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Article: THE ART OF WAR VIETNAM VETERANS' WORKS EXUDE POWER, RELEVANCE.(LIFESTYLE)
- Article from:
- The Capital Times
- Article date:
- April 19, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Capital Newspapers. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Kevin Lynch The Capital Times
A war veteran once said, "If you don't know any history it's as though you're born yesterday."
And today the quote's scariest implications -- being a naked babe in battle, unarmed with experience -- are compounded by Vietnam veterans' reality: Their experience-weighted voice -- and art -- may be their most important weapons today.
We need such weapons because these survivors understand what it was like and how to fight a guerrilla war such as Iraq. Part of the problem may be a repressive psychosis -- it's all too easy to dismiss the Vietnam War as a national nightmare.
"Were it not for my pictures, ...