BIBFRAME Work

Title

The weight of my armor : creative nonfiction and poetry by the Syracuse Veterans' Writing Group

Type

  • Monograph
  • Text

Contribution

Subject

Genre Form

  • essays (LCGFT)
  • poetry (LCGFT)
  • Poetry (LCGFT)

Language

Illustrative Content

Classification

  • DDC: 810.808697
  • LCC: PN6110.W28 W45 2017 (Assigner: dlc) (Status: uba)

Content

Summary

The essays and poems in The Weight of My Armor represent the work of twenty-three members of the Syracuse Veterans' Writing Group, which meets monthly on the Syracuse University campus. Since 2010, the group has served as an intergenerational community where veterans and military family members write about their lives in and beyond the military. The Weight of My Armor offers creative nonfiction and poetry that spans a range of military experiences, including overseas deployments and combat, military acculturation and training, adventure and camaraderie, shock and loss, and endurance and survival. This collection also addresses aspects of the military experience that receive less public attention such as gender oppression and military sexual trauma, the long-term physical and psychological costs of warfare, the complex challenges of familial and social reintegration, and the experience of growing up in a military family. In honest and courageous voices, these writers bear witness to events and circumstances that were largely beyond their control. They also reflect on their service, representing it with the accuracy and specificity unique to first person narratives. Taken together, these pieces encourage dialogue about the personal, social, and economic costs of our nation's wars, both past and present.

Table of Contents

Introduction/ Ivy Kleinbart and Eileen Schell -- Gallows humor / Jennifer Jeffery -- Echoes / Don Western -- February 7 / Robert Marcuson -- Getting off the bus at boot camp / Dawson Brown -- Tough enough / Andrew Miller -- Lost / Jordan Robinson -- Through the looking glass / Ralph Willsey -- Honors / Ralph Willsey -- My father / Marissa Mims -- Daddy, did you kill anybody in Vietnam? / Peter McShane -- Nuclear bomber commandos arrive in a rice paddy / David Vercelloni -- The Vietnam marathon / Doug D'Elia -- Morning 1944 / Benita Rogers -- Betrayal / Steven Kever -- Military relations / Ginger Star Peterman -- Kimmy / Bill Cross -- The $8 Timex watch / Dawson Brown -- A view / Frank Hobitz -- Fort Carson snowman / Robert Marcuson -- Accessorizing / Heather Faulkner -- Air Force brats conquer Alaska / Lee Savidge -- Away from home / Andrew Miller -- Fearless leader / Tim Hansen -- Lessons in leadership / Terry Mitchell -- Awakening the toad / Bill Cross --Anniversary day / Len Fallis -- Photographs / Elizabeth (Hall) Wilmer -- Demons / Ralph Willsey -- The crow / Jennifer Jeffery -- The trip home / Dan New -- War games /Peter McShane -- You don't have to stop your thoughts: meditation and the SVWG / Diane Grimes -- Contributors.

Authorized Access Point

The weight of my armor : creative nonfiction and poetry by the Syracuse Veterans' Writing Group

Admin Metadata

  • Date: 2026-09-11T20:11:01.738189+00:00
  • Agent: cbc
  • Status: c
  • Derived from: 23342707

Admin Metadata

  • Date: 2026-09-11
  • Cataloger id: Unknown
  • Description level: bibframe-2-6-0
  • Description language: eng
  • Description authentication: pcc

Alternative Formats

Blue Core Actions

  • Load to Marva Marva loads Instances, not Works. Open one of this Work's Instances and load that into Marva instead.
  • Load to Sinopia
  • Export to Catalog Only Instances can be exported. Open one of this Work's Instances and export that instead.