The Silence of War

The Silence of War project evolved directly from the first-year writing class, When Writing Goes to War, in which I used all of the collected materials and interviews from the previous oral history project. The Silence of War project tells the story of a small group of African-American Vietnam veterans from rural, eastern North Carolina and explores how shared personal experience, the bonds of brotherhood, and the healing power of storytelling allowed these veterans to break their years of silence and who were the original participants of the Breaking the Silence project. The veterans visited my classes to share their stories with students which led to a collaborative discussion with the creators of the The Imagination Project. The Silence of War is a transmedia project, co-produced by faculty members Cara Pilson, Cindy Hill, Sandy Dickinson and students in The Imagination Project and the Documentary Film Program at Wake Forest University, examines the theme of silence through aural, visual and graphic representations of place and intimate personal profiles that capture the mental and physical costs of war. The veterans and their wives who participated were John Barnes, Charles and Maria Helbig, Tex and Joann Howard, Robert Jones, Jr., Louis and Katie Raynor, Ralph Shaw and Ronnie Stokes. The stories that are captured here happened in various places were the veteran felt most comfortable, such as in their homes, during a fishing trip and with their wives and families. The intimacy and power of their words can be felt and heard in the in their stories.

About

Undergraduate students from multiples disciplines and MFA students from the Documentary Film Program (DFP) at Wake Forest University produced enhanced electronic books on a group of North Carolina African American Vietnam veterans who have become a “band of brothers” as a result of their post traumatic stress syndrome and their contemporary mission to reach young soldiers and students with their stories of war and its aftermath. The electronic books will contain portions of the vets’ wartime diaries and writings, period photos and film as well as contemporary short films about these eight men who met each other decades after serving in Vietnam. The books will be designed to target students in English and History classes among others and will be available for educational distribution. The books will be part of a larger project conceived and produced by Professor Sharon Raynor (primary scholar) on The Silence of War. Class sessions will involve six WFU faculty members from the humanities or who have creative or research agendas focused on the humanities as well as guest lecturers who are experts in Vietnam and civil rights history. While students will produce enhanced e-books, the focus of the course will be on the analysis, interpretation, and understanding of how we communicate the human experience, in this case, that of African American Vietnam veterans.

Private John Barnes

"The classes we talk to at Wake Forest - here's the thing, they think that we're helping them. They don't realize how much they are helping us."

John Barnes

Devoted: A Tribute to the Wives

Veteran Charles Helbig, pictured with wife Marie Helbig

Veteran Tex Howard, pictured with wife JoAnn Howard

"I didn't know how to get him help. It just wasn't out there at the time. There was no one saying, 'Let's talk about it.'"

Katie Raynor, pictured with husband and Veteran Louis Raynor

Fishing with Tex

Listen to Veteran Tex Howard discuss his journey - from sharecropping and entering the military, to racism and terror, to trauma and living with his story and silence - all while experiencing in his favorite pastime...fishing.