Bill McCloud
Bill McCloud | |
|---|---|
| Born | Billy Glen McCloud October 29, 1948 Ponca City, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Occupation |
|
| Period | 1989-present |
| Genre | History Memoir |
| Military career | |
| Service/ | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1967-1970 |
| Rank | E5 |
| Unit | 147th Assault Support Helicopter Company (Hillclimbers) |
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Billy Glen McCloud (/mʌklˈaʊd/; born October 29, 1948) is an American author, poet, and teacher. His first book, What Should We Tell Our Children About Vietnam? reached third in the Oklahoma Best-Sellers list of Nonfiction, while his second book, The Smell of the Light: Vietnam, 1968-1969, topped the Oklahoma Best-Sellers list of Fiction in December of 2017.[1] He is currently an adjunct professor of American History at Rogers State University in Oklahoma.[2]
Early Life and Career
In 1987 McCloud prepared to teach his history class about Vietnam, but found history textbooks to have sketchy, inadequate sections on the war.[3] He wrote letters to more than 200 persons asking them to respond to the question: What are the most important things for today's junior-high-school-students to understand about the Vietnam War?. He received 160 replies. In October of 1989 the University Press published his book What Should We Tell Our Children About Vietnam? that include 128 of those responses received.[4] In 2009 Harvard University's Houghton Library purchased the archive McCloud accumulated while creating this book. The archive includes the letters he received, teaching materials, student papers, and publications on the topic of the Vietnam War. Leslie Morris, the curator of modern books and manuscripts at Houghton Library, praised McCloud's work.[5][6]
"This was really an excellent collection in the way that it not only got to what the people associated with the war, the decision makers, were saying about it, but also how students reacted to it."
— Leslie Morris
Military Career
McCloud served in the U.S. Army from 1967-1970 during the Vietnam War.[7] He was in Vietnam from March 1968 to March 1969 as flight operations coordinator for the 147th Assault Support Helicopter Company (Hillclimbers).[8] He received the Air Medal for flying in 50 helicopter missions.[9]
During his time in Vietnam, McCloud wrote a series of letters to his mother. After arriving in country, he had gone a month without writing home, when a first sergeant instructed him to have a letter ready to go every Monday.[8] 52 of these letters were saved by his mother and later became the basis for a series of poems that would be collected into his book The Smell of the Light: Vietnam, 1968-1969.[2]
Awards
- USA Today's "People Who Make A Difference." (1988)[10]
- George Washington Honor Medal for Excellence in Public Communications from Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge (1998)[10]
Bibliography
A complete listing of works by Bill McCloud:
- What Should We Tell Our Children About Vietnam? (1989)
- The Smell of the Light: Vietnam, 1968-1969 (2017)
References
- ↑ "Best-Sellers". The Oklahoman. 2017-12-17. p. 7D.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Tramel, Jimmie (2017-10-13). "Author's poems about Vietnam War experiences collected in book form". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
- ↑ Leepson, Marc (1992-09-13). "Vietnam For Kids". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
- ↑ "Vietnam War Is Over, But What Do We Tell Our Children About It?". The Seattle Times. 1990-01-09. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
- ↑ Morgan, Rhett (2009-09-07). "Oklahoman's book project archive Harvard-bound". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
- ↑ Wells, Rick (2009-09-08). "Harvard University Purchases Letters From Pryor Author". www.newson6.com. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
- ↑ "NOC to honor distinguished alums March 31". The Maverick. Vol. 105 no. 3. 2018-03-14. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-12-10. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 8.0 8.1 Tramel, Jimmie (2016-07-03). "War bonding: Author shares Vietnam War poetry with inmates". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
- ↑ Killackey, Jim (1987-10-18). "Students Learn of Vietnam War". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Butler, Laura. "Vietnam Veterans to speak during NSU Centennial Lectureship Series". www.nsuok.edu. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
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Category:1948 births Category:20th-century American male writers Category:21st-century American male writers Category:Living people Category:Writers from Oklahoma
