Today in our Ideas Matter segment, we check in with the Vermont Humanities Council to talk about their program Standing Together: Veterans Book Groups. We are joined by Michael Heaney, a retired American History Professor, lawyer, and a wounded combat veteran of the Vietnam War. In 1965 and 1966, he served in Vietnam with the 1st Cavalry Division as an infantry platoon leader. Much of his post-war life has been devoted to working with combat veterans, and to writing, teaching, and leading discussions about war- and veteran-related matters. For 15 years, he led wilderness expedition courses for combat veterans, in a program jointly sponsored by Outward Bound and the Veterans Administration.
He has been interviewed and filmed for inclusion in Ken Burns’s documentary about the Vietnam War, expected to be released in 2016. Michael is serving as the discussion leader for two of the Vermont Humanities Council’s Veterans Book Groups, part of the NEH’s Standing Together initiative.
Amy Cunningham, Director of Community Programs at the Vermont Humanities Council, also joins us.
