Readings from:
Veterans of War,
Veterans of Peace

Hosted by Editor,
Maxine Hong Kingston

with contributors:
Grace Paley, Fred Marchant, Phil Johnson, Daniel Moen Thompson, B. Cole Martin and Dan Fahey

Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace is a harvest of creative storytelling generated by writing and meditation workshops that Maxine Hong Kingston has lead for more than 12 years.. Spanning genres and the experience of veterans from five wars, these pieces are meant to help heal the personal and social trauma of war.

Although the first groups that met were combat veterans, they soon came to realize that they weren't the only ones touched by conflict. As their sense of a storytelling community grew, their definition of veteran expanded. Soon more and more people were added to the circle of storytellers -- medics, civilians in the combat zone; gang members, drug users, victims of domestic violence; draft resisters, deserters, and peace activists. All were part of our society touched by war and all could try to heal some of the trauma of war through their art.

Maxine Hong Kingston. Her books—The Woman Warrior, China Men, Tripmaster Monkey, The Fifth Book of Peace, and others—have won critical praise and national awards. President Bill Clinton presented her with a National Humanities Medal in 1997.

Grace Paley. Well known for her award-winning fiction and poetry, she has also been a member of the War Resisters' League, Resist, and Women's Pentagon Action, and was one of the founders of the Greenwich Village Peace Center in 1961.

Daniel Moen Thompson. A Vietnam vet who served with the 5th Special Forces has written the several novels and short stories, his contribution is Marble Mountain an excerpt from his novel with the same name.

Fred Marchant, CO. He enlisted in the Marines in 1968, but formally declared his conscientious objection to all wars just before he was to rotate to Vietnam. He was one of the only Marine officers to be honorably discharged as a conscientious objector and went on to become an award-winning poet.

Phil Johnson. He served in the Air Force Medical Corps during the Vietnam War years, later becoming a writing teacher and youth counselor.

B. Cole Morton. He served as an officer in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, including Tet in 1968. Since then he has run a rubbish removal business, sold cars, been married three times, lost a couple inches off his right leg and now lives on Cape Cod.

Dan Fahey. He served with the Navy in the Persian Gulf. In 1991 he was honorably discharged as a conscientious objector. He has worked as paralegal for a veteran's service organization and is currently pursuing a PhD in international relations..

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