Book of Veterans' Stories to Be Unveiled with Woodruff County Monument

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Woodruff County Veterans: Stories and Memories of Service to One’s Country, a book of stories and essays honoring military veterans, will be released on Saturday, May 26, in conjunction with the unveiling of a new veterans’ monument at 10 a.m. on the grounds of the Woodruff County Courthouse in Augusta as part of Memorial Day weekend observances.

The book, produced in collaboration with the University of Arkansas’ Brown Chair in English Literacy, contains 48 stories and essays, written by veterans, their families and friends. The pieces, many accompanied by pictures, range from tales of leaving home and encountering foreign cultures to making new friends among comrades to engaging in combat.

The concept for Woodruff County Veterans came from Jeannie Waller, a doctoral student in rhetoric, composition and literacy, and David A. Jolliffe, who holds the Brown Chair and is a professor of English in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. Waller also compiled and edited the volume.

“When I began this project I thought we would collect the stories and, over coffee, discuss the best way to phrase something or where to put the comma,” said Waller. “We would get the stories and work on perfecting them. But I was surprised that when the stories came, I didn’t want to change a word.”

Waller approached Jolliffe, her adviser, in 2009 with a proposal to establish “ordinary citizen” writing groups in Augusta, the county seat. 

“I was familiar with Woodruff County Judge Burl Simmons’ drive to build a veterans’ monument for the courthouse lawn,” said Jolliffe. “I had also been working with local organizations on efforts to improve reading and writing since 2007. Jeannie’s idea combined with our prior work and plans for the monument led us to the book.”

Waller recruited citizens from all walks of life to write stories and essays about veterans for the commemorative volume, which would be published in conjunction with the unveiling of the new monument.

Contact Jolliffe at djollif@uark.edu for more information about the Augusta Community Literacy Advocacy Project or to purchase Woodruff County Veterans.