Honoring Our Veterans

In honor of Veterans Day, Blood Orange Review is posting an excerpt of an interview with poet Brian Turner, author of Here, Bullet and US Army veteran who served in Iraq and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The newest issue of Blood Orange Review, coming out in mid-November, will feature the full interview with the award-winning poet.

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HKH: At a panel you participated in at the 2009 AWP conference, I was moved by what you had to say about our responsibility towards returning veterans. Can you tell me more about what you see our citizens' responsibility is to our veterans?

BT: For the health of our large and complicated tribe, America, we must not bury the living among us. Ignoring the walking wounded who return from war, marked and altered by what we cannot see (as well as those whose physical wounds are evident)—this is not the answer. Ignoring them only helps the next generation gain an inheritance they would be healthier without. How do I say this? We, as a nation, are like a small pond. If the water is troubled for one, it is troubled for all—whether we are aware of it, or not. And if we are not aware of this dynamic, what does that say about us as well, as a nation, as a people? How great are a people who can wage a war and care little, if any, for those they wage it against? How great are a people who can wage a war and care little, if any, for those who wage it for us?

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Check back in mid-November for the full interview: http://www.bloodorangereview.com.