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Swayin

Swayin

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One of things I love about my job (I work in PR and comms for a university after 20+ years as a journalist) is that I get to write long-form stories for the university magazine, which is also produced by our office. For the summer issue, I wrote a piece about a project in which local vets, both on and off campus, contribute stories each year to a journal called Stories Deployed as a way of processing the stress, pain, or sorrow they may have encountered during their service. The latest Stories Deployed has remembrances from Vietnam all the way through recently returned vets from Afghanistan. Anyway, here is a link to the story I wrote about the project, and I would love any of the feedback from the many vets on this site or anyone who takes the time to read it.

Story: https://window.wwu.edu/article/119547

This year's Stories Deployed anthology: https://www.wwu.edu/storiesdeployed/

 
Sounds great and what a wonderful project. Thanks for highlighting it, and some really great writers that may never have shared their stories without this. 

As a corpsman, If you were to make one clarification, in the 1st link  they say

"Trueblood says one thing that strikes her every year is how vividly the vets remember their experiences and how crystalline their recollections can be, whether they’re a recently returned vet from Afghanistan or a Marine Corps medic who endured the siege of Khe Sanh in 1968."

The Marine Corps does not have medics. The medical care is provided by Navy Corpsman attached to the Marine Infantry Divisions. Everyone still knows what it means, but it's akin to calling a Marine a Soldier.

 
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carolina_corpsman said:
Sounds great and what a wonderful project. Thanks for highlighting it, and some really great writers that may never have shared their stories without this. 

As a corpsman, If you were to make one clarification, in the 1st link  they say

"Trueblood says one thing that strikes her every year is how vividly the vets remember their experiences and how crystalline their recollections can be, whether they’re a recently returned vet from Afghanistan or a Marine Corps medic who endured the siege of Khe Sanh in 1968."

The Marine Corps does not have medics. The medical care is provided by Navy Corpsman attached to the Marine Infantry Divisions. Everyone still knows what it means, but it's akin to calling a Marine a Soldier.
Click to expand...
great catch ... I can make that change.

 
carolina_corpsman said:
Sounds great and what a wonderful project. Thanks for highlighting it, and some really great writers that may never have shared their stories without this. 

As a corpsman, If you were to make one clarification, in the 1st link  they say

"Trueblood says one thing that strikes her every year is how vividly the vets remember their experiences and how crystalline their recollections can be, whether they’re a recently returned vet from Afghanistan or a Marine Corps medic who endured the siege of Khe Sanh in 1968."

The Marine Corps does not have medics. The medical care is provided by Navy Corpsman attached to the Marine Infantry Divisions. Everyone still knows what it means, but it's akin to calling a Marine a Soldier.
Click to expand...
Helpful and supportive, nice post corpsman.

 
For the last 10 years or so, I have pondered the differences between my deployment with the Navy on a ship during the Desert Storm period compared to what the ground forces face(d) in-country as part of the War on Terror.

Before I deployed I was worried if I would have the stamina for a high-pressure 24x7 environment on a warship.  I found that I could handle it and, more than that, actually enjoyed and craved it after I got used to it.

Then my dad died during my WESTPAC, I spent all day on a plane coming home for the funeral and the same going back to Persian Gulf to finish my deployment.  Once one of your parents dies, it can change your priorities.  I decided to get out after my hitch was up several months after finishing the deployment and managed to eventually land on my feet in the civilian world.

As difficult as that was at the time for me, it's really minor compared to the experiences of the ground forces in the recent wars.

One takeaway from reading some of the "greatest generation" first-person books that popped up in the 1990s and early 2000s was how many guys had kept bad memories inside for around 50 years in most cases.  I think 20 years is about how long it takes a person to realize they can't cope with some of the bad memories anymore and need to talk about what they went through.

Good to see those folks in that program are able to "pop the blister" and begin healing from the trauma(s) they experienced during their service.

I have only the highest respect for them and others like them.

 
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