What might my life have come to be if I’d have chosen to remain in Ireland, remained aboard the Marizell in 1969
Author: W.D. Ehrhart
William "Bill" Daniel Ehrhart is an American poet, writer, scholar, and Vietnam veteran. He received the Purple Heart Medal and the Navy Combat Action Ribbon for his service in Vietnam. He holds a PhD from the University of Wales at Swansea. Ehrhart has been called "the dean of Vietnam war poetry" and is the author of more than 30 books, including Vietnam Perkasie: A Combat Marine Memoir, Passing Time: Memoir of a Vietnam Veteran Against the War, Busted: A Vietnam Veteran in Nixon's America, and Thank You for Your Service: Collected Poems. His most recent book is What We Can and Can't Afford: Essays on Vietnam, Patriotism, and American Life(McFarland, 2023).
Never Again
A poem by a Vietnam War veteran about the 1914 Christmas Truce, when World War I soldiers joined together to sing carols and play soccer.
Serving Our Nation and Protecting Our Freedoms
recently received an invitation from my Congresswoman, Mary Gay Scanlon (D, PA 5th Dist.), to...
Hate America Rallies?
A look at who really attended what House Speaker Mike Johnson called “Hate America rallies.”
Book Review: Jan Barry’s Waging Peace
Jan continued to believe that what we were doing mattered, that words matter, that art will always be worthwhile.
“First to Fight for Right and Freedom”
If you’re hoping the military will refuse to participate in Trump’s undemocratic, unconstitutional, illegal usurpation of power, forget it.
‘A Part of You Will Die with Us’
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“If a Tree Falls in the Forest”
Every time we hear a bomb falling … our lives freeze somewhere in between, confused where to head next:a graveyard, a hospital, a nightmare.
What Now?
My only consolation, if one can call it that, is realizing that just about everyone I know and care about is feeling as distraught as I am.
When Self-Defense Becomes Self-Destructive
This is not self-defense. This is vengeance. The saddest thing about it is that it will come back to haunt Israelis and the nation of Israel.
A Poet in Palestine
Mosab Abu Toha’s debut book, “Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza” (City Lights Books), won the 2022 Palestine Book Award
How Is This Possible?
How in the name of Abraham Lincoln can Donald J. Trump still be a viable candidate for another term as president of the United States?
Daniel Ellsberg: A Personal Reflection
Daniel Ellsberg, who risked life in prison, became a hero of the author, a man whose courage and decency have inspired him ever since.
Why I Like to Watch Bike Racing
The flags that fans wave along the bike route range from Denmark to the Netherlands, from Belgium to Wales (it has a dragon on it!).
The New Normal
The “new normal” leaves this Vietnam veteran and poet sad and discouraged as he tries to imagine what things will be like in twenty years.
Song for Leela, Bobby and Me
Poem by Vietnam War veteran W. D. Ehrhart, reprinted from his book Thank You For Your Service: Collected Poems.