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More Than a Memory

By Michael Burke (reviewer)

More Than a Memory: Reflections of Viet Nam,
Victor R. Volkman, editor
(Modern History Press, 2009)

More Than A Memory: Reflections of Viet Nam, tells the stories of more than a dozen Vietnam veterans, in poetry and verse, deploying us back in-country quicker than a rifle shot. These are frontline stories with plenty of GI savvy and insight, not some Hollywood hacks cracking copy out for a movie or series, its the real thing. And if this one doesn't take you back in-country, chances are you were never there.

Edited by Victor R. Volkman, this book's 217-pages come alive with the memories many of us thought had long ago been erased from the blackboards of our minds. We become recipients of this outstanding selection of riveting tales and fascinating stories such as Kangaroo Court Martial by Shirley Jolls and Walter Aponte and such powerful poetry as Pop Smoke, by Dayl Wise.

This is one book of truth we can wrap around ourselves, the same fabric of another war that should have never been. Borrowing a few lines from the back cover--"In poems, stories, essays, and photos, fifteen veterans remember. Traumatic memories are never in the past: they live on and sear the mind every minute of every day."

Michael Burke is the VVAW Atlanta Contact.