Bill Maier, son of E. John Maier, founding president of Peninsula Community College, will explain the healing power of writing the memoir/novel of his time in the American/Vietnam War. He is grateful to the local tribes for their veteran honoring ceremonies and the “The Wall That Heals” for bringing together world-renowned Vietnam veteran artists, who spoke, painted, and performed illuminating works about the effects of war on young souls.
In A Boy at War, Bill wove his 40-year history as a combat veteran counselor into the account of his tour of duty as an enlisted Marine in 1967–68. From 1979–2012, as a professional combat veteran counselor, he brought outreach services for veterans to the remote areas of the Peninsula. He wrote a needs assessment for the Washington State Department of Veteran Affairs to help clarify appropriate services in tribal communities for Native American combat veterans in their catchment areas.
For years, his horrific memories, as documented in this book, were similar to still photographs in his mind. He feared that those memories would come flooding over him from writing, so he delayed this account for decades. He thought he would need to be living in a domiciliary in a VA hospital to face these demons. In 2018, he was able, instead, to tell his story at home with the support of friends, family, and mental health professionals.
Join us for “Strong at the Broken Places,” a presentation by Bill Maier, author, veteran, and son of the founding president of Peninsula College in The Little Theater on the main campus of Peninsula College or access the livestream on Zoom | Meeting ID: 824 6785 5253
Co-sponsored with The Veterans Support Office at Peninsula College.