NEA program helps soldier-writers put words to experiences

FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- At first, Jeff Jennings' e-mails home from Afghanistan were short, matter-of-fact accounts just to let his wife know he was safe.

But soon Jennings, a major with the 10th Mountain Division, began sending more descriptive e-mails, packed with his feelings on the war, death, hardship in the desert and survival.

"The experience here has changed me as it has all of us in one way or another," he wrote in April. "To see the beauty of a land so scarred by war, to see young men who look so old, to be part of an important endeavor will remain with us all from now on."

His musings are what the National Endowment for the Arts had in mind when it launched "Operation Homecoming," a series of writing workshops this summer at military posts involving 16 prominent writers including Tom Clancy, Tobias Wolff and Mark Bowden.

The NEA believes many military personnel have the talent -- and the experiences as the result of the war -- to become writers. Even if it doesn't produce a new generation of literary giants, the program will help establish a rich historical record, said NEA spokeswoman Felicia Knight.

The power of wordsSuzanne Jennings began distributing her husband's writings -- which he called "News from the Edge of the Empire" -- to other family members, who passed them on to friends and acquaintances, who circulated them more broadly.

When the 20-year veteran received an e-mail from a stranger in Florida who had read one of his letters, he realized the reach and power of his words. Later, he found out they were also being read to cadets at West Point.

"Really, I started writing to capture events for myself and as sort of therapy to deal with all I was feeling," said Jennings, 44, of Yuma, Ariz. "I was dumbstruck that anyone else would find it interesting or care."

The first NEA workshop earlier this month at Fort Drum, home of the 10th Mountain Division, featured novelists Richard Bausch and McKay Jenkins. Jennings was among 45 soldiers who attended one or both of the two-hour classes put on by the authors.

Bausch talked about the hard work required to write fiction.

"Writing is not an indulgence," Bausch said. "Indulgences are what you give up to write."

Jenkins discussed the art of nonfiction, explaining how he wrote his own war chronicle, "The Last Ridge" about the 10th Mountain Division's exploits in World War II, where it won distinction defeating the Nazis in Italy at Riva Ridge.

Jenkins said although the media has extensively covered the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, where the 10th Mountain has seen combat, there are "a lot of empty spaces" that only the personal accounts of soldiers can fill.

"I wish we had something like this," said 80-year-old Bob Wilson, an Army pilot who flew 55 missions in a B-25 in the Pacific during World War II.

"Fifty years later, I really can't talk about my war experiences, and now I don't even remember the names of many of the men I flew with. Maybe, if I had written about my experiences back then it would be different now," said Wilson, who became an airline pilot after he left the Army and has written for several technical journals over the years.

After 12 years in the Army, including stints in Somalia and Afghanistan, Sgt. George Siegler is using his military experiences to write a book on operational planning and leadership.

"My struggle is getting the thoughts and ideas from my head to paper," said Siegler, 30, of Queens, N.Y., who has completed outlines for all the chapters in his book. "It was valuable to hear from professional writers that it's not an easy job, that it's something you have to work at every day."

The writing project also is for spouses. Rhonda Elsaesser sent her husband, George, four or five letters a week while he was in Afghanistan. She attended both Bausch's and Jenkins' classes.

"You always hear about the soldiers," said Elsaesser, of Belvidere, N.J. "I don't think most Americans know what it's like for the spouse left behind."

The second workshop is in July at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Other sessions are planned for the Army's Fort Richardson in Alaska; Camp Pendleton, California; Hurlburt Field, Florida; and the Naval bases in Norfolk, Va., and San Diego, Calif.

Follow-up tutorials will be given over the Internet, and for those who can't attend the workshops, the NEA has put together a compact disc. The NEA plans to publish an anthology of the best writing, scheduled to come out at the end of 2005.

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On the Net:

National Endowment for the Arts: http://www.nea.gov

Operation Homecoming: http://www.operationhomecoming.org