Tribute to Armed Forces Veterans

Home and Abroad had a table at the June 8 Tribute to Armed Forces Veterans at the Firemen’s Arena in Farmville, VA. Information about our free writing program for military, veterans, and family was available. Deanna Schwartz, one of the program’s authors, helped explain the benefits of the program. The event was organized by the Piedmont Area Veterans Council, VFW … Read More

Home and Abroad Author Remembers 50 Years Ago

  CONNECTINGVETS.COM’S Matt Saintsing chronicles Thomas Bragg’s 850 mile journey from Blackstone, Virginia, to Mundelein, Illinois, and the grave of his friend Eddie Lama, who died on March 31, 1969, in Vietnam. A search, a book, and a promise kept 50 years later APRIL 02, 2019 – 3:34 PM Thomas Bragg fulfilled a promise decades after he made it when … Read More

Female Veterans: The Story of Us

Home and Abroad’s Director is featured on WSET’s Living in the Heart of Virginia, February 18, in anticipation of the day-long symposium, Empowering Female Veterans.

Upcoming Symposium

The Director will be speaking about writing as a form of empowerment at this conference next month. Dr. Lund is also seeking contributors to a possible volume of stories about service in the military. Follow instructions above if you’re interested in attending. If you’re unable to attend but are interested, use the Contact page to send a query.    

NPR interviews veterans at Baptist Union Baptist Church

Ten veterans who attend Baptist Union Baptist Church in Dillwyn, Virginia, wrote about their time serving in the Armed Forces, and the NPR station in Harrisonburg, Virginia, posted a story for this Veterans Day about their expriences. It begins “There are many ways to honor Veterans on Veteran’s Day, but one of the easiest may be simply listening to their … Read More

Serving God and Country

    Baptist Union Baptist Church of Dillwyn, Virginia is making available “Serving God and Country: The stories of Our Veterans,” a 72-page booklet written by military veterans in their congregation in partnership with Home and Abroad, a free writing program for military, veterans, and family. The bookletwill be available in print (as long as supply lasts) or in electronic … Read More

Recovering and sharing war stories

“Long live Eddie we have found Eddie and rounding up his family this is great.” Thomas Bragg, Vietnam Vet, Blackstone, Virginia, 2018. In 2015 Thomas wrote in his memoirs about the death of his friend and fellow platoon member, Eddie Lama. He continues to hear from members of the Lama family and others in his unit. Thomas’ book, “Keeping it … Read More

Podcast Series

This spring Longwood graduating senior Amy Chafee researched and produced a podcast series about Home and Abroad projects. The first episode features “I Couldn’t Save my Boy,” by Deanna Schwartz, also a Longwood graduate. Please listen to Amy’s account of–and reactions to–Deanna’s experience as a mother of a son serving in Iraq. Or download it to listen later  The second episode … Read More

Author/Editor Speaks

Home and Abroad hosted a round-table question-and-answer session with Jerri Bell, co-editor, with Tracy Crow, of the highly acclaimed It’s My Country too: Women’s Military Stories from the American Revolution to Afghanistan, on November, 2017, at the Farmville Virginia Post 7059 of the Veterans of Foreign War.   It’s My Country too is the first anthology to convey the rich … Read More

Southern history and military service

  Time, Space, and Poetry One goal of Home and Abroad is to give members of military families a forum to present their experiences in picture and text. The poems of Daniel Corrie have already found their way into print and to audiences, but this collection places them in a special context: a history of his family’s service to the … Read More