What Is A Warrior Poet: Opportunities for Soldiers to Express Themselves

Guest blogger today is Kristin Johnson (no relation), founder of the Poet Warrior Project. I hope you'll take a moment to pass the opportunity for expression that she offers on to the soldiers you know.

(S)words and the Mighty Pen

By Kristin Johnson

I believe in our military. I believe in the extraordinary eloquence that asserts itself during trials of character.

I have written about make-believe battles, and even real ones such as in the history of Ancient Greece, Athenians versus Spartans. But my imaginings of what Pericles, leader of Athens, or Archidamus, King of Sparta, or Sophocles, who was a general or Strategos in the Athenian military, are just that. Imaginings. The Ancient Greek battles are all in my screenplay, "Pericles," which was my University of Southern California Master of Professional Writing thesis in 1999 but started at the University of Michigan Residential College.

I have written about battles great and small. I've written about them in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, as well as screenplays. I've earned awards and accolades. However, I find myself shamed by the eloquence of modern-day poets who channel Sophocles' spark. Poets such as PFC Jamie Goldstein, who in 2005 inspired the Poet Warrior Project, which once existed as a Web site. However, since our soldiers are blogging (as seen on The History Channel's "Band of Bloggers," http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=55962&display_order=3&mini_id=55609), I decided to rework the Poet Warrior Project into a blog.

What is the Poet Warrior Project? It showcases poetry written by current and former soldiers, from the Korean War to the War on Terror. My guiding philosophy can be summed up thus:

"It is the soldier, not the poet who has given us freedom of speech."--Father Denis Edward O'Brien.

It is also the soldier who often gives us raw gold in his (or her) words. Sergeant Charles E.G. Harding, Sergeant Aaron M. Gilbert, Red Dog, Kurt W. Hearth, Tucker Smallwood, Jim Kirk (a Vietnam Vet---no joke), and especially the wonderful Lloyd A. King, will astound you with their words, as they have moved me. Even if Vietnam still causes immediate mental meltdown, I invite you to respect the words of the soldiers who lived through it: http://poetwarriorproject.blogspot.com/2008/01/lloyd-king-and-other-vietnam-poets.html.

As I state in a March blog entry, I'd like to invite the soldier-blogger-writers to submit poems. Contact me (or leave a comment) and you can be a Guest Poet Warrior on my blog, http://poetwarriorproject.blogspot.com! I'm waiting to hear from you and give your poems a voice, This applies to loved ones of Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, and Coast Guard---PFC Jamie A. Goldstein's mother submitted the poem that started it all.

I believe in our military and I believe in their families. I also believe in people like my extraordinary, beautiful Carolyn, who has given me the opportunity to speak to you today.

Amazon.com Profile: http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A1ZCYC0RHTRMZF/ref=cm_pdp_profile_changeview?viewAs=Public&Go.x=13&Go.y=14
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson wrote the foreword for Eric Dinyer's book of patriotic quotations, Support Our Troops, published by Andrews McMeel. Part of the proceeds for the book benefit Fisher House. Her chapbook of poetry won the Military Writers Society of America's award of excellence.

Gift Tip for Soldiers in the Desert

Here's something that goes beyond homemade cookies that will probably crumble into dust before they arrive in Iraq (or Afghanistan) anyway!

My grandson just told me that tooling around the bases in vehicles in Iraq is a minor kind of hell because of the heat. He wanted one of those fold-up reflectors we use in the warm climes in the US--the kind you put behind your front windshields to keep the sun's rays from heating up the inside of the car and cracking your dashboard. Last I was there, the 99cent store had some.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson wrote the foreword for Eric Dinyer's book of patriotic quotations, Support Our Troops, published by Andrews McMeel. Part of the proceeds for the book benefit Fisher House. Her chapbook of poetry won the Military Writers Society of America's award of excellence.

Guest Blogs on Sunchon Tunnel Massacre Survivor

This little vignette is by Joyce Faulkner, author of Sunchon Tunnel Massacre Survivors. Historians have been neglecting the stories (and veterans!) of that war too long. Faulkner is out to rectify that!

