Review by Janette Stone, Award Winning Author "Please Write: A Novel"
Combat and Campus: Writing Through War
Sgt. Peter R. Langlois, Annette Langlois Grunseth
Preserving History
There was the threat of communism in a foreign land; there was the call to action; there were the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and medical personnel; there was the draft; there were the antiwar demonstrations; there was the shameful blaming; and in the background waiting for loved ones to return home, there were the families and friends. Sgt. Peter Langlois and his sister Annette bring it all together in Combat and Campus. Annette complements her brother’s letters with her experience on the home front, and in the process two sensitive, brilliant brother/sister minds document that painful time. What sets Peter’s letters apart is his journalistic style addressing the who, what, when, where and why of his combat experience. What sets Annette’s reflections apart are her beautifully written verses about campus experience and her brother’s situation. The Vietnam War, technically and perhaps deceitfully referred to as the Vietnam Conflict, ended almost fifty years ago, but to those who lived it, it seems like yesterday, so fiercely were we affected. When I hear Vietnam is no longer in the curriculum, I am confused as to why. There are so many lessons to be learned about basic humanity, how to treat one another as people instead of “animals,” about purpose, and even how to resolve difference. What didn’t we learn? What are we yet to learn from the chaotic sixties? Peter’s letters document history in the moment. They are not interpretation. Annette’s poems imprint history with reflection. They are not interpretation. I am deeply grateful Annette honored her mother’s wish to publish Peter’s letters and, in the process, preserve history.
A word about the title. It is serendipitous how both six-letter, two-syllable words beginning with a hard ‘C’ - Combat and Campus - fit together like a puzzle, just like Peter’s letters and Annette’s poems. A remarkable and historically accurate documentation of a deeply troubled time.
Review by Janette Stone, Award Winning Author "Please Write: A Novel"