Three Trillion Drops of Water: Vietnam, a Hero, and Home

Based on actual events that happened in 1966-67, Three Trillion Drops of Water is the fictionalized account of a sister's efforts on the home front to heal in a family split apart by the death of her only brother in the Vietnam conflict.Ellie Dennis was raised in the South to assume she will marry, have children, and be completely satisfied by that. But new ideas bombard her when she enters college the same year her older brother, Hank-the stabilizing force throughout her life-goes off to Vietnam. Inundated with shocking anti-establishment ideas, the anti-war ethos, and new views on morality, a confused Ellie flees her repressive where home traditions are not to be questioned. She becomes the target of her lustful biology professor and Joe, a free-wheeling classmate who introduces her to marijuana and free love. Her need for Hank's guidance grows more urgent when she discovers she is pregnant, but before she can write to him about it, two Marines come to her door with the news that Hank has died a hero in Cam Lo. Grief-stricken, Ellie struggles to regain her equilibrium and do what she is expected to do-preserve her broken family. Ellie's world continues to disintegrate as her mother becomes an angry alcoholic, and her father buries himself in work. Joe rejects her and the baby leaving Ellie so distraught that she suffers a near-fatal traffic accident which causes a miscarriage. Shortly afterward, her father has a massive heart attack, and her mother pushes her farther away. Her world hollow and crumbling, an overwhelmed Ellie prepares to end her life. With pills in hand and a plan in place, she is about to destroy herself when the story takes a supernatural twist: Hank comes back to deliver a message to her.… (more)