Vets
from page AI
centered around Vietnam veterans
called "The Silence pf War." All the
guest veterans have taken part in
? Raynor's project.
"1 thought it would be great for
students to meet with veterans and
get these kind of firsthand experi
ences," said Raynor, whose work
was inspired by her father's Vietnam
War dairy.
John W. Nesbitt, who was joined
by fellow vets Ronnie Stokes Sr.,
John Barnes, Robert Jones and Tex
Howard, told the class he wasn't
happy when he was drafted into the i
war, but thought things might be <
looking up when he heard he would i
be going to Asia.
"(I thought) that would be cool," ]
said Nesbitt, who lives in Durham. "I ]
said, 'It'll be nice and warm over \
,V.?~ ?"
UIV1V.
When he landed in
Vietnam, it did not take
him long to learn that it
wasn't paradise. He
recalled that even walk
ing along jungle trails
was deadly, since many
were lined with booby
traps.
Stokes volunteered
to go to war. He didn't
want to go to college and
felt the Army was a good
alternative ana would allow a farm
boy from Goldsboro to see the
world.
"I learned quickly when I got
over there it wasn't a place that you
needed to be and once you were
there, regardless of what the situa
tion may be, you got to do your best
to get home," said Stokes, who still
lives in his hometown.
He said as difficult as the war
was, it was free of the Civil Rights
conflicts being waged at home.
Integrated units were united, he said,
in trying to find out where the Viet
Cong was.
Barnes, a Goldsboro native who
also volunteered to go war. recalled
the less than heroes' welcome he and
ather Vietnam vets received when
they returned to the United States.
Veterans of other wars returned to
parades and admiration, but after
Barnes' tour of duty, members of his
unit returned home separately and
quietly. There was no fan
fare.
Jones, who was drafted
into the Marine Corps, was
injured fighting for his
country, but even that fact
didn't earn him the respect
of the American public.
"Vietnam was taboo,"
said Jones, who lives in ?
Wake Forest, N.C. "It was
never war, it was a conflict.
You weren't doing things
your country said you
should do, you were doing things to
stay alive basically, and it wasn't
pretty."
Clinton resident Howard, like
Jones, left the war via medevac. He
said upon his homecoming, his own
family avoided and even feared him.
"It makes you feel kind of
messed up when you got family
members that don't want to be
around you," he said.
The veterans also shared stories
about their everyday lives during the
war, in which American soldiers
fought for nearly a decade beginning
in the mid-1960s. The vets said drug
use was common among the sol
diers, many of whom had been draft
ed at the age of 18 or 19. Soldiers
spent their down time listening to the
radio, swapping stories, playing
sports and, best of all, reading letters
from loved-ones back home.
The veterans said receiving let
ters and care packages from home
were one of the few highlights.
"Letters was, man, that was like
heaven ... that was something you
always looked forward to," Jones
said. "It helped you get through the
day or through the week."
News from home sometimes had
an adverse effect on soldiers. The
vets said bad news, such as a break
up letter from a girlfriend, some
times sent soldiers, already sunken
by the bloody conflict, over the edge.
TTie vets said some, after receiving
Dear John letters, shot themselves,
inflicting a "million dollar wound"
that would ensure they'd be sent
home.
Sprigg Doval, a freshman in
Raynor's "When Writing Goes to
War" class, said hearing from veter
ans in person shined new light on
what he'd been learning in class.
Doval said the vets drove home the
power that letters can have.
"The little communications they
had from back home were so impor
tant," he said.
For more information about
"The Silence of War." visit www. the -
silenceofwar.com.
Photos by Todd Luck
Veterans (seated, from left) Louis Raynor,John W. Nesbitt, Ronnie
Stokes Sir., John Barnes, Robert Jones and Tex Howard with the class.
Doval
ESR
from page AS
ted Cancer Services.
The Survivor Social, held after the
walk, gave staff members a chance to talk
about their experiences and enjoy pink
colored snacks.
Bradshaw, a survivor since 1999,
shared her story, reminding others to be
strong, even when it seems toughest to do.
"In all you know and do, never ever
give up. Through the good times and bad
times, always speak life - live every day to
the fullest, value others and love yourself."
Cancer Services, a United Way agency,
offers free services to cancer patients and
survivors. Services include patient advoca
cy, equipment and supplies, wigs, medica
tion and transportation to treatment.
Experiment in Self-Reliance offers a num
ber of services for the working poor.
Brads haw
WFU's 'Dignity'
campaign begins
Wednesday
Angelou, Cole and Wilson
will take part
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Dr. Maya Angelou will deliver opening remarks at
a celebration of dignity and respect at Wake Forest
University on Wednesday, Nov. 6.
The event, which is free and open to the public,
win taice place trom until
4:45 p.m. in Brendle Recital
Hall, located in the Scales Fine
Arts Center.
Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole,
director of the Smithsonian
Institution's National Museum
of African Art, and Dr. Edwin
G. Wilson, Provost Emeritus at
Wake Forest, will join
Angelou, Wake Forest's
Reynolds Professor of
American Studies, to celebrate
the first 30 days of a yearlong,
campus-wide "Dignity and
Respect Campaign."
The Office of Diversity and
Inclusion launched the cam
paign on Oct. 7 to unite the
campus under the core belief
that everyone deserves dignity
and respect. Originally estab
lished by the Center for
Inclusion at the University of
Pittsburgh Medical Center, the
national movement promotes
inclusion through behavioral and organizational
change.
"Dr. Angelou is famous for saying, 'I've learned
that people will forget what you said, people will for
get what you did, but people will never forget how you
made them feel.' Indeed, the relationships students
form with each other, faculty, and staff are at the heart
of our culture here at Wake Forest," said Assistant
Provost for Diversity and Inclusion Dr. Barbee Oakes.
"With the diversification of our student body over the
last several years, we have dedicated great attention to
cultivating a greater appreciation of how diverse con
stituencies enrich our community. The primary goal of
the 'Dignity and Respect Campaign' is to embed the
message 'You Belong Here' into the very fabric of our
campus," she said.
Following Angelou's remarks, Wilson, a distin
guished literary scholar and retired WFU English pro
fessor, and Cole, who previosuly served as president
of Spelman and Bennett colleges, will reflect upon
what it means to show dignity and respect - a timely
topic that resonates on college campuses as well as in
the nation's capital.
Cole
Oakts
ADVANCE SEATING
$39-$59
v
AND ME....
TERRY TUFF
Li/