Don Bendell

Don Bendell
Born	(1947-01-08) January 8, 1947 Akron, Ohio, United States
Occupation	Author, Speaker, Karate Instructor, Cowboy, Rancher
Nationality	American
Genres	Western, War, History, Romance, Science fiction,biography, memoir
Literary movement	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Shirley
Children	6 children 10 grandchildren
Influences U.S. Army Special Forces, Vietnam War, Martial Arts

Don Bendell, (born January 8, 1947), is a best-selling American author of 26 books, including his brand new hardcover non-fiction book TRACKS OF HOPE . . .a MEMOIR and the popular new historical western novel STRONGHEART (Berkley Books, Sep. 2010), 4 military thriller novels about the Global War on Terrorism, 4 autobiographical Vietnam Era books, 6 science fiction novels (written under the pen name of Ron Stillman), and 10 historical Westerns – the "Colt" series—written from 1993-2000. He was born in Akron, Ohio, and now owns a ranch outside Florence, Colorado.

As an author of 26 books, Bendell draws his characters and storylines from a vivid imagination and personal life experience. A disabled Vietnam veteran he is a former United States Army Special Forces captain and served in Vietnam 1968-1969, including a tour on a Green Beret A-team (Dak Pek) in Vietnam, was also in the Top Secret Phoenix Program, and was medically-evacuated from South Vietnam in 1969. In the early 80s, he wrote, produced, directed, and co-starred in a low-budget, martial arts/action movie, The Instructor which was shown in 164 countries worldwide. He also moved to Colorado in the early 1980s becoming a big game guide and outfitter for a time and furthering his tracking skills gained through decades of bowhunting, scouting, Special Forces experience, and spending lots of days and nights in the wilderness. As a volunteer tracker, he has tracked children and adults lost in the mountains, trailed cop-killers, worked alongside trackers of the Navajo Tribal Police, ran down leads for the FBI, and has helped track, locate, and recover the bodies of lost hikers. To that end, after numerous requests, Don wrote his hardcover TRACKS OF HOPE . . .a Memoir released in August, 2011 by Gold Minds Publishing, LLC of Nashville in which Don details some of his tracking cases, several of which were national news stories. The publisher nominated the book for the Pultizer Prize in the biography/memoir category. He has spoken around the country and was even made an Honorary Oklahoman by then-Lieutenant Governor but now Governor Mary Fallin and the state House of Representatives of Oklahoma. On September 27, 2006, Don was appointed to the Colorado Governor's Council on Physical Fitness by former Governor Bill Owens, and was re-appointed by current Governor Bill Ritter on November 13, 2008, and reappointed again in November 2010. In 2007, then-Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Nicholson honored John Elway and Don Bendell in a speech at the Denver VA Medical Center stating that Don Bendell was the ideal example of how a disabled Vietnam veteran could overcome numerous physical obstacles with a good exercise and diet program and live a healthy fulfilling life. Nicholson pointed out that at the time, Don was 60 years old but doing 1,000 pushups at a time and 1,000 crunches per day. Don also currently is the national Deputy Executive Director of Vets for Romney, an official part of the Mitt Romney for President campaign.

Bendell is a Grandmaster instructor in 4 martial arts (Song Moo Kwan Tae Kwon Do, Freestyle Karate, Judo, Jujitsu)and is a Black Sash instructor in Muay Thai, has over 45 years of experience in the martial arts, is Head of Style of Shita Jujitsu and Shita Judo, is a 1995 inductee into the International Karate & Kickboxing Hall of Fame^{[citation needed]}, and owns a karate school in southern Colorado in Pueblo West called Bendell Karate. His wife Shirley was also inducted into the International Karate & Kickboxing Hall of Fame in December, 2009, the third woman ever, making Don and Shirley the first couple in history to both be inducted into the International Karate & Kickboxing Hall of Fame. Don Bendell says he still teaches the martial arts to keep his sanity as an author and regards it more as a ministry of sorts. After her Hall of Fame induction, with Don at her side, Shirley then battled through two years of near-death experiences from Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia with Lymphoid Blast Crisis undergoing ten cycles of chemotherapy as well as a successful bone marrow/stem cell transplant. She is now cancer free. During that time, Don battled against a heart attack, two stents emplaced, a nasty fall in sub-zero temps while alone in his pasture resulting in a broken back, rib, and brain hemorrhage. Both have fought back and recovered. Bendell's editorials have been widely-published in newspapers and magazines like Red County, the Buffalo Gap News, the (Pueblo) Chieftain, (Colorado Springs) Gazette, New Media Journal, The American Spectator, and have been circulated by millions all over the world on the Internet^{[citation needed]}. He has been interviewed by Martha McCallum on Fox News and on many radio shows, and speaks all over the country. Working with the POWNetwork.org, he has also been very instrumental in exposing phony Green Berets and wannabe war heroes, such as federally-convicted former Atlantic City Mayor Bob Levy^{[citation needed]}.

