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Nonagenerian Norbert Wood is a Korean War U.S. Army veteran who lives in Mora. He started writing poetry in his 80s.

Two of his handwritten poems, 鈥淢emories鈥� and 鈥淟ament for Jimminie,鈥� were transcribed into digital format for him and included in 鈥淗oles in our Hearts: An Anthology of New Mexican Military-Related Stories and Poetry.鈥�

There鈥檚 a wealth of writing worth reading in the anthology 鈥� 95 pieces from 54 contributors. Poems are sprinkled among prose pieces that range from family memoirs to essays, from creative fiction to recollections of battles. At a 2,000-max word limit, everything in the book is short.

Jim Tritten, a Corrales resident, was the collection鈥檚 principal editor.

Last January, Tritten鈥檚 interest in a book project was sparked by a news article in the sa国际传媒官网网页入口. New Mexico Arts was offering mini-grants to nonprofits for art projects that match New Mexico military veterans with their families or with their caregivers, and showing how the arts help with healing, Tritten said.

A long-time member of SouthWest Writers, he approached SWW president Rose Marie Kern with a proposal to apply for a mini-grant to publish an anthology of writings on the subject. Kern gave the OK. In a matter of days, Tritten submitted the application. New Mexico Arts approved it.

Tritten was on a fast track to assemble the book. He focused on recruiting statewide, previously unpublished New Mexico writers. 鈥淲e sent out hundreds of notices, then waited to see if we got any responses. We got enough to get everybody in who qualified,鈥� said Tritten, a Navy vet and a contributor.

One writer, U.S. Army vet Thomas Neiman of Corrales, contributed a story plus recipes for two smoothies and four cocktails.

Five contributors will read from their work at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, at the Cherry Hills Library, 6901 Barstow St. NE. They are L茅onie Rosenstiel, Sherri Burr, Judy Castleberry, Brenda Cole and Elaine Carson Montague. They shared some of their thoughts about what they wrote:

• Rosenstiel鈥檚 story, 鈥淢ilitary Patterns,鈥� opens with her mother enlisting in the U.S. Woman鈥檚 Army Corps during World War II. Her first assignment was leading a 1,000-female censorship unit in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea in the southwest Pacific.

鈥淪he kept on being promoted,鈥� Rosenstiel said. 鈥淪he was a fascinating person.鈥�

The conclusion discusses her father. He registered for the draft in 1940, was reclassified as 1-A, but was never called up. Rosenstiel said he later learned that because he was white, and his draft board was in Harlem, he couldn鈥檛 be assigned to an all-Black unit because the army was segregated during the war. She called it a case of 鈥渞everse discrimination.鈥�

Burr, a Regents Professor Emerita at the University of New Mexico School of Law, writes about her brother Ralph in the story 鈥淢y Brother鈥檚 Guardian.鈥� Ralph had enlisted in the Air Force, but a disagreement with a superior officer resulted in his application for officers鈥� candidate school being disallowed. Some time after Ralph left the Air Force with general discharge, he suffered a heart attack and went into a coma that lasted for seven years and 364 days before he died. Burr unsuccessfully sought to obtain medical benefits from the Veterans Administration for Ralph.

• Castleberry鈥檚 story 鈥淭he Atomic Vet鈥� remembers her father鈥檚 years in the U.S. Army. As a private first class, he was shipped to Los Alamos in May 1946 as part of the military security for the post-war atomic research. Later, he was assigned as military police for the nuclear testing at Enewetak Atoll in the South Pacific. 鈥淎 lot of the atomic vets died of cancer when they were young. My dad outlived all of that. He was really a tough man,鈥� said Montague. She lived in Farmington for most of her life and moved to sa国际传媒官网网页入口 a year ago.
• In Cole鈥檚 story 鈥淢y Unknown Father,鈥� she writes that her colorful father, Earl, served in the army in Germany during the Korean War. She said he was a great storyteller, but his stories went in directions away from where a young interested listener (the author) wanted to him to go. 鈥淚 learned how to tell stories from my father. He never met a stranger or a squirrel or a dog (he didn鈥檛 like). I think my dad was happiest in the middle of the woods,鈥� Cole said.
• Montague wrote a poem 鈥淢arionettes鈥� and a story 鈥淭he Colonel鈥檚 Daughter鈥� for the anthology. 鈥淥ne of the most dramatic things I learned in writing the (story) was my mother鈥檚 role. I didn鈥檛 think hers was as important as his role (in the Air Force) was. She didn鈥檛 have the education he had. She was a stay-at-home mom and I didn鈥檛 appreciate that,鈥� she said. Not until Montague researched the story did she learn that her mother鈥檚 鈥減rimary responsibility was to promote her husband鈥檚 career, and she certainly did that.鈥�

The book鈥檚 title is borrowed from the name of Steve Borbas鈥� sculpture dedicated to the almost 400 New Mexicans who died in the Vietnam War. Borbas is expected to attend the Cherry Hills Library event.