I was born and raised on a farm, Cox’s Farm, on Old Tuxedo Road in the Town of Warwick. When I returned from Viet Nam in 1969, Warwick no longer looked or felt the same. It would be decades before I understood that the changes were in me.
I married in China in 1992 and came with my pregnant wife to live in the Village of Warwick on South Street. We later bought the house from our landlords. My now ex-wife still lives there. Our son was born in St. Anthony’s in January 1993. I had been born there in 1947.
When it was time to enroll him in school, we chose the Partners In Education (PIE) program. Over the next few years, the Warwick Advertiser published a number of my letters to the editor in support of the PIE program. It also published a feature on my wife, her move to Warwick and our life together there.
I mark 2010 as when I began to become a vet. The Warwick Advertiser published letter after letter. You published longer “My View” pieces. Dirt magazine published even more. I submitted many pieces to editor Bob Quinn. As far as I can remember, all, except one, was published.
I have ideas about what I call “Survival Arts.” Writing is one of my Survival Arts, but I want you to know getting published amplifies the power of a survival art. Being invited to write about my Viet Nam experience and then getting it published is a powerful way to make peace with the experience.
But it doesn’t stop there. What I have written about vets, and most of it has not been about glorifying them, has helped vets and their families survive.
I am deeply grateful. You have given me enormous support. You have not only helped me survive you have enriched my life.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Everett Cox
Paris, France