If you're a combat veteran and in the Buffalo, NY area, you might enjoy checking out the writers group at the VA Western New York Healthcare System. Led by a Vietnam vet, "participants can share their stories and offer each
other suggestions to improve the readability of their experiences. The
group meets on the first and third Monday of every month from 1:30 to
3:30 p. m. at 3495 Bailey Avenue, Room 422b, Buffalo, NY 14215." All veterans "interested in writing their story" are encouraged to attend.
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We've talked about writing as catharsis before on this blog, many times, but the above item comes from an opinion piece called "Recording War Stories Allows Spiritual Renewal," published July 5 in the Buffalo News, and linked here. In it, the unnamed veteran (maybe the print version of the story contains his name; the online version does not) says plainly, "We veterans should break our silence and write about the unspeakable
events. I’ve written my stories and they’re more than just about me."
In the short opinion piece, he talks about the deaths of three of his friends in Vietnam, and how "documenting unspeakable memories" like these, "labeling those events and feelings with words and closing the cover" on those stories "is cathartic. The result is a spiritual renewal, a freedom that allows me to choose when to open and close the past while trying to live in the present."
Writing sounds like it's cathartic for this veteran, but it's also a concrete way for him to give honor to the lives of those he loved, and misses.
