Veterans' anthology wins award

"Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors, Volume 1," published by Southeast Missouri State University Press in cooperation with the Missouri Humanities Council and Warriors Arts Alliance, has won the 2013 Stars and Flags Book Award gold medal for an anthology, according to a university news release.

The Stars and Flags Book Awards program, a national contest, was established six years ago to promote books with a connection to the military and to support veterans, the release said. The judges are historians, educators and authors, many whom are veterans themselves, the release said.

"Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors, Volume 1" (2012) and Volume 2, released in November, will be featured at the State Historical Society's Research Center in Columbia, Mo., on March 13 with a reception and book-signing, tours of the University of Missouri Veterans Center and an exhibit that includes the "Year of Peril" series of World War II paintings by Thomas Hart Benton, the release said.

The two volumes of "Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors" are available online from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and from the University Press at www6.semo.edu/universitypress/books/Full_Catalog.htm, the release said.

Guidelines for a call for submissions to Volume 3 can be found at www6.semo.edu/universitypress/Contests/PTB_Contest.htm, the release said.