Military-Writing Event is March 23-25, Brookings, S.D.

The 38th Annual Great Plains Writers' Conference will be held March 23-25, 2014 at South Dakota State University, Brookings, S.D. This year's theme is "Coming Home: War, Healing, and American Culture."

The free, 3-day event features an impressive list of writers on military themes and topics. Speakers include:

• David Abrams: author of "Fobbit"

• Donald Anderson: editor of the War, Literature, and the Arts Journal, and professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy

• Ron Capps: founder of the Veterans Writing Project, and author of the upcoming memoir "Seriously Not All Right: Five Wars in Ten Years"

• Poet Jehanne Dubrow, author of "Stateside"

• Patrick Hicks, author of the upcoming "The Commandant of Lubizec: A Novel of The Holocaust and Operation Reinhard"

• Katey Schultz: author of "Flashes of War," a collection of short stories

• Poet Brian Turner: author of "Here, Bullet" and "Phantom Noise"

Somewhat lower on the playbill, the writer of the Red Bull Rising blog will also conduct a workshop titled, "Finding and Creating Opportunities in Writing about Military Life." Through that presentation, both aspiring and professional writers will learn how to target ideal markets and venues for publishing their works, on-line and in print.

"I'm going to present a list of editorial 'best-practices'—complete with concrete examples—that I hope veterans, service members, and family and friends will use to share their military experiences with others," says Randy "Sherpa" Brown. "At the same time, I want to arm those writers to protect themselves, their stories, and their copyrights."

Brown is a former editor of national trade and consumer magazines, as well as community and metro newspapers. In 2010, he was preparing for deployment to Eastern Afghanistan as a member of the Iowa Army National Guard's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division—a division with historical roots in North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska.

After he dropped off the deployment list, Brown retired with 20 years of military service and a previous peacekeeping deployment. He then went to Afghanistan anyway, embedding with Iowa's Red Bull units as a civilian journalist in May-June 2011.

Brown's military-themed poetry and non-fiction have been published in Tom Ricks' "The Best Defense" blog; The Journal of Military Experience; Doonesbury's "The Sandbox" blog; The Pass In Review journal; and two volumes of the anthology "Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors"(volume 1 and "volume 2"), published by the Southeast Missouri State University Press. He is a past winner of a Military Reporters & Editors blog-writing competition, and a past Milblogging.com "Mil-bloggies" finalist in the veteran and reporting categories.

For the website of the Great Plains Writers' Conference, click here.

For a Facebook page, click here.

For a pre-event publicity PDF poster for the event, click here.

Comic Book Tells of Nisei Soldiers' Service, Humility

Oahu-based writer and entrepreneur Stacey Hayashi didn't start out to write a comic book about World War II—particularly one filled with disarmingly cute characters drawn in a style called "chibi." Inspired first by family and friends' war service, she wanted to tell an unflinching story about the Nisei soldiers—Japanese-American soldiers who fought in Italy, France, and elsewhere—as a feature-length film.

If the world is lucky, it might still be a Hollywood movie someday. This is, after all, a story that should be told again and again.

When Hawaii's film economy turned cloudy in the late 2000s, however, Hayashi was worried that years of research into a screenplay would go to waste. "It's not like you can bind a script and have people read it," she says. "And then it hit me ... a comic book! It would be like storyboards, sort of."

The 30-something Hawaii native teamed up with artist and Rhode Islander Damon Wong, to create and publish "A Journey of Heroes"—an educationally accessible and emotionally powerful graphic novel about second-generation immigrants who put their country first, no matter the cost. In the wake of Japan's Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese-American citizens struggled for opportunities to serve their country. Too often, their efforts were met with distrust and racial discrimination.

The Nisei soldiers—the word connotes "second generation"—include the 100th Infantry Battalion (100th Inf. Bn.), and the 442nd Infantry Regiment (442nd Inf. Reg.). In World War II Italy, the 100th Inf. was, for a time, attached to the 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division (34th Inf. Div.). In addition to wearing the patch, the soldiers even painted the Red Bull symbol on their helmets. The unit was celebrated as the "Purple Heart Battalion," due to the number of its members who had been killed or wounded while fighting the enemy.

The 100th Inf. Bn. trained at Camp McCoy, Wis., and Camp Shelby, Miss, and fought as part of the 34th Inf. Div.'s 133rd Regiment in North Africa and Italy, including battles at Mount Cassino, Anzio, and Rome. After Rome, it became part of the larger 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team (100th/442nd R.C.T.). The unique, combined numerical designation was a special recognition of the 100th Inf. Bn's previous military accomplishments.

