, continues Jack’s story after he serves with the Continental Army. - Deptula is a former U.S. Naval Aviator and Political-Military Officer with 24 years of Navy service.

The details: - Jack is sent to Boston as part of the British security force during the early rebellion. - The first book places Jack at Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill, Long Island and the capture of Philadelphia. - Jack later deserts the British Army and reaches Annapolis, Maryland. - A wealthy landowner takes Jack in and asks him to serve as a surrogate in the Continental Army alongside an enslaved man named Custis. - In exchange, Jack is welcomed into the family and promised the landowner’s daughter’s hand in marriage. - In Book Two, Jack and Custis endure the winter of 1780-81 at Washington’s army encampment in New Jersey. - The pair then fight in the Battle of Camden, where Continental forces are defeated by the British. - After Camden, Jack and Custis are separated from their army and must survive in the South, where Custis’ status as property repeatedly tests Jack’s moral judgment.

Between the lines: - Deptula is using historical fiction to make a broader argument about who fights wars and why. - The enslaved character Custis sharpens the moral tension in the story and underscores how freedom and property shaped the Revolutionary era. - The title Can’t Find My Way Home signals a focus on displacement, not just military action. - Deptula said he wanted to highlight parallels between the American Revolution and the present day. - Deptula also said the motivation to endure hardship comes from comradeship more than political ideology.

What's next: - The books are available from Amazon and Amazon. - More information is available on the author’s website. - Ray Deptula also maintains social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram and X.

The bottom line: - Those Damned Yankees aims to turn Revolutionary War history into a personal story about survival, moral choices and the search for home.