Posted on: Sunday, April 10, 2005
Troops urged to tell their stories
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
The fighting in Fallujah that the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment from Kane'ohe Bay participated in last November was some of the fiercest of the Iraq war.
Hawai'i Marines saw comrades fall time and time again entering ambushed homes. Sgt. Rafael Peralta, 25, who was wounded in the face, grabbed a grenade and held it to his body as it went off to shield fellow Marines.
He was nominated for the Medal of Honor.
Reporters can write about such events, and the raft of emotions and experiences that are bound up in them, but only offer a secondhand version.
The National Endowment for the Arts wants to try to bridge that gap. In partnership with the Marine Corps and Navy, the public arts program established by Congress is hosting workshops across the country to assist troops in writing about their experiences with war.
The workshops are part of the NEA's "Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience."
A workshop is scheduled for April 21 at Pearl Harbor, and April 22 at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i at Kane'ohe Bay.
"For the men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, these workshops will be an invaluable opportunity," said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. "Guided by talented writers, they will have the opportunity to reflect, learn and write about their experiences."
Playwright and actor Stephen Lang, who played Stonewall Jackson in "Gods and Generals," and novelist Richard Currey, will lead a workshop from 9 to 11 a.m. April 21 at The Banyans at Pearl Harbor.
The second workshop featuring Currey is scheduled for 9 to 11 a.m. on April 22 at the Kane'ohe Bay NCO Club Fairways ballroom.
The writing workshops are free and open to active duty and retired military personnel, reservists, members of the National Guard, and their immediate adult family. To register for the Pearl Harbor workshop, call 473-2924 by April 18. To register for the Kane'ohe Bay workshop, call 254-7641 by April 18.
Writing submissions also are being sought for an "Operation Homecoming" anthology that will feature the best military writings submitted. More information can be found at www.operationhomecoming.org.
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