When Pat Avery and I first met the nine men featured our new book, Sunchon Tunnel Massacre Survivors, we knew right away that they were special human beings. Oh sure, knowing their history made them interesting subjects. Being POWs in Korea almost 60 years ago is bad enough -- but these guys had survived the unthinkable -- a massacre. They'd watched their buddies fall to the ground, screaming for their mommas. They were shot, bayoneted, bludgeoned -- and left for dead with the bodies of their friends.

I wondered how the experience had effected them. I wondered how they dealt with their memories. I knew I'd respect them long before I met them. I already felt sorry for their ordeal. What I didn't expect was to care about them so much.

By the time that Pat and I finished Sunchon Tunnel Massacre Survivors, we knew more about sorrow, anger, hatred, hunger, and torture than we wanted. The aftermath was equally hard to bear. We heard about the times they'd screwed up -- the drinking, the fighting, the women, the difficulty they had in holding down jobs. The wives told us about their tempers, their troubled sleep, their jumpiness. I spent many a night sobbing over the manuscript for the boys these men had been.

However, there can be no up if there is no down. Hearing about the ugliness was the price that we paid to know these incredible people. We learned about grit and determination and spirit and hope. We saw that even after falling again and again -- these guys continued to get up and try. We learned how those qualities kept Ed and Bob and Jim and Walt and Valdor and Bill and Allen and Sherman and George alive in Korea -- and how they kept them reaching for happiness ever since their return.

This is a picture of me and Sherman Jones. He was the most seriously injured of the survivors during the massacre. He was shot in the face, side, and leg. One foot has been partially amputated. Sherman endured many surgeries on his face to give him some quality of life. He's very bright, but obviously there was some degree of brain damage and he gets over excited in exciting situations. He has no emotional brakes. When he's happy, he's happy..when he's mad, he's MAD..when he loves you, he loves completely. We call him the hugger and plan events with 15 minutes of welcoming hugs beforehand and 15 minutes of goodbye hugs at the end. We worry about him, love him and are grateful that he's still with us. He's a blessing...
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson wrote the foreword for Eric Dinyer's book of patriotic quotations, Support Our Troops, published by Andrews McMeel. Part of the proceeds for the book benefit Fisher House. Her chapbook of poetry won the Military Writers Society of America's award of excellence.

Angela Jolie Lobbies Petraeus

Did you see the picture of Angela Jolie with General David Petraeus in Time magazine? She's in Baghdad lobbying for more aid for "iraq's estimated 2 million internally displaced refugees." It reminded me of a war that doesn't seem so long ago when Jane Fonda made her conscience the business of the nation. The cases certainly aren't identical. The times aren't, either. But I am reminded that without citizens who care enough to speak their mind--yes, particularly influential citizens--our nation tends to go astray. It doesn't matter so much if your agree with their stance but that they have the right and believe they have the responsiblity to speak their minds. Tolerance. Activism. Hopefully one day peace.
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson wrote the foreword for Eric Dinyer's book of patriotic quotations, Support Our Troops, published by Andrews McMeel. Part of the proceeds for the book benefit Fisher House. Her chapbook of poetry won the Military Writers Society of America's award of excellence.

A Woman for Tolerance

I would rather show this as a video on this blog but I can't figure out how to collect the HTML code. Therefore, please click. One of my friends says the speaker is, "one impressive woman. Here is a powerful and amazing statement on Al Jereeza television. The woman is Wafa Sultan, an Arab-American psychologist from Los Angeles. I would suggest watching it ASAP because I don't know how long the link will be active. This film clip should be shown around the world repeatedly!"

She is speaking for tolerance. Much of what she says is not specifically Muslim-Christian related. It is something for all to think about. The clashes between religions in general and religions against what she calls "secular human beings." Such passion. It was apparently aired in Dubai, one of the most cosmopolitan of Arab countries.

Think of how peaceful the world would be if everyone followed her philosophy.

Click here:

http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=214&ar=1050wmv&ak=nul

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson wrote the foreword for Eric Dinyer's book of patriotic quotations, Support Our Troops, published by Andrews McMeel. Part of the proceeds for the book benefit Fisher House. Her chapbook of poetry won the Military Writers Society of America's award of excellence.