‘Coming Home, the Toll of War’

-Program contrasts the experiences of veterans returning from World War I with those of today-

Richard Claypoole, Vietnam veteran and former director of the Office of the Federal Register at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, will  facilitate “Coming Home, the Toll of War,” a program that explores the experiences of veterans returning home following World War I and how they compare with today’s veterans’ experience. The two-part program will take place on Tuesday, June 20, 2017, from 1 to 4:15 p.m., at the Lewes Public Library located at 111 Adams Ave. in Lewes, Del. Admission is free and open to the public. For additional information call 302-645-1148.

National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The agenda for the program is as follows:

Beginning at 1 p.m.
Part 1: “Soldier’s Home” by Ernest Hemingway
Discussion of Hemingway’s story found in “World War I and America: Told by the Americans Who Lived It.” This fictional context provides for a conversation regarding the lives of veterans returning home following World War I and how that compares with today’s veterans’ experience.

Reading material for the discussion may be obtained at the following Web address: https:///history.delaware.gov/museums/zm/events/chautauqua/pdf/At_HomeClipped.pdf

Additional material regarding World War I in America can be found at the following: http://wwiamerica.org/wwi-writers-writings.php

Beginning at 2:45 p.m.
Part 2: “License to Remember”
Viewing and discussion of “License to Remember,” the Delaware Humanities Forum’s 17-minute film focusing on the homecoming reception received by some of Delaware’s Vietnam War veterans and how this experience of returning from war has changed in the last 100 years.

World War I veterans are cheered by crowds during a victory parade in Detroit in 1919.
World War I veterans are cheered by crowds during a victory parade in Detroit in 1919.

“Coming Home, the Toll of War” is a component program of Delaware’s 19th annual Chautauqua tent show, “Service, Suffrage, and Swing: World War I Era in Delaware,” that will take place at a variety of downtown Lewes, Del. locations from June 18–22, 2017. The five-day event is being held in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the United States’ entry into the “war to end all wars” that was fought between 1914 and 1918. Except where noted, admission is free and open to the public. Go here for a complete listing of Chautauqua activities.

Service, Suffrage, and Swing: World War I Era in Delaware” is co-sponsored by the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs and the Lewes Historical Society, and is partially funded by a grant from the Delaware Humanities Forum, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Delaware Humanities Forum logo

 

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