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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 7, 2017)
3B THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 7, 2017 US veterans use writing to tame trauma Helix, confronted death during the writing workshop. He’d seen plenty of it after being drafted in 1965 at age 21 and serving in Vietnam. He earned a Bronze Star for surviving a helicopter crash and pull- ing others to safety before the helicopter caught fi re. He sur- vived fi erce fi refi ghts that oth- ers did not. Park, however, wrote not of wartime, but of the deaths that had rocked his boyhood — an aunt who battled can- cer, his beloved dog, and his brother who died after being hit by a car while riding his new bike. “There is no beauty in dying, only in the memories that are left,” Park read to the audience. Red Badge Project starts with humor By KATHY ANEY EO Media Group PENDLETON — Skip Nichols walked to the podium, breathed deeply and shared one of his most ago- nizing life experiences. Nichols, a Vietnam vet- eran and retired managing editor of the East Orego- nian, had cobbled together the words during a Red Badge Project writing work- shop and later agreed to share them with an audience at the Gesa Power House Theatre in Walla Walla. On Friday night, he joined fi ve other workshop participants, two Red Badge instructors and actor Tom Skerritt, who served in the Air Force. The Emmy-win- ning actor co-founded the Red Badge Project as a way to help veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder fi nd their voice and reboot their sense of purpose. At the podium, Nich- ols morphed back into the 19-year-old Marine he once had been, standing guard with two other soldiers near the perimeter of Camp Car- roll, just south of the demil- itarized zone. They noticed a boy on a water buffalo head- ing toward the concertina wire encircling the camp. The sight put the soldiers on edge. The boy, who appeared to be about 12, carried a bamboo cane to prod the water buffalo and had arms and legs that were “little more than sticks.” A brown cloth bag hung from his neck. “Did it contain rice balls, a satchel charge or hand gre- nades?” Nichols remembered wondering. “Were we looking into the eyes of the enemy or an innocent boy?” Nichols, a radio opera- tor and interpreter, radioed his captain for instructions. Hold fi re until the water buf- falo reaches the wire, the offi cer said, then shoot. Boy and beast continued forward. Nichols yelled at him in Viet- namese to turn back, but the pair kept going until reaching the perimeter fence. “Time seemed to stand still,” Nichols read aloud to the audience. “And then, as one, all three of us fi red. The boy’s body shuddered. His right arm fl ew up as if waving good-bye to us.” The water buffalo charged forward, Nichols said, drag- ging the boy’s limp body through the concertina wire. The men shot the animal and “puffs of red mist briefl y fi lled the air.” The water buf- falo staggered and fell atop the boy. Narrow tunnel Actor Tom Skerritt speaks about the Red Badge Project on Friday at the Gesa Power House The- atre in Walla Walla. Skerritt co-founded the project, which helps veterans with PTSD find their voice . Vietnam veteran Bob Park, of Helix, reads a story he wrote during a Red Badge writing workshop for veter- ans with PTSD. He and five other veterans spoke at the Gesa Power House Theatre in Walla Walla. at this glimpse of wartime experience. Project after having dinner with some Colorado veterans affected by PTSD. “They were physically and emotionally wrecked,” Sker- ritt said. “They looked around furtively. They couldn’t engage. That stayed with me.” The result was the Red Badge Project, a way to tap into imaginations and feel- ings and slay the beast within through writing. “You can’t intellectualize this stuff,” Skerritt told the Gesa Power House audience. “You can’t treat it with drugs. You just have to feel.” He and co-founder Evan Bailey avoided heavy mem- ories at fi rst during the workshops. “We started with laughter,” Skerritt said. “We passed out joke books to a bunch of angry soldiers.” The men took turns telling jokes. Later, they progressed to “Yo Mama” insults like “Yo Mama is so old, she was a waitress at the Last Supper.” “As they laughed, they got better,” Skerritt said. The men and women wrote about positive parts of their lives and then dared to exam- ine painful memories and write about them, too. One of the presenters, Bob Park, a retired teacher from Another veteran, Bryce Ely, read an essay in which he recalled dropping to his knees and crawling through a tunnel. Carrying only a .45-caliber pistol, his knife and his fl ash- light, he inched ahead. “The air grows stale and heavy with the smell of musty dirt, the smell I knew as a kid hiding in the crawl space under my house during child- hood games of hide-and- seek,” he read. The tunnel narrowed. Sweat stung his eyes. Imag- inary spiders crawled on his skin. He fought back panic as he got temporarily wedged before corkscrewing his body from the tunnel’s grip. Finally he saw light and the end of the tunnel. He reached the open- ing and peeked out into a void, a cliff that went straight down. “Holy s---,” he said as the closing line. Another veteran, Lydia Hales, wrote of living with depression and PTSD after suffering a traumatic brain injury. She wrote of her battle to simply do the things others consider normal. “I want to sleep without dreams, without being haunted by specters of the past,” Hales read. Joseph Wankelman, a young Army veteran from Col- orado who was photographing the event for Red Badge, lis- tened in the back of the theater with a somber expression. Red Badge, he said in a low voice, had saved his life. “Without it, I’d be strung out on drugs or alcohol,” Wan- kelman said. “Telling your sto- ries can save you from the well of anger inside you, but only if you are willing to