Greetings from the Great Bend Public Library! This coming week we have a very special event happening. I am excited to announce that at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 13, the Great Bend Public Library will be hosting “A New Generation of Veterans: Stories from Iraq and Afghanistan,” a presentation and discussion by Murl Riedel.
Murl is a fiscal analyst and a retired major from the Kansas Army National Guard. He will be here discussing key events of America’s longest war to date and reviewing methods to collect and share the stories of American veterans, as modern communication has left little written record for future generations. With a special focus on Kansas soldiers, who were some of the first deployed to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, Riedel will teach us how we might be able to collect these valuable artifacts of not only daily life but of America and its soldiers during these vital times in our history.
“A New Generation of Veterans: Stories from Iraq and Afghanistan” is part of Humanities Kansas’s Speakers Bureau and “21st Century Civics,” a collection of resources that invite Kansans to participate in community discussions and learn more about the history of American democracy and the shared responsibilities of citizenship. “21st Century Civics” is made possible with support from “A More Perfect Union: America at 250,” an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
We hope those in our community, as well as those who may be coming out of town to experience The Wall That Heals, will take this unique opportunity to see this spectacular presentation by Mr. Murl Riedel. Much as we are honored to have The Wall That Heals here in Great Bend, we are also extremely fortunate to have a Humanities Kansas speaker here at the Great Bend Public Library.
To see what else we’re up to at the library, visit our Facebook page and our website, greatbendpl.info. You can also message us on Facebook, email us at gbcirc@gmail.com, or give us a call at 620-792-2409 for any questions about our programming or services.
Written by Hannah Grippin, outreach manager of the Great Bend Public Library.
