Veteran Voices 2022

Veteran Voices 2022 Full Video

This is the second Veteran Voices event hosted by Trinity Rep in Providence, RI, as part of their Green Light Ghost Light Project. The event features performances, music, and readings from local veterans about their time during and after military service. Many of these stories are told by members of the Providence Clemente Veterans’ Initiative (PCVI). Please consider supporting PCVI and referring others to this transformational program that makes a significant impact on the lives of veterans.

Many thanks go to the Trinity Repertory Company for putting this event on and being an integral part of PCVI programming! More info about Trinity can be found at www.trinityrep.com.

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Lord’s Day Out by Brent Cheetham

MWD Lord and I served from 2013-2016 as a patrol explosives detection dog team stationed out of Fort Bliss, TX. Our military working dog team supported the 44th President of The United States with bomb detection services before deploying to Afghanistan in 2015. I was lucky enough to have been Lord’s only handler. To have … Read more

Ernie Drew – Graduation Speech 2022

My once forgotten memory of napalm goes back to 1966. I was young intelligence officer for a fighter squadron on an aircraft carrier off the coast of Vietnam. My commanding officer thought I would be a better Intelligence officer if I flew on some missions in the back seat of the F4.  My Memory of napalm came from one of these missions.

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Dianna Adams – Graduation Speech 2022

For the first time in many years, I see hope where only humiliation and doubt existed. Though the discovery of struggles and perseverance depicted in the written word, art and the interpretation of both, I have discovered a way to channel the doubt and grief that often cloud my vision. I am thankful that PCVI has provided the backdrop for learning not only the humanities but also the similarities in experiences that we, the scholars, share as the proud veterans, that we truly are.

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Bill Babcock – Graduation Speech 2022

Ever since my arrival in Vietnam in late August 1969 I had been in the base camp at Pleiku serving in a variety of positions until an ear infection cleared up.  The ear infection began when I was home on leave in July and had continued even after I was sent to Jungle School in Panama.  It was a middle ear infection that left me with no sense of balance.  Eventually it started to clear up and I was assigned as the Reaction Platoon Leader in base camp.

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Mike Quinn – Graduation Speech 2022

Prior to taking this PCVI humanities class I had preconceived notions about a soldier’s ethical expectations and accountability during combat. Initially I had concluded that everyone who participated in the My Lai massacre was guilty of the most egregious of crimes. After hearing and reading some deeply personal accounts and getting a better idea of the psychological trauma that is involved in the shitty business of combat, I no longer know what to think. I’ve compiled the absurdity from the assignments that I read, experiences that were shared and the clips that I watched throughout this class, and this is my reaction to all of that.

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Bill Murphy – Graduation Speech 2022

“Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris.”
In 1963, in high school Latin class I read that opening line of the Aeneid by Virgil.
Like the Iliad and Odyssey, there was a constant theme of violence as the Roman Empire imposed civilization and peace on others – at incredible human cost.

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A Routine Tow – Art Curry

So I am in the Coast Guard reserve as a Boatswain Mate 3rd Class  (E4) stationed at CG Station Point Judith, RI.  I had volunteered to do my two weeks active duty aboard a Coast Guard Cutter out of Woods Hole, MA.  Something I had been trying to do for several years  and finally got … Read more