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American soldier poetry of the Vietnam War

Literary Archives at La Salle

This guide provides useful resources in the genre of poetry written by American soldiers of the Vietnam War

Manuscripts & Personal Papers

W.D. Ehrhart papers

An exhaustive archive of W.D. Ehrhart's writings about the Vietnam War, as well as his correspondence and other personal papers.

First Casualty Press archives 

Material relating to three important anthologies edited by Jan Barry:  "Winning hearts and minds : war poems by Vietnam Veterans" (1972) / edited by Larry Rottmann, Jan Barry, and Basil T. Paquet; "Demilitarized zones : veterans after Vietnam" (1976) / edited by Jan Barry and W.D. Ehrhart; and "Peace is our profession : poems and passages of war protest" (1981) / edited by Jan Barry. 

Viet Nam Generation and Burning Cities archives

Archives of the Viet Nam Generation journal (1988-1998) with some material from its allied newsletter (1988-1992) and the Burning Cities Press.   

A Shadow on Our Hearts pre-publication material

Transcripts  and recordings of interviews, as well as early drafts compiled by Adam Gilbert, for his 2018 book, A Shadow On Our Hearts: Soldier-Poetry, Morality, and the American War in Vietnam. Gilbert utilized La Salle's Vietnam War Collection for his book.