Hell, Healing, and Resistance: Veterans Speak [Hardcover]

Thich Nhat Hanh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1998

In this volume, men and women who have found healing from the wounds of war forge past the boundaries of conventional war stories and offer frank personal accounts about their journeys from guilt and confusion to peace and hope.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Using interviews with dozens of veterans, plus his own time in the Marine Corps, Hallock sets out on a twofold mission: to indict the U.S. military and to help veterans struggling with emotional damage that came from having served. Veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf War share the pain and guilt they've carried with them. The problem begins with the untruthful ways the military uses to sell itself: in years past, as a chance at manhood; today, a career move complete with college funds and skills training. Yet the reality, in the view of Hallock and the veterans, is that the military systematically brutalizes people, be they soldiers, enemies, or civilians. The book is also about how these soldiers re-connected with their consciences, allowing them to once again find life valuable. Controversial? It may be if traditional veterans' groups object to the military's portrayal here. Brian McCombie

Review

A terrific contribution to efforts to educate and increase the understanding of the human cost of war. This book belongs in every library and classroom in this country. -- Steve Bentley, Vietnam Veterans of America

Although I have used All Quiet on the Western Front in my classes for the past thirty years, I am replacing it with Hell, Healing, and Resistance. This is a remarkable volume...Unlike other war books, it focuses on healing and reconciliation and includes stories of people who have embraced pacifism as a result of their combat experiences. Be all you can be -read this book! -- Joseph Fahey, Manhattan College

As this terrible century draws to an end, these poignant and searing testimonials give an unusually valuable perspective on its horrors, and show us how we can and must ensure that this shameful chapter of human history is closed for good. -- Noam Chomsky, M.I.T.

Eloquent...takes the reader on a powerful journey into the soul of militarism. From basic training to emotional recovery from war-related trauma, the reader is treated to an insider's view...of the social, political, and psychological processes through which human beings become combatants, and through which they must return if they are to recover a life of sanity and inner peace. -- The Reporter for Conscience' Sake, Winter 1997/Spring 1998

Powerful...I highly recommend it for veterans and non-veterans alike. It gives me hope in the struggle for peace and healing. -- Fr. Roy Bourgeois, Maryknoll Priests

This is a wonderful oral history of war veterans, unique in its sweeping coverage of many military adventures. It is a poignant and revealing portrait of war seen from the bottom up. Let us hope it will be read by young people all over our nation, as a sobering reminder that we must have no more war veterans. -- Howard Zinn, Boston University

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 456 pages
• Publisher: Plough Publishing House; 1ST edition (October 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874869595
• ISBN-13: 978-0874869590
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #837,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unfortunate that critics can't see the truth in this book, February 2, 2001

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This review is from: Hell, Healing, and Resistance: Veterans Speak (Hardcover)

The critiques of this book from supposed veterans is disturbing. It is indeed true that many American soldiers (most, surely) did not and have not committed war crimes. However, to totally ignore history and overwhelming evidence smacks of ultra nationalistic pride and an unwillingness to look into your own heart.

A Marine officer, a colonel I believe, when finding out about the My Lai massacre commented, "Every brigade has its My Lai." I have no idea how many brigades served in Vietnam, but even one My Lai was too much!

There are in fact extensive personal narrative history books from not just the Vietnam War, but other wars as well, including WW I, II, and Korea that PROVE the reality of this book. The truth is, soldiers from all countries, INCLUDING from the U.S., have committed atrocious and morally reprehensible war crimes. To suggest otherwise is blind ignorance and pride.

And to argue that the US government always prosecutes perpetrators?! Certainly not. The soldiers involved in the true incident depicted in the movie "Casualties of War" (having read the original nonfiction text I can assure all that the movie is very faithful to the truth) received, only a few years of prison time. And even then, the soldier who brought them to justice had to fight for months and months for the US Army to do something about the rape and murder of a young village girl. And that is just one story of many that could be told . . . Again, it's laughable to think that the US government would actively prosecute its own soldiers. History has proven otherwise again and again.

I salute those who have gone into combat. But that doesn't deny the reality of war.

I recommend this book.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars powerful book on hell of war & return to civilian life, February 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hell, Healing, and Resistance: Veterans Speak (Hardcover)

Although the author presents veterans who favor and oppose the military, he does not disguise his conclusion that many veterans have been harmed by their experience in the military. This book is an eye-opener to those who have only heard a pro-military line and should be REQUIRED READING for anybody considering joining the military.

Although over 100 veterans present parts of their stories to the reader, the book holds together well, with only lucid anecdotes presented.

This book should be in every high school library as it contains information that may be hard to find but has a strong bearing on a decision that faces every student upon graduation.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hallock's book is healing.I give it 5 Stars with a combat V, January 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hell, Healing, and Resistance: Veterans Speak (Hardcover)

These grunt-level stories are real and understandibly tough. The HELL of war is not hidden from the reader. Hallock writes very well as he peels off the sugar coating to get to the medicine of understanding the political,human,and spiritual cost of war. Hallock helps us realize that nobody wins; we all lose; and some never get to go home physically or spritually. I am 52 years old and a Nam combat veteran who thought he would "get over it." The men and women "I met" in this collection of 140 stories helped me to reclaim an identity that I buried at the cost of never understanding what really happened to me and my family, who lived with my numbed, distant emotions that only surfaced as anger. It's the first book that I could give my sons and daughter and say this is what it was really like for me. It should be required reading for V.A. counsellors, parents and teachers. I give it Five Stars with a combat "V".