Describing My Experiences in Afghanistan—in 6 Words

[xchrom]

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/08/describing-my-experiences-in-afghanistan-in-6-words/279047/



Baby shoes for sale. Never worn.

The six-word story--legendarily but probably falsely attributed to Hemingway -- has since inspired imitators, creating a new genre of writing. Like a tweet or a haiku, the six-word story is defined by limitation, urgent in its economy of language.

Six words.

In July of 2010, walking off the bus after returning from Afghanistan, I never imagined being able to describe my war in six neatly packaged words.

It's three years later and I find myself obsessively racking my mind for every horrible moment that I spent overseas, proceeding to cut away the fat until I have six shining words that say all that I want.

[Hotler]

1. Good read. Kicking.......

I have and see no hope. My six words.

[KoKo]

2. I've been wondering when writing from Soldiers about 12 years of war

would show up. I remember the War Stories of Vietnam, WWII, WWI...even the Civil War from History. Yet these wars of today don't seem to be able to have a narrative from those who participate. Maybe because it's the MySpace, Facebook, Twitter generation...which will communicate in a different way...(as this article is saying).

Here's another snip from the article:

Whether it's sitting across the table from your mother and articulating what combat has done to her son or putting pen to paper, the desire to explain is always there. Our generation has failed to yet write its definitive account and so the six-word war finds its place in the margins somewhere between a Facebook post and a manuscript.

It is the human element so desperately harvested in news clips and documentaries. Here it is, served from the primary source in six digestible words.

They are quickly becoming our own epitaphs. We have no national monuments erected for our war on terror, like those strewn across the battlefields of France. No poet has yet arisen from our generation to pen a "Dulce et Decorum est." We do not know how history will remember us. For now, all we have are photos on hard drives and steel bracelets venerating the dead.

We can't all write novels, and sometimes we can't even say what we mean, but therein lies the merit of finding your six-word war. It's painful and gratifying, but sometimes six words are all you need.

Came home. Moved on. Couldn't forget.

[bluedeathray]

3. Six words?

We kill those who preach peace.

Or how about:

War makes greedy people very rich.

Perhaps:

Worried people ignore other peoples problems.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. "We warned you about the quagmire"

[bluedeathray]

5. Coming to you in about 3 years. nt