Better Late than Never: Introducing Warrior Writers of Fort Wayne

By MSgt. Becky Roady, USAF (retired)
Co-Founder of Warrior Writers of Fort Wayne

My seventh great grandfather, Colonel Matthew Patten, emigrated from County Londonderry, Ireland, to Augusta County, Virginia, during the Revolutionary War to help colonists fight a common enemy—the British. My ancestors and I served during every American war (and police action) since then, many of us as
“career” Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen. I was an Eisenhower baby and Kennedy kid who grew up proud to be a Navy brat. I eagerly asked not what my country could do for me, rather, what I could do for it, but by the time I was a teenager, I was an anomaly.

When my dad returned from his third tour of duty in Viet Nam, my mother, sister and I watched in horror as he was pelted with tomatoes and expletives disembarking the plane and making his way across the tarmac to us. By the time my generation came home from Desert Storm, Decisive Endeavor, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, American civilians—whatever their attitude toward war and/or politicians—had learned to appreciate their military protectors. Better homecomings, however, do not exorcise demons. Whether we are greeted with vitriol or cheers, many of us veterans and active duty military members need help dealing with our memories and internal conflicts. Because writing, art and performance are wonderful forms of therapy
for all manner of trauma, Warrior Writers groups have been formed all over the country. One of my former Defense Information School (OIF) classmates facilitates such a group in Chicago. A classmate at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne and fellow OIF veteran, because there is no local group,
contributes her poetry to an “at large” Warrior Writers blog. With nearly 500 veterans and military members at IPFW and Ivy Tech, along with the Air National Guard on Ferguson Road, the Army National Guard on Cook Road, the USMCR hall in New Haven, five VFW and ten American Legion posts in town, Fort Wayne is long overdue its own Warrior Writers project!

 I and two of my classmates from Dr. Mary Ann Cain’s “Creativity and Community” course at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) -- Mary Popovich and Adrian Rivera -- decided to start a Warrior Writers Fort Wayne chapter as a class project. Our mission is to provide a forum for veterans and active-duty military, along with military families and supporters, to share writing, drawing, art, photography and music with the civilian community so that they may better understand our experiences during and after war. Our goal is to have submitted writings and artwork published electronically in a blog at WarWritersFW.blogspot.com, in addition to this anthology. Our hope is that some of these writings, music, photography or artwork also will be exhibited or performed publicly. Please visit our blog site, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook to stay informed about future activities (addresses are on front cover). For more information on Warrior Writers Fort Wayne, please send an email to WarWritersFW@gmail.com.