In 1991, Eric Hollenbeck, founder of the Blue Ox Millworks in Eureka, wrote a long poem about his experiences in the armed services during the Vietnam War titled
Uncle Sam’s Tour Guide to Southeast Asia
. In this week’s Short Stories section of the
Journal
, we visited Blue Ox Radio during their 11-hour Memorial Day radio program (organized by Brian Thomas, pictured above), which included Hollenbeck, local war veterans and service-aged young men reading excerpts from the poem. The following are the first and last section of
Uncle Sam’s Tour Guide to Southeast Asia
read by the author:
Basic Training
audio player
War Poem 15
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This article appears in All The Pieces.
Kinda same-ole same-ole. Plus the forest floor isn’t green.
In the middle of my work day, in the middle of my work week, with my head buried in the sand like so many of us; stopping to listen to this I suddenly glimpse a world bigger than my office, my job, my self. I touch for a moment the pain of an 18 year old boy, and I admire even more the incredible man he has become.
Thank you very much for sharing this.