Joe Hertel

Not One Discarded Candle: Poems of Love and War Joe Hertel

Chicago resident Joe Hertel served in Viet Nam during the TET offensive of 1968. Thirty four years later, 61 of his poems, many about his experiences in Viet Nam are published, and the impact of this collection was worth the wait. Reading through the first two sections, all of which express the emotion of love's intimacy, we get a hint of a special relationship the author had while serving in Viet Nam. The conflict becomes more apparent in the third section of war poems as we try to understand the enigma faced by a soldier in love while in war.

Then, Joe opens up his heart and includes a short story which reveals the inspiration for most of his poems, and we are given a personal glimpse into the physical and emotional distress endured, and, with the revelation given in this ending story, Hertel's poems become more personal, and this makes the collection immensely worthwhile.

War veterans, especially Viet Nam vets, will find shared emotions in these poems,writen over three decades, and families of veterans will find this collection immeasurably helpful in understanding the emotional trauma of war a little deeper.