Military veteran to speak candidly of war

Date: 12/9/2008

By Katelyn Gendron

Reminder Assistant Editor



WEST SPRINGFIELD The Oath of Enlistment of the United States Marine Corps reads, "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. That I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

What if obeying the orders of the President or an officer means sacrificing the lives of your men? Must Marines obey, or, if they cannot does that make them unfit to maintain their posts?

For retired Marine Corps Capt. Tyler Boudreau the latter was his fate.

On Dec. 10 at the West Springfield Public Library (WSPL), Boudreau will speak candidly about his freshman novel, "Packing Inferno," which chronicles his "unmaking" after his last mission in Iraq in 2004.

"War is a dangerous environment; to achieve military objectives, commanders must be prepared to sacrifice the lives of some of their men," Boudreau told Reminder Publications. "No matter how much he might love his troops, he's got to love the mission more. Ultimately, I came to a point where the opposite was true for me; I revered my Marines more than the mission. I, therefore, deemed myself ineligible to command and [was] professionally obligated to resign."

Boudreau enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1989 at the age of 18 and went on to serve on active duty for over 12 years. He said he chose to become a Marine because of "the nobility of serving, the camaraderie, the esprit de corps, and the challenge."

However, his devotion to those he served with began to compromise the beliefs engrained within his military psyche.

Boudreau explained that writing a book about his experiences within the military as well as spending time with his family has helped him to assimilate back into civilian life.

"Writing for me has been tremendously therapeutic," he said. "The greatest value has been in the revision process because as I physically manipulate the words in each line I confront and manipulate the ideas I'm discussing as well. I learned a great deal about myself through writing and revising and revising and revising."

Boudreau said he hopes that those attending his book reading and discussion will grow to understand the complexities of war and hero worship.

There is a great mythology about battle in this country, a great deal of glorification of war," he said. "Honoring veterans is good, but not to the extent that it becomes a blinder for Americans. I'd like to see the discourse on war broadened substantially. I'd like people to say about my book and about me, 'Hey, this guy is still honoring the veterans, but he's speaking quite candidly about his experiences; he hasn't allowed himself to be bound up and silenced by ideologies. Maybe I can do that too.'"

Anna Popp, assistant reference librarian at the WSPL, said she organized this event in order to draw attention to the timeless phenomenon of war while bringing it to a local level.

"['Packing Inferno'] has political and civic meaning," she said. "The fact that he was a 12-year veteran that was disenfranchised [with the military is poignant]. It brings up issues that we, as a community, need to look at such as post-traumatic stress disorder. There's no recognition of what these people went through [in Iraq]."

Boudreau said in addition to his speaking engagements and humanitarian aid he continues to write and has plans to publish "another book dealing with the nuanced dimensions of war in the American consciousness."

For more information about Boudreau's appearance at the WSPL on Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. call the library at 736-4561.

Additional details about Boudreau can be obtained at www.tylerboudreau.com.