Later, at great cost in lives and casualties, the 100th/442nd Inf. RCT would famously rescue a "lost battalion" of Texas's 36th Inf. "Arrowhead" Div.

Nisei soldiers also include those who served with Military Intelligence Service (M.I.S.). These Japanese-American soldiers served as translators, and trained at Camp Savage and Fort Snelling, Minn.

In addition to battlefield heroics and tragedies, "Journey of Heroes" also offers moments of humor and light-heartedness. Initially, for example, there are language- and culture-barriers between the "Buddhaheads" from Hawaii and the "Kotonks" from mainland states:

"Jus cuz you soun' like one haole no mean you mo bettah dan me!" 

"How am I supposed to know what you're talking about, you crazy Hawaiian?"

Later, those differences are erased when the troops are taken on a field-trip to visit an internment camp. During World War II, the American government detained Japanese-American citizens in camps, and deprived them of their freedoms and properties. With dinners and dances, the internees hosted the troops. From those experiences, the soldiers took lessons of patriotism, thanksgiving, and humility.

"Some were very angry at being put in these camps, and rightfully so," says the narrator, "but I noticed the Japanese philosophy of 'shikata ga na'—it can't be helped—at work. They also reminded me of my parents at home, who said "Gaman"—to endure hardships with grace. [...] We based a real unit after that. From then on, we were all in this together."

The "Journey of Heroes" comic is drawn as a manga, similar to black-and-white comics originating in Japan. Rather than a gritty or realistic style, Hayashi and Wong opted for cute characterizations, called "chibi."

Using the friendly-looking cartoon characters meant they could soften the story without dumbing down the facts. That was important, because Hayashi's objective was always that "Journey to Heroes" could be used in libraries and classrooms. "Yes, it's a book that's going to have war and violence in it, but I didn't feel that that was the lesson," Hayashi says. "To me, the true story is the story of [the veterans'] character, and what they did in the face of racism and adversity ..."

"Also, because they're so cute—like the vets themselves—as the reader, I think maybe people are sometimes sadder ... like, how can something so awful happen to this guy who is so cute?" she says. "Even when you meet the vets themselves [in person]. Sure, some of them are tough, gruff old men you don't want to mess with, but they are also so friendly, so cheerful, so generous and gracious and playful, it's hard to believe that these guys were also tough soldiers."

When "Journey of Heroes" was first published as a 30-page comic in 2012, some 5,000 copies were donated to Hawaiian schools and libraries. The content is suitable for ages 10 and up. A second run of the comic is anticipated in late 2013, with additional new pages. One notable innovation: As individuals and organizations, World War II veterans and their supporters often sponsor distribution of the comics into classrooms—putting history in the hands of today's young people, in a fresh, tangible, and unforgettable way.

An introduction to the book by the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, himself a 442nd RCT veteran, reads in part:

We were unlike most other soldiers because we bore the responsibility of bringing honor to our families' names, and proving that Americanism was not a matter of skin color, but a matter of heart and mind.

To purchase a copy of "Journey of Heroes," visit the website here. Cost is $10 each, plus shipping and handling. There is also a 5-mintute movie-style trailer for the comic book posted on YouTube here, and embedded below in this blog-post.

There is also a Facebook page for the comic book here.

To learn more about sponsorship opportunities, visit the website here, or view a 5-minute YouTube video here.

Scenes from a Reading of Dog-eared Children's Books

Photo: Dinko Ibukic/DinkoDesign.com

Save for the promise of a babe in a barn, one would be hard-pressed to conceive a more incongruous congregation: A troupe of traveling actors, a pack of puppies, and a muttering of children who have, on this misty gray Saturday morning, in a military museum filled with guns and planes, gathered together to share stories and songs.

Making her introductions, Paws & Effect Executive Director Nicole Shumate remembers the day before, an ugly and unthinkable and nearly unspeakable day, but only in passing. "Considering yesterday's events," she says, "I can't think of a better way to spend my day today, spending a little time with some kids." Her voice cracks a little, and so do we.

Photo: Todd Cerveris

The troupers hail from the national tour of "War Horse," which is playing later that afternoon at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines. It is a theatrical play that celebrates, among other themes, the connections among humans and animals. It was also a movie. Before that, it was a book for young people.

