Former Naval Officer’s Personal Struggle Inspired His Revolutionary War Saga

MERRITT ISLAND, FL, UNITED STATES, October 23, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — For Ray Deptula, joining the military was not about politics, patriotism or a lifelong dream of wearing a uniform. As a struggling college freshman with an absent father, a permanently hospitalized mother and little hope of finishing college, he saw the U.S. Navy’s offer of a full scholarship as a way to survive.

Decades later, that experience became one of the reasons Deptula wrote Those Damned Yankees, a two-book historical saga featuring a frightened teenage protagonist whose decision to become a soldier is driven by circumstances rather than ideology.

“People join the military for many reasons,” Deptula said. “Some, like me, do so out of desperation but grow under the care and feeding received, otherwise known as ‘love’ — tough love.”

Set against the volatile backdrop of colonial America, A Dog Before a Soldier (Book One) follows teenage Jack Halliday, who — fresh off three harrowing years on a slave ship — joins the British Army in 1774 out of sheer necessity. Sent to Boston as part of the security force to help suppress a growing rebellion, Jack understands little of the political turmoil as he fights in key battles, including Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill, Long Island and the capture of Philadelphia, before deserting the British Army and seeking refuge in Annapolis, Maryland.

After deserting, Jack finds his way to Annapolis, where he is fortuitously taken in by a wealthy landowner who ultimately asks him to act as his surrogate in the Continental Army alongside an enslaved man named Custis. In return, Jack is welcomed into the family and promised the landowner’s daughter’s hand in marriage.

Can’t Find My Way Home (Book Two) finds Jack and Custis serving with the Continental Army after enduring the harsh winter of 1780-81 at Washington’s army encampment in New Jersey. When spring arrives, they are swept into the Battle of Camden, where the Continental forces are decimated by the British, and along with it, the American hopes of ridding the southern provinces of Britain’s new and dangerous foothold.

Separated from their army and lost in the volatile South, the unlikely pair must survive together in a world where trust is scarce, and Custis’ value as property continually tests Jack’s moral compass. Their desperate struggle to find safety and return home inspired the title Can’t Find My Way Home.

“At its heart, the series is built on one simple truth: Those who fight their nation’s wars are typically those least able to avoid it,” Deptula added. “And the motivation to withstand hardships comes not from political ideology, but from the love of your comrades.”

About the Author
Ray Deptula is a native of Wells, Maine, and a graduate of Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine. He spent 24 years in the U.S. Navy as a Naval Aviator and a Political-Military Officer with service in Europe, the Mideast, Africa and the Caribbean. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, with a Master of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies. He lives in Merritt Island, Florida, with his wife, Julia.

For more information, please visit https://raydeptulaauthor.com, or find the author on Facebook (ray.deptula), Instagram (raydeptula) and X (DeptulaRay32221).

A Dog Before A Soldier (Those Damned Yankees Book One)
Publisher: Speaking Volumes
ISBN-13: ‎979-8890224002
Available from: https://www.amazon.com/Before-Soldier-Those-Damned-Yankees/dp/B0GNW1VK48

Can’t Find My Way Home (Those Damned Yankees Book Two)
Publisher: Speaking Volumes
ISBN-13: 979-8890224170
Available from https://www.amazon.com/Cant-Find-Those-Damned-Yankees/dp/B0H3RCNGLZ

Trish Stevens
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
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