Don Bendell is currently writing a new western novel, BLOOD-FEATHER which will be released worldwide in 2012 by his publisher Berkley Books and is the sequel to the very popular STRONGHEART, which is drawing critical comparisons to the best works of Louis L'Amour and Zane Grey and this summer was the best-selling western at amazon.com. Like STRONGHEART, his previous novel a contemporary military thriller about modern-day Delta Force called DETACHMENT DELTA and is available through [www.amazon.com] and at many stores and bookstores worldwide. It was released January 9, 2009 and STRONGHEART was released exactly one year later. Bendell's trilogy of military thrllers the CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DETACHMENT series is complete with the second and third book, BROKEN BORDERS, and BAMBOO BATTLEGROUND, also in release worldwide.

In Waco, Texas on June 11, 2011, Don was featured at a "Meet the Authors" Read West Foundation conference, along with western authors Stephen Harrigan and William Gronesman III and all three were presented with the first annual awards for Excellence in Western Literature.

Bendell is the father of 6 grown children, has 10 grandchildren, a Master of Science Degree in Leadership from Grand Canyon University and a Bachelor of Science degree in business from Colorado Christian University. Don loves bowhunting for big game, fishing, dancing, sports, poetry, and the Denver Broncos. 2 of his 4 sons are currently also in the US Army Special Forces (Green Berets). His oldest daughter, Brooke Bendell Stark, was a Christian missionary converting Muslims into Christians in India and Africa. His son-in-law, Burwell Stark, of the Raleigh, NC area, is now also becoming a popular conservative editorialist with his works published in such conservative magazines as American Thinker.

Don Bendell is a Decade Life Member and former President (2001–2003) of the Rocky Mountain Chapter (4/24) of the Special Forces Association, a Life member of the Special Operations Association, Life member of the VFW, DAV, Western Writers of America, Military Writers Society of America, ReadWest.org, and a member of the American Legion.

When asked about his occupation, Don usually grins and replies, "I am an American cowboy with a real horse and a real ranch." His 190-acre ranch ranch south of Florence, Colorado is called the Strongheart Ranch after his new western character. He and Shirley have horses, and raise red and black angus cattle and blue/green and white peacocks.

Code of the West

Bendell applies his version of the “Code of the West” to his Westerns and his life:

• Cowboys should treat women like ladies, period.
• Cowboys fight fair, they fight only when they have to, and when they do have to fight, they win, period.
• You know exactly where you stand with a cowboy. There are no gray areas, only black and white, but not when it comes to skin color.
• A cowboy is only as good as his word.
• A cowboy protects his family, spread, and community.
• A cowboy will fight for, and take care of orphans, widows, and those who are oppressed.
• A cowboy will go out of his way to avoid a fight and is always willing to share his grub, campfire, and water.
• A cowboy believes in his God, and he believes in America and will fight and die to protect either.

Bibliography

Colt series

Westerns, "Colt" series, of which four were nominated for the prestigious Western Writers of America’s Spur Award, are:

• Chief of Scouts (1993)
• Horse Soldiers (1993)
• Colt (1994)
• Coyote Run (1994)
• Warrior (1995)
• Justis Colt (1996)
• Eagle (1997)
• Matched Colts (1998)
• Blazing Colts (1999)
• War Bonnet (2000)

All published by Signet Westerns (Penguin)

Current non-fiction memoir

• Tracks of Hope . . . a Memoir (2011)

Current novels

• Strongheart (2010)
• Detachment Delta (2009)

Other works

Don has also returned to writing motion picture screenplays with a Vietnam War script being negotiated entitled Yards. He is currently writing the sequel to Strongheart, which is entitled Blood Feather and which will be released worldwide in 2012 Berkley Books. He also wrote, produced, directed, and co-starred in the motion picture The Instructor (Shapiro Entertainment/Vestron, 1984).

Also Current

• Criminal Investigation Detachment (2005)
• Broken Borders (2006)
• Bamboo Battleground (2007)

Vietnam Era books

• Crossbow (1990)
• The B-52 Overture (1992)
• Valley of Tears (1992)
• Snake-Eater (1994)

Science Fiction

(pen name "Ron Stillman" – but just the first six books in series were written by Bendell, who created the series)

• Tracker (1990)
• Green Lightning (1990)
• Blood Money (1991)
• Black Phantom (1991)
• Firekill (1991)
• Death Hunt (1991)

Poetry

POEMS OF THE WARRIOR (1999)

External links

• http://www.donbendell.com/
• http://www.bendellkarate.com/
• http://strongheartranch.com/
• Don Bendell at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database