Veterans

Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai (ya-HOO-da AH-muh-kye, rhymes with pie) died Friday at the age of 76, and we feature a 1991 interview from the archives. Amichai was a celebrated poet whose subjects were love and loss, and more recently, aging and mortality. The New York Times wrote that he had a “gift for poeticizing the particular: the localized object or image in everyday life.” (originally aired 2/27/91)

Film critic John Powers reviews "Ulee's Gold" starring Peter Fonda.

We speak with two veterans about their service during World War II. Tony Varone remembers V.E. DAY 50 years ago today. He served in the 9th Infantry Division which fought in Europe. He now is Commander of VFW POST in Long Island, New York. Donald Pearce fought in Europe in the Canadian Army. Pearce kept a diary during his tour of duty. His 1965 book Journal Of A War: North-west Europe 1944-1945 chronicles the battles fought in Belgian and the Netherlands.

Wolff has been nominated for the National Book Award for his memoir "In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War." The book is an account of Wolff's tour in Vietnam. Woff is also the author of two short story collections, a novella, and "This Boy's Life," a memoir about his childhood.

Novelist Tim O'Brien has been called "one of our most eloquent writers about Vietnam" (Playboy). "In the Lake of the Woods" is his new novel about a man whose involvement in the war is much like O'Brien's. Both were at the My Lai massacre, and they shared a need to be accepted -- which drove them to serve in the war.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews the latest episode of the television documentary series, CBS Reports. This installment follows the famed Gulf War general as he returns to Vietnam for the first time in decades.

Writer and Vietnam veteran Lewis Puller's Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, "Fortunate Son," is now out in paperback. His father, Chesty Puller, was a famous Marine. Lewis also joined the Marines in 1967, and was badly wounded in Vietnam.

Amichai is one of his country's leading poets. Born in Europe, he fought in the Israeli army through many of the country's conflicts. He contemplates war in his new collection of poetry, "Even a Fist was Once an Open Palm with Fingers."

After serving in the Vietnam War, Peacock sought solace in nature. While camping in the woods, he had several encounters with grizzly bears. He wrote about his observations of the animals in his new book, Grizzly Years.

Journalist Michael Norman. Norman served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, and his memoir, "These Good Men: Friendships Forged from War," he tells the stories of some of the men he served with. Norman, a former columnist for the New York Times, spent 5 years looking for his comrades, traveling from Oklahoma to London, finding out what had happened to them in the 20 years since the war and trying to understand how his own life had been changed.

Mason completed over a thousand combat missions in Vietnam and later served time for a drug smuggling. His debut memoir, Chickenhawk, found success while he was in prison. Mason's new, science-fiction inspired novel is called Weapon.

Colonel David Hackworth was the model for the character of Kurtz in the film Apocalypse Now. He served in the Vietnam War, and grew frustrated by what he saw as a failure of leadership. Hackworth is currently the most decorated soldier in U.S. history. His new memoir, about his experience on the battlefield and his eventual retirement from the Army, is called About Face.

Film critic David Bianculli says the drama China Beach and a special episode of Nightline deal with the lives of Vietnam veterans in respectful and powerful ways; both are worth watching.

Heinemann served for one year in Vietnam. The experience was so intense that he has built a literary career about it. His book, Paco's Story, won the National Book Award. After releasing two novels, he's working on a nonfiction book about post-traumatic stress disorder.

Japanese American actor Mako appears in two new films out now: Tucker and The Wash. He moved to the United States shortly after World War II, and later served in Korea. He considered dodging the draft, but worried ihs actions might affect his parents' immigration status in America.

The success of Platoon in theaters has led to the development of several television shows about the Vietnam War. Some viewers might be fatigued by their sheer number; for them, TV critic David Bianculli recommends HBO's Vietnam War Stories.

Col. Joe Conmy, technical advisor to the film "Hamburger Hill." As a field commander in Vietnam, Conmy participated in many of the battles depicted in the film. The U.S. Army also hired Conmy as technical advisor in the Francis Ford Coppola film "Gardens of Stone."

Writer and Marine veteran William Broyles visited Vietnam years after the war to help come to terms with his experiences there. He made a point of being honest about his combat role when meeting with different Vietnamese people who survived the war.

Robert J. Lifton is a psychiatrist and author who is a board member of the group Physicians for Social Responsibility. His works include "Indefensible Weapons: The Political and Psychological Case Against Nuclearism" and "Home from the War: Vietnam Veterans: Neither Victims Nor Executioners." His latest book, "The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and The Psychology of Genocide," investigates the capacity for human cruelty and is based on interviews with former Nazi doctors and their surviving victims.

W. D. (BIll) Ehrhart and Jan Barry are poets and publishers whose literary work centers on veterans of the Vietnam War. Ehrhart was recently featured on the PBS series Vietnam: A Television History. Both men read several of their poems on air.