As a co-author of two books and blogging to all my fellow authors of the Military Writers of America, I think that all of you can relate to the joy and sense of accomplishment when one finishes writing a book.
Combat Vets writing about what they lived in Vietnam
Shadows of Combat, Poetry about the Vietnam Era
by Richard C. Geschke & Robert A. Toto
Book Category: Poetry
Reviewed by: Lee Boyland
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1627726950
Title: Turns: A Collection of Memoir Chapbooks
Author: Nancy Arbuthnot
Genre: Poetry
Reviewer: Lee Boyland
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0982922876
A volume of short memoir chapbooks comprised of compelling narratives. The following authors and titles are featured: Deep Blue: Poems of a Navy Life Nancy Prothro Arbuthnot My Life in Shoes Pamela L. Laskin The Enigma Gerri Luce Scenes from My Life on Hemlock Street: A Brooklyn Memoir Arlene L. Mandell Learning from Lady Chatterley Gloria Nixon-John My Two Years in Priest Corps Joe Novara Notes from 1970 Claude Clayton Smith
Title: Pass The Salt Doc
Authors: Mike Mullins and Jim Greenwald
Genre: Poetry
Reviewer: Joyce M. Gilmour
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1630005959
This collection of poetry is about after. After the war, its focus is PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), a serious issue among returning Veterans from all wars. Not easily recognized or readily identified. It does not have a set pattern that can be written down and checked off for all, as PTSD has many faces. This book is dedicated to all Veterans, past, present and future. For it is the Veteran we owe everything to, and taking care of each one is a national responsibility. The arts can and do work wonders for those suffering from PTSD and we would suggest that writing poetry is the strongest drug available to each of you and requires no prescription. Writing provides the externalization necessary to overcome traumatic events/experiences. No poetry you write is wrong or right it is simply necessary on the path of recovery. We are not therapists or professionals in this field and do not pretend to have magic cures. We will state that no professional can "cure" you without your coming to grips from within yourself with the issue and using that ability which we all possess to help ourselves. Writing allows the individual to place on paper emotions they find difficult to vocalize. It is this written expression that can bring about the change needed if "cure" is the desired destination.
Title: A Heart Without Words
Author: David McDonald
Genre: Poetry
Reviewer: Cathryn J. Prince
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1471770885
This poetry deals with the emotions Soldiers and their loved ones must deal with in a myriad of situations. This poetry is much softer in nature to my previous work and is, I hope, easier on the reader for that.