The off-duty actors have answered an early call, but gamely rouse the crowd with a boisterous tune from the show. Written by John Tams, it appears as "Wheel of Fortune" on the soundtrack. People are just likely to recognize it, however, as "(When We Go) Rolling Home." It is stirring stuff, better than coffee:

Round goes the wheel of fortune, don't be afraid to ride
There's a land of milk and honey waits on the other side
There'll be peace and there'll be plenty, you'll never need to roam
When we go rolling home, when we go rolling home

After the song, the performers focus on their floor-bound audience, eagerly taking turns to read aloud three children's books. At times, it is difficult to discern who is having more fun: the kids, the readers, or the occasional errant pup who crashes in among both.

Photo: Todd Cerveris

In addition to training psychiatric service animals for wounded military veterans, Paws & Effects helps train Reading Education Assistance Dog ("READ") teams—humans and animals that help with literacy efforts. Indeed, some of the children and dogs present have met before, during pre-event arts activities at the Civic Center's annual series of family-centered performances.

Appropriately, on this day, the selected books each speak to human-animal themes, against backdrops of war and sacrifice:

First, "Scuttlebutt Goes to War," a childhood favorite of mine. The 1943 picture book is the true story a dog who is wounded in World War II, and adopted by sailors and Marines. Scuttlebutt gets his name from the wheeled apparatus he uses to get around temporarily, having been injured.

Even as a kid, I apparently enjoyed military punnery. And stories about dogs in service.

Then, "Klinger: A Story of Honor and Hope," which tells how a horse from Iowa becomes a key part in honoring soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

Finally, "14 Cows for America," the story of how, following the attacks of September 11, a tribe in Kenya sought to comfort Americans with the gift of its most treasured possessions.

Between stories, more songs: "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain," then "This Land is Your Land."

Scientists grandly speak of a unified theory of forces, attractions that bind and connect all that is, from planet to particle. Some are strong forces. Some are weak. The way I understand it, some of the smallest are also the strongest, responsible for binding together such fundamental bits as protons and electrons. And, no doubt, snakes, snails, and puppy dog tails.

Even during the holidays, one need not look far to know that there is pain in the world. And hurt. And evil. But there is also peace—a peace that can be found in belly rubs and cocked ears, eager listeners and cradled babes.

Remember this, where'er the wheel of fortune takes you this holiday season: Every moment is a present. Every story, a gift.

Photo: Todd Cerveris

Denver Event to Focus on Military Writing

Writers with interests toward publishing military-themed works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry are invited to the inaugural "Sangria Summit: A Military Writers' Conference" Sept. 12-14, 2012, at the Marriott City Center, Denver, Colo. The event is sponsored by Victor Ian LLC, a military media and gaming business. The business publishes Lanterloon, an eclectic lifestyle, technology, and military blog; and has a physical storefront called "Dragons and Dragoons" located in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Bloggers and brothers James and William Burns are co-founders of the event. "I have an interest in creative writing," says James Burns. "Our game store customer base is largely military. Fort Carson is right next to us. The effort to know my customer led me to Carl Prine [Until recently, the blogger at "Line of Departure"] and Isaac Cubillos. I wanted to do something to help."

Lanterloon editor Isaac Cubillos, author of the Military Reporters Stylebook and Reference Guide, is serving as the Sangria Summit conference director.

“Just as there was an explosion of successful writers after World War II who wrote about the war, there are thousands of stories to be told by a new crop of writers after 10 years of fighting the War on Terror,” says Cubillos. “Today there are many avenues available along with the traditional hard-cover book publishers."

"We hope to help in the development of a new generation of writers who could be the next Tom Clancy ('The Hunt for Red October'), Wiliam Manchester ('Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War'), or another best-selling author like Chris Kyle ('American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History')," he says.

Cost for the 2-day conference is $225. An early bird rate of $195 is available until Sept. 9. Registration includes all agenda material, special handouts, books, and lunch on Thurs., Sept. 13 and Fri., Sept. 14. The Marriott City Center offers a group rate of $179 per night. The conference will begin with an informal reception at the Denver Press Club from 6 to 9 p.m., Sept. 12. For more event registration details, click here.

Scheduled speakers and workshop presenters include:

• Mark Coker, founder of e-publisher Smashwords.

• New York Times Best Seller author Bob Mayer, CEO of Who Dares Wins Publishing.

• New York Times Best Seller author Caitlin Rother.

• USA Today reporter and Army veteran Kelly Kennedy, author of "They Fought for Each Other: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Hardest Hit Unit in Iraq."

• John Holmes, creator of the "PowerPoint Ranger" web comic.

Additional presenters are pending. A list of speakers at the conference is maintained here. Several book agents and editors will be on hand to critique works of aspiring authors, as well. According to organizers, there will be sufficient time to meet other authors and spend time talking about writing during the conference.

A Facebook page for the event can be found here.

