Most recent public comments by Tam-anh Nguyen https://nowcomment.com/users/16362 https://nowcomment.com/documents/36342?scroll_to=385462 https://nowcomment.com/documents/36342?scroll_to=385462 Usually when I learned about war stories in history class or watched moves depicting war, many were told from the perspective of young men. People only focus on the victimized men characterizing them as young warriors returning from war. It is easy to lift up the voices of our American men as victims of war but the women's voices fall silent. In the reading Nguyen mentions the true story by Larry Heinemann “Close Quarters.” In one poignant scene in the story, Nguyen mentions how a soldier puts a gun to the head of Claymore Face, a prostitute, and gives her the choice of having her “blow him and his friends or get blown away.” It is presented as choice but with a gun to her head; either way she loses with either decision. In another part of the reading, he mentions the book The Things They Carried. I remember reading the story in high school, and being drawn to the character of Mary Anne, one of the only girls who is focused on in the story. One of the chapters in the book documents her tragic mental decay, but she is brushed over and left by the men. These women are victimized through these male power structures, and it is rarely addressed. There stories are never told and if they are they are left unfinished. Tue, 13 Oct 2015 15:27:12 -0400