War is never far away in our time. No need to enumerate the present wars, nor the recent ones, nor the ones we think are finished but who linger and still flare up sporadically. We know them all very intimately and we remember them well.

For those of us fated to serve as soldiers in the “field of honor,” as the French say, war is a constant companion, no matter how long ago we fought. That’s the nature of combat. As a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, my war is with me. When I first returned from the war, I suppressed the memories. But then that didn’t work anymore. Memories of that type have a way of making themselves known consciously. This means that we must find ways to deal with them. They can never be put to put to rest permanently, but they can be managed, however imperfectly.

The physical wounds of war are bad enough. The psychic scars are unseen wounds but just as real as physical wounds. Psychic wounds are worse for many because they are more insistent reminders of our wars. Instinctively we turn to storytelling as a way to deal with emotional wounds. And that is why combat veterans tell their stories. Stories ease the emotional pain. I know this to be true and that is why I organize veterans’ dialogues. Combat veterans do not have sufficient opportunity to tell our stories. Combat veterans are defined as that small minority of us who were exposed to enemy fire and who actively reacted. We were shot at and shot back. The infantry, the “grunts,” pursue, search, find, fight the enemy at close quarters and destroy him. This means that we kill the enemy.

That’s the brutality of war and it isn’t romantic or heroic. But it is traumatic and if you did this you will always carry a heavy load. I know that from my own experience. And I also know that storytelling helps to relieve the trauma. Research is revealing that neural pathways in the brain can be beneficially changed by storytelling.

Storytelling is not always considered therapeutic. Therapists can be impatient, wanting to hear just the facts from clients. Usually, this means “how did you get to be the way you are now?” We answer the question but almost always in the context of stories. Some therapists have come to understand the value of storytelling and are specializing in what is professionally called “Continuous Narrative.” I’ve told my story, but most of the time now I find myself listening to stories. This is a type of research I have done. My research reveals that listening is actually more important than telling a story. I suppose this means I should soon receive my degree in Continuous Narrative. I think that would be good. Anyway, my friend Nick has told me his story. Let me tell you about Nick, a true American hero. Nick was seriously wounded in Vietnam, fighting with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment in a now largely forgotten action called Operation Meade River.

Meade River was intended to clear the area west of Danang. In November 1968 this area was controlled by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). Nick was a squad leader in Echo Company, 7th Marines. On the second day of the operation Nick and the rest of his platoon found themselves under persistent machine gun fire from a hidden NVA machine gunner. Nick found and dragged back the body of Doc Miller, the Navy medical corpsman attached to Echo Company, who had been killed by the NVA machine gun. But he still had a mission to accomplish. Try as he might, Nick could not locate the well-hidden machine gun nest. Finally, he detected the camouflaged bunker where the gun was. Nick took three LAAWs, light anti-tank weapons, and fired one on each side of the bunker firing port. He fired the third LAAW into the bunker and silenced the machine gun. But there was another machine gun. It was this gun that put two rounds into his legs, luckily missing the bones. But the wounds were serious enough to put Nick into the hospital at Cam Ranh Bay for 10 weeks.

I cannot tell Nick’s story for him. You should come and hear it for yourself as only he can tell it. Nick and six other war veterans will tell their stories at a War and Remembrance Session on Wednesday, November 8, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Jade Dynasty Chinese Restaurant, 106 Manitou Ave, in Manitou Springs. All are welcome. Stay as short a time or as long as you can. Lunch will be provided.

Joe Barrera, Ph.D., is the former director of the Ethnic Studies program at UCCS. He teaches Mexico/U.S. Border Studies and U.S. Military History. He is a combat veteran of the Vietnam War.

Joe Barrera