Thank You for Your Service

Memoirist, poet, editor, and Marine veteran, W.D. Ehrhart taught English and history at the Haverford School in Haverford, Pennsylvania. The author of twenty books, his prose and poetry have appeared in hundreds of publications including the Los Angeles Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Utne Reader, Reader’s Digest, American Poetry Review and the Virginia Quarterly Review. He was a major presence in the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick documentary The Vietnam War.

“Ehrhart’s Vietnam poems make a compelling argument against comfort, against apology, and against redemption….Ehrhart’s bleak beseechings have more in common with the poetry of Thomas Hardy and Stephen Crane than that of other Vietnam-era poets….Thank You for Your Service endures as a testament to truth-telling, the act of witness, and one ragged heart staying open after war, and for this, readers area should be grateful.”—The Rupture; “A hunger for honesty and a charged lyricism have always made Bill Ehrhart’s poetry remarkably his own. Though he’s best known for his Vietnam War poems with their sharp moral outcry and humane insight, Thank You for Your Service: Collected Poems includes many lovely poems not about Vietnam. This book deserves serious recognition.”—John Balaban, poet-in-residence, North Carolina State University, author of Remembering Heaven’s Face; “Bill Ehrhart is the finest combat veteran poet to come out of the Vietnam War. But his poetry transcends his war experience and eloquently reveals the healing powers of family and love. In all of his written work, Bill is brutally honest in the revelation of his own and our society’s flaws and virtues. He is the master of sharing the most complex truths in seemingly simple language. He is a poet who will represent the important truths of our time for generations to come.”—Joseph T. Cox, Colonel, US Army, retired, author of The Written Wars; “Amazing, just amazing. Profound, powerful, startling. I’d be glad to be able to write these poems. I’m glad you can. And do. They’re really good. And good to read. Thank you for what you write, for what you remember.”—Daniel Ellsberg, author of Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers and The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner; “W.D. Ehrhart has been leading the vanguard of Vietnam War poets for decades. It’s hardly news that Ehrhart has garnered the reputation of ‘the dean of Vietnam war poetry.’ But his poems over the last several decades are also steadily gaining him recognition as a major contemporary American poet, with a range far wider and deeper than that of just a Vietnam War poet. In fact, I cannot think of a poet who has been giving us deeper and more valuable insights to our epoch. His poetry is not just insightful and beautiful but also extraordinarily accessible.”— H. Bruce Franklin, John Cotton Dana Professor of English & American Studies, Rutgers-Newark, Emeritus, author of Crash Course: From the Good War to the Forever War; “W.D. Ehrhart is one of the most important and enduring writers to have emerged from the American war in Vietnam. Since the publication of his first collection, A Generation of Peace, in 1975, his prodigious poetic production has rightfully earned him a reputation as one of the preeminent poets of the war—a war that provoked an exceptional outpouring of poetry. The significance of his contribution to this extraordinary body of work cannot be overstated. Still, it would be a mistake to think of Ehrhart as solely a war poet. His pieces offer interesting reflections on many aspects of American life, and these poems are no less penetrating in their vision, skilled in their description, profound in their thinking, or powerful in their emotion than the war works. Ehrhart is a poet who deserves to be widely read.”—Dr. Adam Gilbert, Leverhulme Fellow, University of Sussex, author of A Shadow on Our Hearts: Soldier-Poetry, Morality, and the American War in Vietnam; “Bill Ehrhart is the poet perhaps of the Vietnam War.”