Book Recommendation: Combat and Campus

Combat and Campus: Writing through War
by Sgt. Peter R. Langlois and Annette Langlois Grunseth
reviewed by Peter Sherrill

During the summer of 1967, Wausau native Peter Langlois graduated from UW-Madison with a degree in journalism. A few weeks later, he received his draft notice and was inducted into the U.S. Army. 

Combat and Campus: Writing through War chronicles a year that followed from two perspectives: Peter, a combat infantryman serving in Vietnam; and his younger sister, Annette, a student at UW-Madison.

Peter served in the 25th Division, 2/22 Infantry in Dau Tieng until he returned home in July 1969. The 30-plus letters he sent home describe – in explicit detail – the grisly specifics of combat life. He also sent home photos, some of which are included in the book. 

Though Peter was originally motivated by a sense of patriotic duty and a family tradition of military service, the reader can trace the erosion of his dedication. From the mindless discipline of Officer Candidate School (which he chose not to complete), to the constant carnage and stench of warfare, his disillusionment grows steadily through the course of the letters, and, as it was for so many Vietnam veterans, continues to become even greater after coming home. 

Peter returned to Wausau grateful – and more than a little surprised – to be alive. But also like so many Vietnam veterans, he stopped talking about it. 

That’s where his sister and co-author, Annette, comes in. She opens the collection with a few poems about their childhood in Wausau. She then turns to the violent antiwar protests on the UW-Madison campus and describes the anxiety and confusion of what were supposed to be carefree college years. 

Annette also follows Peter’s letters with essays and poems describing his resentment over the maltreatment of Vietnam veterans. She describes her brother’s struggles with what we now know as post-traumatic stress disorder, and a rare cancer – attributed to Agent Orange – that ended his life in 2004.

Combat and Campus has been acclaimed by Vietnam veterans’ organizations, and it earned gold in the 2022 Military Writers Society of America awards in the Memoir category. Both authors offer primary-source material for Vietnam-era historians.

Combat and Campus is a riveting, and sometimes gut-wrenching, read.

Peter Sherrill’s poems and essays have appeared in a variety of state and regional publications, and he is a past president of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets. He and his wife, Carrie, facilitate the Art/Speaks ekphrastic writing events through Write On, Door County. They are both preliminary judges for the Hal Prize in poetry.