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Last night I attended a very special book release event at the Library of Congress for 'Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Homfe Front, in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families', edited by Andrew Carroll (editor of 'War Letters') and released in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

'Operation Homecoming' is the result of an unprecedented cooperation between the NEA, the Department of Defense, and The Boeing Corporation. Yes, the military-industrial complex plays in the sandbox with High Culture -- but before you dismiss it from either side of the blue-red state divide, please remember that there would be no book without the heartfelt letters, stories and narratives within. Those are all the result of unprecedented support given to military servicemembers and their families in writing workshops held at 50 bases around the world.

I attended the event at the invitation of my friend Kathy Roth-Douquet, whose recent book with Frank Schaeffer, 'AWOL: The Unexcused Absence of America's Upper Classes from Military Service -- And How It Hurts Our Country'. Kathy is also a contributor to 'Operation Homecoming.'

All of the contributors to the book have a story. Kathy, a former Clinton White House staffer and an attorney, is married to a Marine officer currently stationed in North Carolina. Ross Cohen was a recent Brown University graduate who enlisted in the Army right after 9/11; he contributed two short stories about his experiences as a paratrooper. LTC Michael Strobl, USMC, contributred "Taking Chance," the narrative of his accompanying fallen Marine Chance Phelps back to his home in Wyoming.

Strobl's wife Stacy was seated next to me during the first part of the event, and we talked about her husband's experience. While the introduction to "Taking Chance" in 'Operation Homecoming' says that "Stroble wrote the following description of his journey to Wyoming in a small, spiral notebook on his way back to Virginia," that is not the whole story. Stacy told me that immediately on returning home, her husband -- rather than taking a nap or a run or sitting down to a meal with the family -- went to the computer and spent two hours writing his experience down. "I have to write this now," he told her.

Michael Strobl is the very picture of a perfect Marine: tall, thin, distinguished, with alert blue eyes and beautiful manners. His story about casualty duty (those words are so inadequate) is as straightforward as his gaze. While each piece in 'Operation Homecoming' is as different as each writer, each of them reflects its writer in a way that few Americans ever see of today's military. Recommended reading? I'd prefer to think of this one as required reading.

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• #1 Comment from majbeck
  9/13/06 12:32 PM | Permalink

  Operation Homecoming sounds like a good read for those who need to be familiarlized with what Military families go through.
  As for Roth-Doquet..she writes a liberal tome about the missing upper class in the armed services,but is married to a Marine Corps Officer. I would think that her husband at some point would have told her that he volunteered, as did all members of our all volunteer force.  The upper class is a infinitely small percentage of the population... I am quite sure that the infinitely small percentage is reflected accurately in the population of the Armed Services, albeit in the Officer Corps.  And once again, how can it be an "unexcused absence" if it is a VOLUNTEER ARMY????A liberal book set on bashing the military and upper class in one swing of their misguided bat...
  Not sure if I like the idea of a book with a political agenda( Roth-Doquet's) being blogged about at the same time as Operation Homecoming- a book which reflects our military families' sacrifices. These should have been two separate blogs.