Bill McCloud

Billy Glen McCloud (/mʌklˈaʊd/; born October 29, 1948) is an American adjunct professor of American History at Rogers State University. He has written two books, What Should We Tell Our Children About Vietnam? and a book of poems, The Smell of the Light: Vietnam, 1968-1969.[1]

Bill McCloud
BornBilly Glen McCloud
(1948-10-29) October 29, 1948
Ponca City, Oklahoma, U.S.
Occupation
  • Author
  • Teacher
Period1989-present
GenreHistory
Memoir
Notable worksWhat Should We Tell Our Children About Vietnam?

Smell of the Light: Vietnam 1968-1969
Military career
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of service1967-1970
RankE5
Unit147th Assault Support Helicopter Company (Hillclimbers)

Early life and career

In 1987 McCloud prepared to teach his junior high-school history class about the Vietnam War, but found history textbooks to have brief and superficial sections to cover the conflict.[2] He then wrote letters to more than 200 persons, asking them to respond to the question: What are the most important things for today's students to understand about the Vietnam War?[3] In 1988 American Heritage included several replies he had received in their Volume 39, Issue 4 magazine,[4] bringing his work to national attention. He received 160 replies in total, and in October of 1989 the University of Oklahoma Press published his book What Should We Tell Our Children About Vietnam? that include 128 of those responses received.[5] In 2009 Harvard University's Houghton Library purchased the archive McCloud accumulated while creating this book.

Since April 2019, he has been a prolific contributor of fiction and poetry book reviews to The VVA Veteran magazine's online Books in Review II page.

He holds degrees from Northern Oklahoma College, Oklahoma State University and Northeastern State University.[6] Northern Oklahoma College inducted McCloud into their Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame in 2018.[7]

Military career

McCloud served in the U.S. Army from 1967-1970 during the Vietnam War.[8] He was in Vietnam from March 1968 to March 1969 as flight operations coordinator for the 147th Assault Support Helicopter Company (Hillclimbers).[9] He received the Air Medal for flying in 50 helicopter missions.[10]

During his time in Vietnam, McCloud wrote a series of letters to his mother. After arriving in the country, he had gone a month without writing home, when a first sergeant instructed him to have a letter ready to go every Monday.[9] 52 of these letters were saved by his mother and later became the basis for a series of poems that would be collected into his book The Smell of the Light: Vietnam, 1968-1969.[11]

Awards

Bibliography

A complete listing of works by Bill McCloud:

  • What Should We Tell Our Children About Vietnam? (1989)
  • The Smell of the Light: Vietnam, 1968-1969 (2017)

References
  1. "Best-Sellers". The Oklahoman. 2017-12-17. p. 7D.
  2. Leepson, Marc (1992-09-13). "Vietnam For Kids". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
  3. Meyer, Richard E. (1988-10-23). "Teacher Goes to Source: Preparing the Lesson of Vietnam". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  4. "What Should We Tell Our Children About Vietnam?". American Heritage. 39 (4). 1988.
  5. Foisie, Jack (1990-01-09). "Vietnam War Is Over, But What Do We Tell Our Children About It?". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
  6. "RSU Instructor Recognized as Three Time Woody Guthrie Poet". Rogers State University. 30 September 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  7. "Roustabout benefit show Saturday night". Ponca City Now. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  8. "NOC to honor distinguished alums March 31". The Maverick. Vol. 105, no. 3. 2018-03-14. p. 4. Archived from the original on 2021-01-19. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  9. Tramel, Jimmie (2016-07-03). "War bonding: Author shares Vietnam War poetry with inmates". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  10. Killackey, Jim (1987-10-18). "Students Learn of Vietnam War". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  11. Tramel, Jimmie (2017-10-13). "Author's poems about Vietnam War experiences collected in book form". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  12. Butler, Laura. "Vietnam Veterans to speak during NSU Centennial Lectureship Series". www.nsuok.edu. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
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