“Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of
our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude.
America will never forget their sacrifices.” President
Harry S. Truman
Thank
you for your interest in this book. I am proud to have a poem in the anthology
to help veterans.
I
never considered myself connected to the military. My dad served in the Air
Force for a short time. He met my mother at a military dance. They were married
in Dover, Delaware, where he was stationed at the time. He had gone into the
service instead of playing minor league baseball, but many in his generation entered
the military at that time, and many served in combat. My dad did not. Because
of that I think men such as he saved the honor for those who did. And those who
did, didn’t want to talk about it. My cousin served in Vietnam – but I remember
someone saying he can’t and wouldn’t talk about his time there.
Today
because of technology such as social media, television and Internet, 9/11 and
the war on terrorism are prominent in our thoughts and lives. Images of war and
military personnel come to us every day. We even get glimpses from the battlefield.
Cameras and cellphones are everywhere and allow current, first-hand news.
My
connection to the military was growing and getting closer to home around the
time of 9/11. I had met my husband in 1997 and had been in the Army. There were
stories of being stationed in Turkey. Then a nephew joined the Army, then
another joined the Air Force. Then -- My son joined the Army Reserves. He went
to boot camp far away from home. I learned a lot about the military at that
point. My daughter, husband and I went to his graduation. Then there was AIT.
Then trainings. One nephew has now served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. My
son prepped to go overseas but orders were cancelled. He had quit his job, moved
home. He finally got two retail jobs before getting on full time at a Reserve
Center.
About
a year ago, my daughter met a guy who seemed extremely well suited to her in many
ways. But he, like my nephew, as I later learned when he posted a suicidal note
on Facebook, they both continue to suffer from PTSD from combat in Iraq. After
I wrote my poem for the anthology, my daughter and her boyfriend reunited only
to break up again recently. It saddens me greatly. I thought she had found the
one finally.
I
am so happy to be published in the anthology because I am deeply proud of my
son, my nephews, my dad (who I lost just this past November), my husband (who
was disabled and I also lost a couple years ago) and even my daughter’s
ex-boyfriend. Contributing to this book is one very small way that I can give thanks
to them and others like them and give back to veterans. It’s not much, but I’ll
keep trying. It is very important to me to help veterans, particularly veterans
who are living with a disability.
Anita Stienstra’s poems, essays and articles can be found in reviews, newspapers, anthologies
and also in six chapbooks. Awards received include the John Knoepfle
Creative Writing Award for Poetry, PWLF Presidential Award, and Springfield
Area Art Council Artist Advancement Award. She is currently
Editor-in-Chief of Wing World
magazine and publisher/editor of Adonis Designs Press that annually publishes a teen
poetry anthology, Navigating the Maze. Make sure to read her poem about 9/11 – The Vacant Sky. Follow her on
Twitter.
