In different ways, and at different times, their nation beckoned. It called on one to make ambushes, setting up lethal welcomes for enemy soldiers hiding in the jungle’s folds. Another, it recruited to wage a quiet battle on an ever-shifting Cold War battlefront. A third fought the dust, the dirt — and those who would kill him, if given the chance.
They fought and came home, bringing memories with them. On Sunday, these onetime warriors will share their tales of wartime service in VETS — Veterans Expressing Their Stories.
The presentation, in observance of Veterans Day Tuesday, is a presentation sponsored by the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center and the Southern Order of Storytellers. It takes place from 3-5 p.m. at Callanwolde, 980 Briarcliff Road NE in Atlanta.
Larry England, a soldier in the Vietnam War; Anthony Vinson, a veteran of the Cold War, and Jerad Alexander, who fought in Iraq, are the featured veterans. Rounding out the group is Denise Des Soye Mount, who’ll tell listeners about her uncle, a World War II veteran.
The stories veterans share are moving, memorable and meant to remind us of the sacrifices service people make, said Shannon McNeal, president of the storytellers’ group. This is the third year the organization has held the program at Callanwolde.
“These are really powerful events for veterans, family members, friends and others,” McNeal said. “These are stories you don’t hear every day.”
It’s not every day someone jumps out of a “perfectly good” airplane, said England. An Atlanta resident, he joined the Army in 1968, when the war in Vietnam was boiling. He served until September 1970, retiring as a sergeant in the 173rd Airborne Brigade. In night patrols, he and other soldiers set up ambushes for North Vietnamese Army soldiers as well as the Viet Cong.
“I was fortunate enough to make it,” said England, 67, who traces his family’s American military service to the Civil War. After retiring from a 35-year career as a railroad conductor, England now tells stories about his time in the Army.
“It gives me something to do,” he said, “and it keeps me out of trouble.”
Vinson found trouble, too – but it was of a different sort. When he was 24, Vinson joined the Army, rising through the ranks until he was a specialist in counter-intelligence. Stationed in West Germany, he wore civilian clothes, but carried a soldier’s papers. He also packed a .45-caliber handgun, just in case.
His job was sort of a grown-up version of the kids’ game keep away, when partners try to keep opponents from catching a ball.
“We spent our time running around, doing our best to keep our secrets out of the hands of enemy secret intelligence agents,” said Vinson, 54, who lives in Williamston, south of Griffin.
He joined the Army in 1978 and mustered out in 1987. Yes, he dealt with spies.
“It was,” Vinson recalled, “an odd time.”
Alexander, who lives in Atlanta, graduated from high school in Augusta. Like England, he was raised in a family in which military service was routine: His grandparents had been in the Air Force, and others had served in the Army.
But he joined the Marines. “I liked the corps training,” he said, “the elan of it.” He served from 1998 to 2006. In addition to Iraq, he was deployed to the Mediterranean, the Horn of Africa.
Alexander, 34, is now a media relations manager for a broadcast company. In his spare time, he writes. His novella, “The Life of Ling Ling,” was a finalist in the 2012 Serena McDonald Kennedy Prize for Fiction. He’s also edited military fiction magazines.
He thinks about his service — the people he knew, the things he saw, the things they carried home from war. On Sunday, said Alexander, he’ll talk about the “gray area between valor and stupidity.”
Des Soye Mount will talk about fear, and a young man's coming of age in a global conflict. Her uncle, John Junkins, was aboard a Navy Liberty Ship cargo carrier in the Pacific when a Japanese kamikaze pilot found it in the dark and crashed into it.
The ship survived; so did Junkins, who was 18. Now, he’s 87, a retired Teamster living in Buffalo, New York. When his niece asked if she could share his story at Callanwolde, he didn’t hesitate.
His story, she said, and those of other veterans, should be shared.
McNeal agrees. Last year, she said, about 100 people showed up. “We’d like 100 more this year.”
VETS is free and open to the public.
About the Author