Friend of Red Bull Rising and fellow mil-blogger Kanani Fong ("The Kitchen Dispatch") has posted an essay regarding the how and why of writing conferences here.

Poetry Contest for Minnesota Mil-Kids

The office of U.S. Sen. Al Franken, (D-Minn.), a former writer and performer on "Saturday Night Live," has announced a creative way to celebrate April as both Military Child Month and National Poetry Month.

(In addition to being the cruelest month, April 2012 may mark an early return of some of the 2,700 citizen-soldiers of the Minnesota's 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division. At least, that's what some news reports have begun to indicate.)

According to a press release, Franken is hosting a poetry contest on a theme of “My experiences as a Military Child.” Children of military families from Minnesota are encouraged to enter poems of not longer than 300 words. Deadline is April 16.

Entries should include the following information:

• Name of entrant
• Parent/guardian name
• Postal address
• Telephone number
• Name of entrant's school
• Age category (Kindergarten to 6th grade; 7th to 9th grade; or 10th through 12th grade)

The entries will be judged on relevance to theme, creativity, judges' impressions, fluency, structure, and technical excellence.

Ten winners in each category will receive an invitation to Franken’s St. Paul office to meet him, his wife Frannie, and special guest judges including:

• Minnesota Commissioner of Veterans Affairs Larry Shellito
• Minnesota Poet Laureate Joyce Sutphen
• Adjutant General of the Minnesota National Guard, Maj. Gen. Rick Nash
• Minnesota Commissioner of Education Brenda Cassellius
• Minnesota author Kao Kalia Yang
• Minnesota Lynx Coach Cheryl Reeve

The top poems in each age category will be framed and displayed in Franken’s office in Saint Paul, Minn. and in Washington, D.C. Each winner will also receive an autographed book by Garrison Keillor, famed Minnesota author and host of the radio program “A Prairie Home Companion."

For more information, see the press release here. Submit entries to:

poetry@franken.senate.gov

or to:

Office of U.S. Sen. Al Franken
c/o ‘Poetry Contest’
60 Plato Blvd., Suite 220
Saint Paul, Minn. 55107

Vets Write Their 'Ways Back Home'

Blog-editor's note: This post is based on pre-event press materials regarding "Writing My Way Back Home," a free writing workshop for veterans conducted in Iowa City, Iowa, Oct. 14-16, 2011. The event was sponsored by the University of Iowa Veterans Center. Contact information regarding future such events appears below.

The day after Emma Rainey finished organizing and teaching a writing workshop for veterans in 2010, she received a letter from her father—a U.S. naval officer during the Korean War—describing a war trauma he suffered and never mentioned to anyone in the family. "The irony did not escape me," said Rainey. "I barely understood my passion to help veterans—mostly I was driven by news reports of returning veterans committing suicide and knew writing could help. To discover my father had suffered an ungodly trauma—and never mentioned it till now—sent me reeling."

"The workshop’s primary aim is not to generate work of literary quality—although this may happen and certainly did in our first workshop,” said Rainey, a 2009 graduate of the UI Nonfiction Writing Program co-facilitated the workshop with John Mikelson, UI Veterans Center coordinator. “The workshop begins the powerful process for veterans to write their stories and reflect on events they experienced in war in a way that may lead to greater insight, creativity, and healing."

Writers from UI's Nonfiction Writing Program and Writers' Workshop, poets, playwrights, and veterans volunteered to teach blocks of instruction. Topics ranged from the use of descriptions and dialogue, explorations of poetic and visual forms of expression.

"Our first workshop was full of surprises," said Rainey. "First, half the veterans were women—I didn’t expect that. Also, I was overwhelmed by the determination of disabled vets to journey to Iowa City—a blind vet flew in from Minneapolis and a paraplegic took the Greyhound bus from Chicago—to write their stories. But what struck me most of all was the camaraderie—it didn’t matter which branch of service, age, rank, or war had been fought. They veterans were just glad to be together."

Following 2010's event, Rainey and Mikelson had noted many veterans wished to participate, but found traveling to Iowa impossible. Rainey has since incorporated and is finishing the application process for non-profit status to conduct writing workshops throughout the U.S. The name "Writing My Way Back Home" came from correspondence with John Lavelle, a Vietnam War vet from Bettendorf, Iowa. "John used the expression: 'writing my way home' in our e-mail communications," Rainey said. "This phrase was an ideal metaphor for what the vet faces when returning stateside, as well as how they must reconnect—and come home—to themselves. So when it was time incorporate and fill in the name of our organization, John Lavelle gladly gave his permission to use it."

