A REAL LOOK AT LIFE IN UNIFORM WRITING WORKSHOP HELPS SOLDIERS, FAMILIES TELL

Story and photo by Mark Nicklawske

Movies, books and television shows tend to highlight two kinds of military stories: The heroic private saves a platoon in a midnight firefight or the wounded soldier returns home a broken soul.

But there is much, much more to life in uniform. Just ask anyone who has served.

Duluth writer, pilot and Air Force veteran Eric Chandler worked to capture those hidden stories and share them with the public in a two-day writing workshop for all those touched by life in the service. A group of northland writers attended “Bridging the Gap: A Writing Workshop for Military

Their Stories

Storytelling” June 2-3 at the Fitger’s Brewery Complex in Duluth. A public reading was also held to conclude the event.

Chandler said Americans typically salute veterans with parades, but listening to their stories can be more significant. The storytelling process can lead to a better understanding of what it’s like to serve the country.

“I’ve had commanders when I was in Iraq say, ‘Hey, go home and tell your story,’” he said. “I’ve done some writing myself, so I thought it was something I could pull off.”

After attending a writing conference in Washington, D.C., early last year, Chandler created a smaller scale Duluth event to help writers tell military stories. The Arrowhead Regional Arts

Council authorized a $5,000 grant for the project.

Bridging the Gap featured presentations from four national writers and instructors:

• David Chrisinger, the director of writing seminars for The War Horse, a nonprofit newsroom that focuses on military and veteran issues.

• Randy Brown embedded as a journalist in Afghanistan with his former Iowa Army National Guard unit and published a book of poems based on the war.

• Mary L. Doyle, an Army veteran, has written about her Iraq war experiences in a variety of styles include memoir, mystery and adult romance.

• Andria Williams is the wife of an active duty naval officer, author of the 2016 novel “The Longest Night” and manager of the “Military Spouse Book Review” blog.

Chandler said the group was enlisted to provide insight and assistance to a variety of Northland writers. The four speakers all played different roles in the military and have written about their lives with different perspectives.

The workshop encouraged people to tell stories about military life — all aspects of it — not just the stereotypical “heroic” and “damaged” soldier narratives, Chandler said.

“This is an attempt to help shatter that a little bit, to show that there is a broader spectrum of experience for people who are in the military or adjacent to the military, like family members,” he said. “The idea being that if I can encourage people to write about those experiences then maybe some of that writing will enter the public arena and can help shatter the idea that there are only two types of veterans, two types of experiences.”

Williams, a guest author, wrote exclusively about a young couple and their love life on a military base in her debut novel. Brown has written a humorous poetry book called “Welcome to FOB Haiku: War Poems from Inside the Wire.”

Instructors worked closely with each writer to help them share their stories so readers would better understand the hardships, sacrifice and daily experiences of life in and around the service. Since the end of the Vietnam War, a smaller percentage of Americans have served active duty, he said, which means fewer people understand what it means to live on an aircraft carrier or prepare for a night battle.

This is the civilian-military gap.

“I’m talking about how our elected civilian leadership in the country is becoming more and more disconnected from the actual experience (of the military),” he said. “I wish people would feel more pain.”

If leaders better understand military life, Chandler said, they will make more informed decisions on important issues like veteran health care, proper supplies levels and war strategy.

University of Minnesota Duluth associate professor and journalism program director John Hatcher said writing workshops can inspire people to share their stories.

“Storytelling is how we communicate as humans, so in some ways, it’s wired into us,” he said. “What most people need is the permission to tell their own stories. People assume their own stories are just their lives and not particularly interesting. But, when you press them, most people have important stories to share — stories that others will connect to and learn from.”

Sharing stories not only benefits readers with new knowledge, said Hatcher, sometimes it benefits the writer.

“Veterans, especially those with military service, may benefit from the healing that comes from telling a story,” he said.

Getting those stories out in front of the public could help even more. Chandler said the workshop directed writers on publication avenues.

“You can write to your heart’s content but if it ends up in a box in the attic, that’s not what I’m after,” he said. “Because writing has long life, if you get it published somebody will find it eventually, maybe a historian will find it or somebody who makes policy or it will help some kid think about (war) in a more nuanced than cartoon level.”

Duluth Veterans Memorial Hall program assistant Jay Hagen said the St. Louis County Historical Society collects and archives military stories. A small room at the Historic Duluth Depot is jammed with volumes of written work from local veterans.

“So many stories have been lost to history,” he said. “We’re doing our best to hang on to them.”

Hagen said future generations will seek out military stories as they study U.S. history and family roots. He said storytelling has played an important role in national development.

“Our nation was settled by immigrants, and many didn’t have the means to record their experience so we relied on these stories from the old country being passed down,” he said. “You can see it in Native American culture, too. Stories were amplified as they were forced to live shoulder to shoulder. It created strong connections. And, of course, African Americans lost their family ties when they were brought over here forcibly. There’s a strong human need to share stories.”

Chandler said nine writers attended the day-long workshop. While participation numbers were small, he was pleased with the results from the inaugural event. “The group itself seemed to be about the right size. It allowed a lot of instructorstudent engagement. I think a lot of the beginning writers really had their eyes opened to the tools and craft of writing,” Chandler said. “I think people were really energized.” v