Thank you to all who joined us on Thursday to hear author Tim O’Brien speak. We had a great turnout both in the morning at the Knickerbocker Theater with high school students and Thursday night at The Commons of Evergreen. Here’s a recap of his talk on Thursday night: On the stories we tell: they …
Author Archives: Sophie Guetzko
Give Back to Veteran’s Play Group
Thank you to all who joined us last night at Herrick District Library to see the Give Back to Veteran’s Play Group perform. We read a book, participated in a craft, learned about the war, and worked alongside a service project called A Million Thanks and another local organization benefiting vets both locally and globally. …
“Moral Injury After War”: Colonel Herman Keizer, Jr.
Thanks to all who attended Colonel Herman Keizer, Jr.’s talk last night regarding moral injury after war. He explained to us the ways that moral injury differs from post-traumatic stress disorder. “PTSD is a fear-victim reaction to extreme conditions that damage the limbic brain. Moral injury is a reaction of the conscience.” – Herman Keizer …
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The Stories We Choose to Tell: How Do They Shape Us?
Through collaboration with our area high schools and middle schools throughout the Ottawa area, we were able to showcase a variety of videography, photography, text and audio recordings at the Holland Armory, which represented the way that the act of story-telling influences the way that we understand and perceive ourselves and others. Thank you to …
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Veteran’s Day Memorial at The Commons of Evergreen
It was great to see you all at The Commons of Evergreen last night as The Holland Area Veterans Council presented their Annual Veterans Day Program. Thank you to the Holland American Legion Band for playing music. In addition, it was humbling to see the Michigan Vietnam Wall memorial on display at The Commons of Evergreen, naming …
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“A Musical Journey to Vietnam with Van-Anh Vo”
It was great to see all those who attended the event “A Musical Journey to Vietnam with Van-Anh Vo” at St. Francis de Sales last night. As an Emmy award-winning zitherplayer (among other instruments, as her biography states), the experience of hearing traditional music of North, Central and Southern Vietnam; Western collaborations; and her own composition using …
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Why The Big Read is Important to Me
By Eva Dean Folkert I have never been one for war stories. I don’t read them, won’t watch them, and hardly listen to them either. The heft of the subject matter is too heavy for me to bear; it weighs down my heart and tears at my soul. So I just simply avoid it. I …
Recap of Last Week’s Events
Thank you to all who joined us for the documentary Naneek last Wednesday night in Graves Hall. It was great to see you there! If you missed us and would like to find out more information, Naneek’s site is a great resource for you to learn more about Tim ‘Naneek’ Keenan’s experience of returning to the “country …
Tuesday Tucks Me In- Children’s Event at Herrick District Library
Thank you to all who joined us last night with Luis Carlos Montalvan, former U.S. Army Captain and New York Times bestselling author, and his service dog Tuesday at Herrick District Library for a reading of his bestselling book, “Tuesday Tucks Me In.” He spent 17 years as part of the US Army from 1990-2007 and …
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The Legacy of Their Burdens- Dr. Fred Johnson
Thank you to all who joined us tonight to hear Dr. Fred Johnson, an Associate Professor of History from Hope College, guide us through Vietnam’s history up to America’s engagement in the war and an overview of the historical context surrounding the novel “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien. Dr. Johnson served as a Communications-Electronics …
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