Rainey recently completed a course titled "Recon Mission" at the Therapeutic Writing Institute, Wheat Ridge, Colo. She also conducted two writing workshops this past year for Operation: Military Kids, run by Iowa State University for military children with parents about to deploy. "I think the National Guard has it particularly hard since they are not full time. And though I wasn’t born when my father served in the Korean War, I remember how difficult it was for our family when he was out to sea, sometimes for a year at a time. I’m impressed how organizations are recognizing that family members need supportive attention, too."

The writing workshop was open to all current and former military personnel—whether they were in combat or not.

One lunch was donated by Bread Garden Market, Iowa City. "Eating together—the vets and writers and volunteer therapists—helped deepen the bond in the writing community during the weekend."

Rainey also mentioned Karl Marlantes's 2011 book, "What It Is Like to Go to War" “Marlantes bravely looks into the heart of the warrior and demands our society recognize the healing work needed for our returning warriors.”

Marlantes writes:

This book is my song. Each and every one of us veterans must have a song to sing about our war before we can walk back into the community without everyone …quaking behind the walls. Perhaps it is drawing pictures or reciting poetry about the war. Perhaps it is getting together with a small group and telling stories. Perhaps it is dreaming about it and writing the dreams down and then telling people your dreams. But it isn’t enough just to do the art in solitude and sing the song alone. You must sing it to other people. Those who are afraid or uneasy must hear it. They must see the art. They must lose their fear. When the child asks, "What is it like to go to war?" to remain silent keeps you from coming home.

This year John Mikelson is setting aside a time slot for veterans to read their work during this year’s Veterans Reception on Nov. 9 at the Old Capitol Town Centre. "The one component missing from our last workshop," Rainey recalls, "was a venue for the veterans to read their writing to civilians. It’s a transformative experience, both for the vet and the audience, to hear and understand the warrior’s experience. It’s part of the healing process for the vet and the civilians."

Rainey believes it is essential we reach out to the veterans we have sent to war to help integrate them back home. "After reading my father's war narrative, I began to write an essay about it and realized how his unspoken trauma became an intimate member of our family—an unnamed sibling—and would have been rendered invisible if not for its explosive echo powerful enough to erupt, to this day, the lives of my sisters and mother. More than ever I am committed to helping U.S. military personnel find their way back home through writing."

For more information on "Writing My Way Home" offerings, click here.

Visit the project's Facebook page here.

Or contact:

Writing My Way Back Home
P.O. Box 3470
Iowa City, Iowa 52244

John Mikelson, UI Veterans Center: john-mikelson AT uiowa.edu

Emma Rainey, Writing My Way Back Home, Inc.: emma.rainey4 AT gmail.com

Iowa City Center is Outpost for Student-Vets

U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs blogger Alex Horton recently observed:

When veterans return from deployments and get out of the military, the campus can be an attractive place to start the next chapter of life. It can also be a place with unique challenges of reintegration, like a younger peer group and the juggling of family or career life. So, veterans are usually called nontraditional students, but that doesn’t mean universities understand or always prepare for their needs. But some schools have started to understand the need for veteran-specific programs and services on campus.

The University of Iowa, for example, has a Veterans Center located on the first floor of the UI Communications Center on Madison Street, downtown Iowa City. The center serves a growing population of students who are serving, or who have served, in military uniform. Currently, the veterans number more than 400 on campus, and enrollment anticipated to increase to more than 600 students next year.

Think of it as an outpost, where people speak fluent military-ese, don't flinch at mixing camouflage patterns, and may have even once walked in your boots for a time.

According to the center's website:

• The center is staffed by veterans and is designed to ensure that student veterans at the University receive all benefits to which they are entitled. The center is home to the University of Iowa Veteran's Association (UIVA), which serves as liaison between the university and student veterans, and works to address issues specific to student veterans.

• Assistance and information can be provided regarding issues and benefits such as: housing grants and loans, medical services, and credit hours awards for military service, among others.

• In addition, the lounge offers comfortable seating, several networked computers, fridge/freezer, microwave, big screen TV, and pop/snacks are available for purchase.

• The center is generally open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but calling ahead is advisable: 319.384.2020; 319.335.3152.

The website further describes the University of Iowa Veterans Association (UIVA) as:

[A] group of veterans and supporters interested in helping veterans and returning reservists at The University of Iowa adjust to and integrate into university life. Additionally, the group aims to support persons still serving as well as their families, and to raise awareness among fellow students of the daily sacrifices made on their behalf.

This is not a pro-war or anti-war group. It is a pro-service member group for veterans, reservists, and supporters. People of all political ideologies are welcome.