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Operation Homecoming Fact Sheet
- Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience is
an NEA program for U.S. military personnel and their families. This unique
literary program preserves the stories and reflections of American troops
who have served on the frontlines, such as in Afghanistan and Iraq, and stateside
defending the homeland.
- Operation Homecoming is presented in
coordination with the Department of Defense and the Southern Arts Federation.
Operation Homecoming is made possible by The Boeing Company.
- The program has four major components:
writing workshops conducted by acclaimed writers on military installations
for returning troops; educational resources including online articles and
an audio CD with wartime writing samples; the creation of an anthology of
wartime writing by the troops; the creation of a historical archive.
- Since the launch in April 2004, Operation
Homecoming program brought more than 60 writing workshops to troops at more
than 30 domestic and overseas military installations from Camp Pendleton
in California to USS Carl Vinson in the Persian Gulf to Bagram Air Field
in Afghanistan. More than 6,000 people have participated in Operation Homecoming
workshops and activities.
- Workshop leaders have included distinguished authors including Tom Clancy, Jeff Shaara, Bobbie Ann Mason, and Mark Bowden.
- In addition to writing workshops, Operation
Homecoming presented a tour of the one-man play, Beyond
Glory. Beyond Glory was presented free of charge to troops
and their families at 30 overseas and domestic military installations from
April through July 2005.
- In Beyond Glory, acclaimed
film actor Stephen Lang brought to the stage the riveting stories of eight
American servicemen. The play was adapted from Larry Smith's book, Beyond
Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in Their Own Words.
- To preserve the stories of American
troops who have served on the frontlines and stateside, the NEA has called
for submissions from active military personnel and their families. The Operation
Homecoming archives collected during Phase I of the program (April 2004
to April 2008) will be preserved in both the U.S. National Archives and Records
Administration and the Library of Congress. Submissions from Phase II also
will be preserved.
- More than 1,200 submissions have been
made to Operation Homecoming by military personnel, their immediate adult
family members, and other eligible program participants. Submissions include
a range of genres such as memoirs, short stories, poems, letters, and email
correspondence.
- Random House Publishing Group released
the anthology, titled Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan,
and the Home Front, in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families on
September 12, 2006. The anthology features almost 100 writings by troops
and their families, from letters and emails to private journals and poems.
- Operation Homecoming editor Andrew
Carroll has edited several bestselling books, including War Letters, which
also was a PBS film. He founded the Legacy Project, a national, all-volunteer
effort to preserve wartime correspondence. Carroll edited the Operation
Homecoming anthology on a pro bono basis.
- Proceeds from the anthology will be
used to provide arts and cultural programming to U.S. military communities.
The book also will be given to military installations, schools, and libraries.
- The documentary feature Operation
Homecoming,
inspired by the National Endowment of the Arts' Operation Homecoming
program, was nominated for an Academy Award® and received two EMMY® Awards.
The film was produced by The Documentary Group and directed by Richard Robbins.
It also aired on PBS in April 2007 as part of the "America at a Crossroads"
series.
- Another documentary, Muse of Fire, was directed by Lawrence Bridges of Red Car Productions. This award-winning
film features compelling readings and interviews with troops and their families
who participated in the NEA program, as well as authors who led writing workshops.
- In the current Phase II of the program,
Operation Homecoming is holding writing workshops for veterans
as well as active duty troops at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical
centers, military hospitals, and affiliated centers in communities around
the country.
- To facilitate Phase II writing workshops,
the NEA created an Operation Homecoming Guide for Writers, which offers
advice on writing and samples of notable wartime writing by veterans,
civilians, and Operation Homecoming contributors.
- Operation Homecoming is the largest
of several landmark partnerships between the NEA and the Department
of Defense. The projects include the NEA's national reading program
The Big Read in communities with military bases; the Great
American Voices Military Base Tour, which brought professional performances of opera
and musical theater to 39 military bases nationwide; and Shakespeare
in American Communities Military Base Tour, professional theater performances at
18 military bases. The Boeing Company sponsored The Big Read and Great
American Voices military community projects.
- Information on Operation Homecoming,
including workshop schedules, the Guide for Writers, submissions guidelines,
and audio/video resources are available at www.operationhomecoming.org.
National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal
agency
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20506 |
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