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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 59 writing workshops to troops at 27 domestic and overseas military installations from Camp Pendleton in California to USS Carl Vinson in the Persian Gulf to Bagram Airfield 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 NEA will preserve all submissions in a federal government archive with select writings featured in the Operation Homecoming anthology.
- More than 1,200 submissions were 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 took part in a more than 30-city book tour throughout the U.S. and overseas. The tour visted more than ten military bases nationwide, including stops in California, Georgia, New York, North Carolina, and Texas.
- Operation Homecoming editor Andrew Carroll has edited several bestselling books, including Letters of a Nation, Behind the Lines, and War Letters, which also was a PBS film. He founded the Legacy Project, a national, all-volunteer effort to preserve wartime correspondence of veterans and active duty troops. 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®. 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 byLawrence Bridges of Red Car Productions. Muse of Fire features compelling readings and interviews with troops and their families who participated in the NEA program, as well as authors who led writing workshops. The film premiered at the National Archives in March 2007.
- In 2008, Operation Homecoming will host writing workshops at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers, military hospitals, and affiliated centers in communities around the country.
- Information on the Operation Homecoming book tour, essays on writing, streaming video of Operation Homecoming writing workshops, and audio clips from the CD are available at www.operationhomecoming.org.
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