WEBVTT

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Recently, the American
public learned

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that the Iraqi
civilian death toll far

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exceeds with the US
government previously claimed.

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The difference numbering in
the hundreds of thousands.

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The news has, for
many Americans,

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leveled what little
we had left of trust

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in our leaders' ability to
tell the truth about this war.

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Brian Turner served his
country as a Sergeant

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of the army for seven
years following graduation

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from the University
of Oregon, where

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he earned an MFA in poetry.

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He went on to serve
for a year in Iraq

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as part of the first
Stryker brigade.

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In 2005, he won the
Beatrice Hawley award

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from Alice James books,
a cooperative poetry

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press in Maine that also
published his winning

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manuscript, Here,
Bullets, a collection

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of poems written during
service in Mosul in 2004.

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As a poet of courage, Brian
Turner writes about war

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with insight and compassion.

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He treats his subjects with
the intelligence of someone

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who still believes in love.

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His long poem, 2000
Pounds, concludes

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with the vision of the dead,
both Americans and Iraqis

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alike, consoling one another
amidst wreckage by whispering

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"habib."

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The Arabic word for love, that
it might not be forgotten.

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As a poet of
witness, Brian Turner

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gives us the ability to
see like the long range

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high powered loophole military
scopes he used in Iraq.

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Turner's poetry
provides clear focus

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on the human impact of
war without climbing

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aboard a soapbox or hiding
behind political rhetoric.

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His non-judgmental
but honest recovery

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of events more often obliterated
by media and government censors

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is a subtle but
enduring gift to us.

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Brian Turner's is
an unusual voice.

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He is an embedded poet
appointed neither by government

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nor military interests,
but called from within

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to write on behalf of those
who can no longer speak

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for themselves.

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That their stories might
be known to the rest of us.

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Tonight, let us listen to them.

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Please, give a warm
welcome to Brian Turner.

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