In 1992 I had the good fortune to be sent to West Point to take part I their Military History fellowship program to prepare me to teach the subject for Army ROTC.
After I returned and started teaching my students let me understand that here things about war they wanted — indeed needed — to know that were not in the textbooks and approved histories of the Wars of America they were reading. They wanted to know what it was like. When I suggested that they ask family members about Vietnam, many of them found that their veteran relatives were reluctant to talk about their experiences in-country with them. So I began a decade-long series of tape recorded interviews with veterans of all services and a wide array of military occupational specialties to help give my students some insight into the realities of what they must realistically expect to go through themselves sometime in their careers as soldiers. My interviewees were among the most honest and generous people I have ever met, and they taught me things about having grace under pressure I will never forget. The enclosed is by way of a thank you note I wrote them, assuring them that I have learned the life lessons — ones everyone could use — they taught me.
Davida Kellogg
Deer Isle Me