—Studs Terkel, oral historian and author of The Good War; “Ehrhart’s Vietnam poems make a compelling argument against comfort, against apology, and against redemption. ...Ehrhart’s bleak beseechings have more in common with the poetry of Thomas Hardy and Stephen Crane than that of other Vietnam-era poets... Thank You for Your Service endures as a testament to truth-telling, the act of witness, and one ragged heart staying open after war, and for this, readers everywhere should be grateful.”—The Rupture. Reviews of The Bodies Beneath the Table: “The Poetry of W.D. Ehrhart is sublime, earthy, gritty and delicate, precise and original, uniquely appealing to both the heart and the intellect.”—M. L. Liebler, Wide Awake in Someone Else’s Dream; “Ehrhart takes the elemental experiences of our daily lives and transforms them into moments of compelling insight. These poems resonate with grace and decency.”—Dale Ritterbusch, Far from the Temple of Heaven. Reviews of Beautiful Wreckage: “Welded in the fires of Vietnam, these strong, sure, memorable poems encompass love, family, and supple lyrics like ‘The Way Light Bends.’ The clarity of vision and depth of feelings in these pages will enhance Bill Ehrhart’s standing as a major voice of his generation.”—Daniel Hoffman, poetry consultant to the Library of Congress, now known as Poet Laureate of the United States; “Bill Ehrhart is a wonderful poet, a force of nature, a conscience that won’t let us off the hook. His writing is not the fashionable embroidery that these days too often passes for poetry. There are neither ready-made emotions nor ready-made answers here, only authentic experience, transmitted indelibly by Ehrhart’s crat and art. Anyone who can read this book without tears would be well-advised to go back and learn again how to read, and how to live.”—Philip Appleman, professor emeritus, Indiana University. Reviews of Just for Laughs: “Above all, Ehrhart’s poems warn, we are accountable to future generations; we have a choice about what values we will pass on and which stories we will tell.”—Lorrie Smith, Landing Zones: Approaches to Literature of the Vietnam War; “Ehrhart’s voice may possess matter-of-fact rhythms, but that quality masques a content which bristles with intelligence and finally is downright startling.”—Michael Stephens, The Dramaturgy of Style; “Ehrhart’s poetry seems to catch in its flat cadences a tough realism and, through its accessible and direct mode of address, a genuine voice of conscience.”—Alf Louvre and Jeffrey Walsh, Tell Me Lies About Vietnam.

• Table of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgments deletexvIntroduction by Lorrie Goldensohn deletexixJuvenilia, 1963–1967So Much TimeExcerpts from the Mind of the WriterFriendshipViet Nam—February 19671969–1971Listening PostOne Night on Guard DutyThe Sniper’s MarkThe Generals’ WarHuntingChristGettysburgDancingStarshipsTo Swarthmore1971–1973Perimeter GuardSouvenirsSergeant JonesThe RatMail CallThe One That DiedNight PatrolThe Next StepGuerrilla WarTime on TargetThe Hawk and Two SunsThe AmbushAnother LifeThe Bob Hope Christmas SpecialComing HomeA Relative ThingOld MythsA Generation of PeaceImagineRehobothThe LivingSeptemberYoursCharleston1974RhythmThe Flying GypsyMyers, Messick & Me1975The Last DayThe ObsessionThe TravelerGranddadTo the Asian VictorsThe FoolGeeseBicentennialMoney in the BankShadowsMaking the Children BehaveThe Silent1976Vietnam Veterans, After AllTo Those Who Have Gone Home TiredGoing Home with the MonkeysGhostsGoing Down Off Columbia BarTo Maynard on the Long Road HomeThe Death of KingsColoradoRootlessLettersCascaisJimmy1977The TrialLeaving the Guns BehindHelplessComaLetterPortrait of FriendsAfter the FireDesireCast OutTwodot, MontanaGrowing Older AloneThe Last PrayerMichelangeloSanctuaryWelcomeEmpire1978Vietnamese-Cambodian Border WarThe Spiders’ White Dream of PeaceAn ExorcismA ConfirmationDriving Through WisconsinGreat Horned OwlEighteen Months in ChicagoWaking Alone in DarknessPeary & Henson Reach the North PoleThe TeacherTurning ThirtyAgain, RehobothCompanionsLast of the ­Hard-hearted Ladies1979FogAnother Way of SeeingThe Grim Art of TeachingThe DancersLost at SeaAfraid of the DarkThe DreamDriving into the FutureSunset1980The FarmerNear-sightedChannel FeverThe World As It IsThe VisionThe