A G. I. In America

By Doug Rawlings

"Poetry is meant to summarize universal feelings. Doug Rawlings' poems capture beautifully the revulsion to war and the spirit of those who work for peace." — Ann Wright, US Army Reserve Colonel (ret) and former US diplomat.

"Rawlings has written powerfully about the different facets of the veteran’s experience. His poems will be cathartic to some and revealing to others. Perhaps they will be most revealing to those who hang around veterans and who have trouble understanding." — Dr. Jon Oplinger, Vietnam Veteran and author of Quang Tri Cadence: Memoir of a Rifle Platoon Leader in the Mountains of Vietnam.

"Doug’s poems communicate strength and clarity, pain, moral injury, gentleness, struggle. And always honesty. These poems are faithful companions to anyone who has been part of the veterans’ experience — and in one way or another, that’s every one of us." — Chuck Searcy, Vietnam Veteran and Director of Project RENEW.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 23, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329011892

Book preview

A G. I. In America

A G. I. In AMERICA:

THE GOVERNMENT ISSUE CHRONICLES

AND SELECTED POEMS

BY

DOUG RAWLINGS

Cover Art

By

Rob Shetterly

About the cover:

"My drypoint etching, The Dog of War, is a reference to the line from Shakespeare's Julius Cæsar, 'Cry Havoc!, and let slip the dogs of war.' I made it in 1990 during the first Gulf War. However, where Shakespeare's line implies the willing detaching of soldiers, of culture, from the moral constraints of peace, the encouragement, in fact, of barbarity — rape, pillage, and indiscriminate killing, my etching attempts to suggest something else. I was more interested in the soldier's haunting by that barbarity and the cycle of revenge being the shadow of violence. And I think now it suggests not just the nightmarish cycle of revenge, but the cycle of trauma which underlies revenge. The trauma makes clear the fear, anguish and isolation of each soldier. The greatest threat to the humanity of the soldier may not be the enemy's weapon, but his own participation in the war. That's the dog I see."

Rob Shetterly

ISBN: 978-1-329-01189-2

All photographs were taken by Doug Rawlings in Vietnam, ca. 1969 - 1970.

Copyright 2015

Doug Rawlings

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission from the copyright holder.

Comments about A G.I. In America:

"Doug Rawlings’ new book is a powerful collection of myth-busting poems about war and the soldiers who are swept up into its vortex.  His poems seethe with anger at government-issued lies and indifference to the young soldiers it sends to kill or be killed.  Rawlings cannot abide by a military