Blackduck Community Library and AMVETS have teamed up to host a book reading and discussion by Wendell Affield, author of Muddy Jungle Rivers, a Vietnam War memoir. The event begins at 6:30 PM, March 14, at Blackduck Good Samaritan Senior Living in the “great room.” The public is invited. Muddy Jungle Rivers is a close-up …
Too Late
This afternoon I drove up to Red Lake to say good- bye to a friend. Tom Lussier, Vietnam Veteran and crewmember on a PBR (Patrol Boat, River) had died unexpectedly. I met Tom more than twenty years ago. I enjoyed his quiet way and never-ending stories. Many times, Tom invited me to come fishing a …
Chickenhouse Chronicles—World War II Memories
Tomorrow I’m invited to speak to residents at a local nursing home. As I reflected on how to present a Vietnam War memoir to a group of World War II era citizens, I decided that I should focus on a formative event from their past. I will mention Muddy Jungle Rivers but then I will read a …
My Grandmother Studying Abnormal Behavior, Circa 1953, New York City College
Sixty years ago my grandmother began attending a psychology class at New York City College, studying abnormal behavior. For over half a century she searched in vain for a cure, trying to understand why her daughters had been cursed with mental illness. She left behind thousands of pages of New York City Mental Health booklets, …
Have You Thanked A Teacher Who Influenced Your Life?
The first paragraph on the Acknowledgements page of Muddy Jungle Rivers reads “This memory journey began with a series of essays I wrote while attending writing classes taught by Dr. Mark Christensen at Bemidji State University (BSU). His suggestions and prompts were instrumental in illuminating those nocturnal conversations I had with “Buddha” Ed Thomas. Mark’s …
Chickenhouse Chronicles/Katyn Forest Massacre
Three years ago, after my mother died, I discovered a time capsule locked in the chickenhouse on our old homestead near Nebish, Minnesota. Some of my siblings wanted to burn what to them appeared to be trash. My two oldest sisters and I rescued the treasure and brought it to my house. Most biographical …
Quilt of Valor
Quilt of Valor Presented to: Wendell “Afe” Affield Handmade/Quilted by Lanee Dedicated With Thanks for Serving “Lanee” is Kathleen Paulson, Solway, Minnesota. This past Saturday afternoon, Kathleen, her husband, Mark, and her parents, Kenny and Carol Stevens, stopped by our home and presented the quilt. I am deeply humbled and will treasure this keepsake. I …
Remembering Vietnam
Muddy Jungle Rivers, a Vietnam War memoir, thrusts the reader into life in the Brown Water Navy onboard an armor troop carrier with the Mobile Riverine Force. Like Karl Marlantes, author of the novel Matterhorn, and the nonfiction What It Is Like To Go To War, I lived with this story for over thirty years …
After the Funeral
This past spring the “Healing Wall” came to Bemidji, Minnesota. While it was here some friends and I went to see it, then went to breakfast. Mike said he wished it hadn’t come—it opened old wounds. Jim and Lyle agreed and we talked about who it was healing. I was surprised at their sentiments—I felt …