Eruption of Mount St. HelensMatters of the HeartBriana1981GiftsSound AdviceContinuityNew Jersey Pine BarrensPaganDeerA Warning to My Students1982Surviving the Bomb One More DayThe Blizzard of ­Sixty-sixLetter to the SurvivorsEverett Dirksen, His Wife, You & MeHigh CountryCowgirls, Teachers & DreamsCanoeing the Potomac“…the light that cannot fade…”The Outer BanksThe Suicide1983Climbing to HeavenMoments When the World ConsentsLetter from an Old LoverAppearancesResponsibilityThe Reason WhyThe Invasion of Grenada1984On the Right to Vote1985Winter BellsParadePOW/MIA1986ApplesFor Mrs. NaThe Ducks on Wissahickon CreekTwice BetrayedWaterAdoquinasHeather1987The Beech TreeSome Other WorldNicaragua LibreWhy I Don’t Mind Rocking Leela to SleepThe Trouble with PoetsWhat Keeps Me GoingSmall Song for DaddyThe StormStarting OverSecond Thoughts1988Lost YearsChasing LocomotivesSecretsLeninKeeping My DistanceJust for LaughsThe Next World WarNot Your ProblemFor Anne, Approaching Thirty-five1989For a Coming ExtinctionWhat You Gave MeThe Origins of PassionAmerica Enters the 1990sThe Way Light BendsThe Poet as AthleteIn the Valley of the ShadowHow I LiveThe Facts of LifeThe Heart of the PoemWhat We’re Buying1990A Scientific Treatise for My WifeSong for Leela, Bobby & MeThe Old SoldiersLove in an Evil TimeA Small RomanceThe Children of HanoiWho Did What to WhomThe Lotus Cutters of Hồ TâyGunsSinging Hymns in Church1991The Cradle of CivilizationFinding My Old Battalion Command PostThe Simple Lives of CatsAfter the Latest VictoryA Vietnamese Bidding Farewell to the Remains of an AmericanStar Light, Star BrightMore Than You Ever ImaginedAmerica in the Late 20th CenturyThe Exercise of PowerThe Open DoorGovernor Rhodes Keeps His Word1992The Distance We TravelWhat War DoesSleeping with General ChiMaking Love in the GardenWhat I Know About MyselfOn Any Given DayGuatemalaLong Shot ­O’Leary Ain’t Dead YetMidnight at the Vietnam Veterans MemorialThe Last Time I Dreamed About the War1993Small TalkHow It All Comes BackPurple HeartRed-tailed HawksMostly Nothing Happens1994Beautiful WreckageStrangersNot for YouPrayer for My EnemiesSuffer the Little ChildrenSarajevoDropping Leela Off at SchoolAfter the Winter of 19941995DroughtVariations on Squam LakeThe Perversion of FaithReading Out Loud1996Christmas MiraclesThe First French KissVisiting My Parents’ GravesCycling the RosentalThe RockerGingerRehoboth, One Last TimeNight SailingIs It Always This Hard?What Goes Around Comes AroundBecause It’s ImportantI Just Want You to KnowThe SergeantJogging with the PhilosopherA Meditation on Family Geography and a Prayer for My Daughter1997Cliches Become Cliches Because They’re TrueDetroit River BluesArtsy Fartsy Whiskey & GirlsPabst Blue Ribbon BeerThe Orphan1998Music Lessons1999For My Daughter, Alone in the WorldGravestones at Oxwich BaySins of the Fathers2000What Better Way to BeginLetting GoSleeping with the DeadOn the Eve of DestructionThe Wreckage Along the Road2001The Damage We DoSeptember 11thThe Bombing of Afghanistan2002Seminar on the Nature of Reality2003Home Before MorningBreakfast with You and Emily Dickinson2004KosovoManning the WallsMeditations on PedagogyAll About DeathAll About LoveGolfing with My Father2005Coaching Winter Track in Time of WarReflections on the PapacyOh, CanadaPrimitive Art, or: The Art of the PrimitiveHome on the Range2006What the Fuss Is All AboutTemple PoemDown and Out in Darfur2007The Work of LoveThe Bodies Beneath the TableTurning Sixty2008What Makes a ManExtra! Extra!EpiphanyThe Secret Lives of Boys2009Burning LeavesLife in the Neighborhood2010RedipugliaChildren of Adam & Eve2011How History Gets Written2012PatrickJudas JoyfulCheating the Reaper2013What It SignifiesFirst Day of School2014The Baby in the BoxLong Time Gone2015Praying at the AltarSpontaneous CombustionIt’s About YouThe Amish Boys on Sunday2016Here’s to UsI Dream of Alternate HistoriesOld Men BodysurfingThe Poetry of ScienceLunch at the A&N DinerMaking America Great Again2017Dancing in the StreetsSilver Linings2018The Right to Bear ArmsPlaying It SafeThank You for Your ServiceAlso by W.D. EhrhartMilitary History of W.D. EhrhartAbout the PoetIndex of TitlesIndex of First Lines