A Louisiana resident, the author, Michael Dan Jones, is a Vietnam War veteran and an avid student of military history, particularly the War for Southern Independence. He is also a veteran living history re-enactor who took part in the 125th anniversary reenactment of the First Battle of Manassas as a member of the Tiger Rifles re-enactment unit. Jones is a retired newspaperman and has written articles for prominent historical magazines. He is a 1974 cum laude graduate of the University of Houston and a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the Company of Military Historians, the Sons of the American Revolution, and Descendants of Mexican War Veterans and the Military Order of the Stars and Bars. Jones is the recipient of the Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal from the United Daughters of the Confederacy for a series of articles he wrote on the Battle of Calcasieu Pass, Louisiana. Other notable awards he has received are the Distinguished Service Medal and the Commander-In-Chief's Award, both from the Sons of Confederate Veterans. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from his local SCV camp, Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390. Jones co-authored "Lee's Foreign Legion: A History of the 10th Louisiana Infantry Regiment," with Thomas Walter Brooks. The Southwest Louisiana Historical Association has published a series of books by Jones, which are compilations of his newspaper articles he wrote on the history of the area, "Southwest Louisiana in the War Between the States," "Southwest Louisianians Defend the Nation," and "Adventures in Old Calcasieu." Michael Dan Jones is currently working on a series of histories about Louisiana Confederate military units in the War for Southern Independence.