Overview

Bill Ehrhart's experiences in the Vietnam War have defined his life--first as an enlisted member of a Marine infantry battalion, then as an author, poet and teacher who has spent fifty years explicating the war and its consequences in books, lectures and interviews. In these essays he explores a diverse range of topics, including gun violence and the Second Amendment, American politics and the accelerating destruction of civil society, Afghanistan and other foreign policy misadventures, Israel and Palestine, the nature of patriotism, history as fact and mythology, the blessings of technology, the vast mystery of the universe, the attraction of Grand Tour bicycle racing, the much misunderstood writer Stephen Crane, poets you should know about but probably don't, and more.

Full Product Details

Author:   W.D. Ehrhart
Publisher:   McFarland & Co Inc
Imprint:   McFarland & Co Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 14.70cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 22.30cm
Weight:   0.340kg
ISBN:  

9781476692203

ISBN 10:   1476692203
Pages:   277
Publication Date:   31 May 2024
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

"Table of Contents Preface 1. Paul Fussell: A Remembrance 2. ""Turning Thirty/Sixty"" 3. Thank You for Your Service 4. With All My Heart, Dan 5. What We Can and Can't Afford 6. What Daddy Did in the War: ""Casey"" Kehs Remembers World War II 7. The Arrogance—and Emptiness—of Power 8. Remarks in Honor of the Media FBI Burglars 9. Where the Dangers Lie 10. Con Thien and Dancin' Jack 11. Me and Veterans of Foreign Wars 12. The American War in Vietnam: Lessons Learned and Not Learned, University of Tokyo, June 30, 2015 13. When the Chickens Came Home to Roost: The Vietnam War and the 60s Generation 14. Samuel Johnson Was Right 15. Remarks at the Horsham Air Guard Station 16. In Memory of Horace Coleman 17. A True ­Spat-Upon Soldier Story 18. God, Jesus, and the Vietnam War 19. The Tail Wagging the Dog 20. America's Modern Military: Who Serves and Who Doesn't 21. From Pennridge to Vietnam: What I Knew and Didn't Know 22. ""A Band of Brothers"": Senior Dinner Remarks 23. A Foolproof Solution to Gun Violence in the U.S. 24. Earth Songs II: A Review 25. Chiseled in Stone by God's Hand? 26. Veterans Day vs. Armistice Day 27. Bernie Sanders: Extreme Radical Socialist 28. Captain Crozier Deserves a Medal 29. Tom McGrath: A Political Poet 30. A Letter to My Daughter: Election 2020 31. Racism: As American as Apple Pie 32. Trump and the Military: Is Anyone Really Surprised? 33. Why I'm Not Voting for Donald Trump 34. The Democratic Party Has One Last Chance 35. Insurrection: Are We Really Surprised? 36. Is This Who We Are? 37. Will You Settle for Returning to Politics as Usual? 38. Welcome to the Shooting Gallery 39. ""We Forced Them to Be Brutal to Us"" 40. It's Time to Dump the Filibuster 41. Afghanistan: The Graveyard of Empires 42. Afghanistan: Vietnam Redux 43. Afghanistan: Who's Responsible? 44. Sanitizing American History 45. Re-thinking American History 46. More Fun Facts About American History 47. It's a Big Universe Out There 48. Do You Believe in Unicorns? 49. You Want to Serve Your Country? 50. A New Birth of Freedom 51. This Is Democracy? 52. Who Needs Diversity, Equity, or Inclusion? 53. Does This Mean War? 54. Propaganda 101: The Art of Creative Lying 55. What Is a Bayonet? Or, Who Wins and Who Loses? 56. Going Green, Or: Poetic Justice 57. Smedley Darlington Butler: From Consummate Imperialist to Strident ­Anti-Imperialist 58. In Praise of 21st Century Luddism 59. Woe Is Me! 60. A Farewell to Arms? 61. The Way Things Are 62. Let's Talk About Original Intent 63. The New Normal 64. Trumpster Nation 65. Why I Like to Watch Bike Racing Military History of W.D. Ehrhart About the Author Index"

Reviews

"""There are many excellent and revelatory essays in this collection. I would recommend to anyone wanting to read American history.""--The Veteran"

Author Information

Memoirist, poet and editor and former Marine W.D. Ehrhart taught English and history at the Haverford School in Haverford, Pennsylvania. The author of twenty books, his prose and poetry have appeared in hundreds of publications including the Los Angeles Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Utne Reader, Reader's Digest, American Poetry Review and the Virginia Quarterly Review. He was a major presence in the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick documentary The Vietnam War.

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