share. You have to invest your heart.” Red Badge works in con- cert with military psychi- atric programs at Veterans Administration Centers such as the Jonathan Wainwright VA Medical Center in Walla Walla. Veterans wishing to participate should contact their local VA center. Clatsop County Animal Shel- ter — Animal care volunteers age 16 and older needed for one 3-hour shift per week. Pick up an application at 1315 S.E. 19th St., Warrenton. For information, or to schedule orienta- tion, call Leslie Atkinson at 503-325- 1000. Warrenton. Warehouse attendants are needed for food packing or pro- cessing, picking orders for agencies, light janitorial and housekeeping, or lawn and grounds maintenance. Three to four-hour shifts are avail- able Monday through Friday. To vol- unteer, call 503-861-3663. Clatsop County Public Works — 1101 Olney Ave. Adopt-A-Road volunteers needed to remove litter two times (minimum) per year for two years. Safety equipment and supplies provided. Volunteers must receive safety orientation. For infor- mation, call 503-325-8631. Clatsop Community Action Regional Food Bank — Volunteers needed to help hand out fruits and vegetables at the weekly produce pantries for two hours on Thursdays, from April to October, in Seaside and Clatsop Community College Outreach Literacy — Needs vol- unteer literacy tutors to work with adults, native and non-native speak- ers. Training available. For informa- tion, call 503-338-2557. Columbia Senior Diners — 1111 Exchange St., Astoria Senior Center. Volunteers needed week- days to serve tables and for kitchen help. To volunteer, call 503-325- 9693. Photos Kathy Aney/EO Media Group Vietnam veteran and retired East Oregonian Managing Editor Skip Nichols reads a story he wrote during a Red Badge writing workshop for veterans with PTSD. He and five other veterans shared their work Friday at the Gesa Power House Theatre in Walla Walla. ‘Telling your stories can save you from the well of anger inside you, but only if you are willing to share. You have to invest your heart.’ Joseph Wankelman Army veteran from Colorado “Then there was silence. I remember thinking it was the silence of death,” Nich- ols read. “My hands were shaking.” Nichols’ next sentence ushered the audience into his own personal gut-wrenching reality by revealing one more incomprehensible truth. “We later learned the boy had been mentally handi- capped since birth,” Nichols said. “He had simply wanted chocolate like the kind we gave out while we were on patrol.” Nichols left the stage to applause. Many of those clapping looked emotional PTSD Like many returning war- riors, Nichols deals with PTSD. He’s spent time in counseling and even returned to Vietnam as a way to cope. Many, however, never fi nd their way past the fl ashbacks, nightmares and depression. Many — some reports say as many as 22 veterans per day — commit suicide. Actor Tom Skerritt, known for leading roles in “Top Gun,” “A River Runs Through It,” “Alien” and other fi lms, co-founded the Red Badge VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES 4-H — Looking for 4-H leaders. For information, call Sandra Carlson at the Oregon State University Ex- tension at 503-325-8573. American Red Cross — Needs registration volunteers (donor am- bassadors) in Clatsop County to pro- vide customer service and enhance the blood donor experience. For information, call Angela Basurtto at 503-528-5430. Astoria Column — 1 Coxcomb Drive. Volunteers needed to wel- come visitors, provide information and answer questions about the As- toria Column and the city of Astoria. For information, call the Friends of the Astoria Column Visitor Center at 503-325-2963. Astoria Riverfront Trolley As- sociation — 111 W. Marine Drive. Needs conductors/motormen to op- erate trolley and narrate points of in- terest. One or more three-hour shifts per month. For information, call the 503-325-6311. Astoria Senior Center — 1111 Exchange St. To volunteer, call Larry Miller at 503-325-3231. Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce — 111 W. Marine Drive. Volunteers needed at the chamber and for events. For in- formation, call 503-325-6311. available. For information, call 503- 861-2933 or go to www.campkiwan- ilong.org Caring Adults Developing Youth (CADY) Mentoring Program — 800 Exchange St., second fl oor. Needs mentors for youths ages 10 to 17 at risk of school failure. Time commitment: one year, about eight hours per month. For information, contact Laura Parker at 503-325- 8601 or lparker@co.clatsop.or.us Clatsop Animal Assistance Inc. — Needs volunteers who have a strong commitment to work on behalf of the Clatsop County Animal Shelter’s dogs and cats. For infor- mation, email info@dogsncats.org or call 503-861-0737. Clatsop Care Center — Volun- teers needed daily for all three meals to provide one-on-one assistance to dining dependent residents. Volun- teers must participate in a 16-hour training program. For information, contact Mandy Brenchley at 503- 325-0313, ext. 209. Pet Parade to celebrate the final stop on Crazy Stan’s 300 Mile Walk for the Animals Wine and Paint Night in The Loft At Suzanne Elise July 15th 2017 at Noon on Bolstad Beach Approach Tuesday, July 11 th from 6 PM to 8 PM Everyone Can Participate in the Pet Parade! Prizes For Crazy Stan Lookalike Beachiest Pet Best Trick • Best Costume Pet Owner Lookalike Judges’ Choice Visit tinyurl.com/y7t9tnn7 for more details. 300 Miles 10 Rescues May 27 - July 15 Enjoy a glass of wine and unleash your inner artist with instructor and local artist Lisa Sophia. All supplies provided and no experience is necessary. Fun is our only requirement. So get creative while you laugh, drink, and spend time with friends. SOUTH PACIFIC COUNTY Camp Kiwanilong — A large variety of volunteer opportunities are HUMANE SOCIETY NO KILL • LONG BEACH, WA 101 Forest Drive, Seaside, Oregon Call Heather at 503-738-0307 to reserve your spot Cost is only $ 30
