Book Review
Sitting with Warrior
by Carl Hitchens
Publisher: iUniverse: www.iuniverse.com
ISBN: 978-1-4502-7631-3
ISBN: 978-1-4502-7633-7
ISBN: 978-1-4502-7632-0
“The glowing campfire was irresistible to his wandering spirit. He had taken many
roads, many paths since he had left the war in Vietnam. Each path, each road had
taught him something, but still he was nagged by the enormity of what he had
experienced. The words that flowed on occasion, the silence that filled the moments
in between never seemed to reveal the essence of the truth he sought. But this night
in restless sleep, the sleeper went beyond dream into a subtle dimension of reality.
“He came upon a Native American man sitting by the fire, smoking his pipe. The man
called out to him to come and sit by the fire. He said his name was Warrior, and that
the sleeper was not there by accident. This was the beginning of the author’s
journey out of the shadow of Vietnam.
“As a Marine Corps veteran of an unpopular and divisive war, Carl Hitchens
contends that ‘Sitting with Warrior’ chronicles not only his journey, but America’s as
well. By sitting and listening to Warrior’s wisdom, he has recovered lost parts of
himself. This gives America hope for stepping out of the long shadow of Vietnam
that today stretches over Iraq and Afghanistan. Hope that by sitting with Warrior
and his unifying truth, America can heal her old wounds. Hope that she can draw
from her pluralism and diversity unity rather than division—‘out of many, one’.”
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From his vantage point as a Vietnam, combat veteran (Alpha Company, 1st Battalion,
7th Marines, 1st Marine Division), Carl Hitchens weaves history with myth in tracing
his journey of war, survival, and self-discovery. In his common ground odyssey of
citizen warrior, he hopes to aid Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in readjusting from war
and its trauma, as well as reuniting America in a renewed sense of national unity.
Poet, mythical storyteller, and essayist, Hitchens was born in Washington, D.C. of
Nanticoke ancestry, mixed with other drums and songs. He placed first in poetry in the
Tenth Annual Whipple Voices Writing Festival. Besides his latest work,
Sitting with Warrior, Carl is also the author of Shades of Light, a book of reflective poems.
He currently resides in Dewey, Arizona.
Carl Hitchens
Email: drumtalk@mac.com
Website: http://www.drumtalk-hitch.com/Sitting_with_Warrior/Sitting_with_Warrior.html
