On November 10, the day before Veterans Day, an acting and writing group called WORDTheatre visited Venice High and performed three short stories written by veterans in Room 5.

It was a very curious and somewhat somber experience listening to these stories written by veterans, two of which authors were present at the event while their pieces were performed.

The first story, Tim O’Brien’s “Ambush,” performed by Eugene Byrd, a voice actor from many big title video games, was a very tragic story that touched on the PTSD developed after a traumatizing moment during a soldier’s service. It focused on the psychological horror both during and after service.

Then the performance took a lighter yet harrowing tone with “Tolstoy Solider,” was written and performed by Nicholas Cormier III. The story was about Cormier’s experience at a training ground playing “military laser tag.”

There were some daunting moments, which were incredibly effective in reminding you that this is still a very serious moment of his life.

The last short story, Elaine Little’s “Bitter Tea” was performed by Tracey Thoms, a noted actress. This story told of the experience of an imprisoned woman in Afghanistan through the view of a deployed officer. It was a very somber story which revealed the cruelty of deployment in Afghanistan and the system of how soldiers operated.

These performances were astounding and truly an amazing experience. Despite the disparaging nature of veteran stories, these authors and performers created an incredibly touching and moving moment.