Proud to Be: Writing By American Warriors Volume 1

Inspiring Military Stories, Fiction, Poetry, and Acts of Heroism

Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors is an anthology of military stories, fiction, poetry, and other writings from veterans and their families from across the nation. This collection covers writers and writings from World War II, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

Dan Bradford’s short story “Moment Two” was one of his first military stories in print. It is the gripping story of how one moment came to define an entire war for one young man.

Live a Piece of Their Lives Through These Military Stories

This volume of military stories, poetry, and fiction is a collection of the winning submissions from a veterans’ writing competition. It was judged by writers Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down), William Trent Pancoast (WILDCAT), and soldier-poet Brian Turner (Here, Bullet and Phantom Noise). The anthology is the first in an annual series published by Southeast Missouri State University Press in Cooperation with the Missouri Humanities Council’s Veterans Projects and the Warriors Arts Alliance.

Critical Reviews

“It is essential for the good of our society and our nation that the rest of us listen to what these men and women have to say.” –Columbia Daily Tribune

“Reactions to the book from a contributing veteran: I am so glad you are doing the work you do. Thank you. Too few people appreciate the value and necessity of expressing these highly charged emotional experiences.” –SE Missouri State University Press

Customer Reviews:

“This is the type of book that more of us should read so that we understand what soldiers go through.” – E. Hayden

“For me, Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors is required reading and worthy of a thousand tears.” – Monty Joynes

“This is a fabulous read for students, teachers, anyone who appreciates true-life war stories…and stories of passion, obstacles, and pain. Good, good writing.” – C. Hope Clark