Stories From Uniform
Date
2017-01-05
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MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa
Abstract
Despite the nation’s renewed respect for those in “uniform,” for too long, the deeds of
our veterans—those who have served in the trenches and followed the orders of those
appointed over them—have been given minimal attention. Details of anything military
are usually summarized by someone of high rank, a politician, journalist, or historian, but
the one who has done the unglamorous thankless grunt work is oftentimes overlooked.
Very little exists expressly honoring the viewpoint of the GI, what they have to say about
their two-year stint or their twenty-year career. This small book represents a thin sliver
from these voices, a tiny sampling from the vast array of men and women who have,
since the founding of our nation, willingly chosen to give up their personal freedoms,
even their very lives, so the rest of us can have everything. This chronicle of short stories
tells about “everyday ordinary” veterans, although, not just about wartime exploits, but
about the uncommon—even mundane—countless challenges thrust upon them as
“everyday ordinary” folk—from swearing-in to discharge. Like an intricate breathtaking
mosaic, this assortment of recollections reveals a grander portrait of what it means to
serve. Today there are twenty-two million veterans still living. They are ordinary folk:
friends, relatives, neighbors, and colleagues—and each has a story. That means there are
at least twenty-two million stories worth hearing. This book begins with six. They may
not be the most spectacular, but they are six that matter.
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Keywords
Short stories, Veterans, Non-fiction