"Worthy of Gratitude?" Why Veterans May Not Want to be Thanked For Their "Service" in War

Series: War Legacy (Book 1)
Paperback: 114 pages
Publisher: Gnosis Press; 1st edition (2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0996820701
ISBN-13: 978-0996820707

                               ****

In this collection of essays, Camillo “Mac” Bica, Ph.D., a former Marine Corps Officer, Vietnam Veteran, and philosopher, provides a cogent analysis of why a veteran may not want to be thanked for his “service” in war. Mac’s experiential and theoretical perspective is both gut wrenching and concise. “The Philosopher speaks from the mind,” Mac writes, “the warrior from where it hurts.” With simplicity, poignancy, and power, this book, together with future installments of the War Legacy Series, works to dispel the mythology of nobility and heroism by providing a window into the reality of war and its devastating effects upon all who experience its horrors.

                                ****

“Bica is a poet of war who speaks with the heart of a warrior. His perspective is passionate and poignant, and his analysis razor sharp, always with a deep humanity in his voice.”

-- Rita Brock, Ph.D., Author of Soul Repair: Recovering from Moral Injury after War.

                                ****

Table of Contents

Legacy of War Series Introduction…....Page 1

Personal Recollections of War …....…..Page 5

Don’t Thank Me for my Service …........Page 34

Blood on All Our Hands: Don't Thank

Me for My Service Redux ...……...…....Page 42

Meeting with the Enemy……..………....Page 66

American Exceptionalism, Military Service,

and Sacrifice in War ………………....…Page 81

Epilogue: Warrior to Warrior……..…......Page 115

                                   ****

About the Author

Camillo “Mac” Bica is a philosopher,writer, poet and long time activist for veteran rights, peace, and social justice. His philosophical specialization is in social and political philosophy and ethics, specifically in the relation of war and morality. While serving as an Officer in the United States Marine Corps, Mac spent thirteen months in Vietnam with the 26th Marine Regimental Landing Team. During his recovery from his experiences in the War, he founded, and for five years coordinated, the Veteran Self Help Initiative, AKA the HOOTCH Program (a therapeutic community of war veterans suffering with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Brooklyn. Mac is a regular contributor to Truthout.org and his articles have appeared in The Humanist Magazine, Common Dreams, AlterNet, Foreign Policy in Focus, and numerous philosophical journals. He currently teaches Philosophy at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.