The Clackamas print., November 16, 2016, Page 4, Image 4

Veterans’ views shared at reading
VETS AND FAMILIES SHARE TALES OF THEIR GENERATIONS
STORY AND PHOTS BY COLLIN BEREND
Everyone has a story to tell. Som e are
never told, w hich is how we get unsung
heroes, whose story we may never hear.
O n N ov. 7, the E n glish D epartm ent
provided the opportunity for veterans
of our armed forces and those who are n o t .
veterans to read a story that was related to
the theme: Veterans Day. The Roger Rook
building became the platform for which
veterans could tell their story and allow
others to come and understand a point of
view through the eyes o f a veteran.
T he fir s t sto ry cam e fro m R yan
Davis, a faculty mem ber o f the English
Departm ent. Taking his position at the
podium , Davis introduced his relative,
Uncle Smoke.
“ Uncle Smoke grew up as a sixteenth
c h ild ,” said D avis. “ W h en he was old
enough to m ove out o f the h o u se, his
oldest sibling had already passed away.
“ Living in Longview [W ash,], he didn^t
have anything to do: He worked in lumber,
w hich is w hat a lot o f people do down
there. He did roller derby, w hich is all
he could do besides getting drunk,” said
D avis. “ A nd w hen the V ie tn a m W ar
started the d raft, he realized he had
nothing better with his life in Longview,
W ashington. So, he enlisted,” ,
H e jo in ed the M arin es. H e w as the
oldest in the boot camp company.
“ Because of his age and because he cursed
a lot, he became a commander of a tank in
his tank battalion,” said Davis. “ And he’d
been through three tours of duty.”
Smoke kept signing up and sending his
money hom e, according to Davis . One of
his sisters helped by managing his funds.
However, upon returning, he learned that
she had spent all o f his money, and he
had to start anew as a veteran in the U .S .
Around the year 1993 when Operation
Davis explained that while Smoke was
in Vietnam , the tanks were around 140
degrees, and w hen A gen t O range was
dropped in the forest, they would open
the hatch and lie on the tank to cool down,
because the inside o f the tank was just
so hot.
“ They had no idea, however, this slowly
affected h im ,” said Davis. Uncle Smoke
passed away in early October.
A m ong the audience were students,
faculty and even veterans them selves.
“ I ’m a veteran and a w riter,” said Eric
B ronson. B ronson served and retired
from the Arm y, having been to “ Bosnia,
Panam a, [and] Iraq.”
“Ju st, had a lot o f fu n. Except it cost
me a good portion of my hearing,” said
Bronson. “ Same stories, different people.
Desert Shield became Operation Desert W e’ve lived h alf of th em .”
Storm, Davis, who was in class, heard the
There were some people who did not
announcem ent involving U .S . troops in serve and could still connect to the stories.
Kuwait. W hen he got home, Uncle Smoke
“ It’ s so very m oving,” said Sue M ach,
called him . He warned him that if he were the English Department Chair. “ My dad
to get a draft letter, he was going to drive was a Vietnam vet. He was in Vietnam for
Davis to Canada.
20 years. So, you connect with all those
Davis questioned this, saying he didn’t stories, because, you know, his legacy is
want to go to Canada. He was told he had a part of my p ast.”
to, and so Davis asked, “ W hy?”
On Veterans Day, Nov. 11, both thanks
“ Because I choose to do that [stu ff],”
was given and stories were shared of what
Davis quoted as he went on. “ And no one’ s • some of our unsung heroes have endured.
going to tell you, you have to .”
“ Sam e stories, different
people. We’ ve live d h a lf
o f th e m .”
-E r ic B r o n s o n
Left. English instructor Ryan Davis tells the story of his Uncle Smoke, a Vietnam veteran. Right: Sean Warren addresses the room in Roger Rook on Nov. 7.
4 Clackamas Print NOVEMBER 16,2016 tftedackamasprintcom