Book of the Month: Vietnam Veteran

Our August Book of the Month is Ned Ricks, who joined the Human Library in 2016 and has since shared his experiences with readers from all walks of life, students, fellow veterans, skeptics and the simply curious.

With the Book Title “Vietnam Veteran,” Ned brings decades of military and life experience to his Readers. Originally from Chicago, Ned served as a captain and later a commanding officer in the Vietnam War from 1970 to 1971. He retired from the Army Reserves in 1993 with 25 years of commissioned service.

Today, he volunteers at the National Veterans Art Museum in Chicago, and with the Human Library as a treasured Book on our shelves.

Finding the Missing Chapter

Ned discovered the Human Library by chance. In 2016, he noticed a flyer on the museum door announcing an upcoming event. Curious, he checked the list of published Books, and noticed something missing.

“Veteran” was not a title on our shelf for the event, and Ned took it upon himself to become that. He’s been an active fixture at Human Library events ever since, sharing stories from his military career and challenging people’s assumptions about what a veteran looks and sounds like.

Challenging Assumptions

Ned often encounters Readers with rigid ideas of what a veteran “should” be.

Ned remembers one Reader who couldn’t believe he was a veteran, because he was clean shaven and not angry.

It’s not just outward appearance, Readers sometimes ask questions loaded with assumptions. He recalls a high school student who asked, “How could you believe in God after everything you’ve seen?”

His response: “How did she know for sure I believed in God to begin with?”

“Sometimes the questions come at you from (the Book’s) point of view, and sometimes you need to agree on a point of view before you can give a good answer,” Ned explained.

For Ned, part of being a Book means helping Readers trace their questions back to their true origins, and, sometimes, their own blind spots.

Two-Way Vulnerability

While Readings often focus on allowing Books to be vulnerable, Ned believes the process goes both ways. One of his most memorable moments came during a Reading with another Vietnam-era veteran.

The man had trained as a Marine, and was diverted to radar school along with another classmate while the rest of his training class was sent to Vietnam, where many were killed. The Reader carried guilt over calling himself a veteran, when he had not seen combat.

Ned reassured the Reader that he had just followed orders, like Ned himself had done. Ned pointed to the shirt the Reader was wearing with the faces of his children and grandchildren, and asked him to remember all the lives that might not have existed if he’d been sent to combat.

“Sometimes people need to open up on a given subject, and I guess Books are, in a very good sense, safe, because as a Human Library Book you have no last name,” Ned said. “They’re not going to see you again. So they can open up their mind and their heart to you in a way they might not be able to, to a neighbor they’ll see again.”

What It Means to Be Heard

For Ned, fond memories throughout his time as a Book have been just as much about learning from his interactions with other Books as they have his own Readings.

“I learn as much, I think from, especially from the other Books, as I do anything else.”

Those exchanges with fellow Books shape the way Ned approaches his own Readings, carrying forward the lessons he’s absorbed and offering something meaningful in return.

A last piece of advice Ned leaves his Readers with: if you encounter a Vietnam veteran, don’t thank them for their service.

“If you want to go and greet a Vietnam veteran, and you want them to know that you know and appreciate them, when you offer your hand, say welcome home,” Ned said. “Because nobody welcomed us home.”

The Human Library’s Role Today

As discussions around diversity, equity, and inclusion face increasing pushback in many corners of society, Ned believes the Human Library’s mission is more important than ever.

“Given the way society seems to now be turning its back on the concept of DEI with the political hunt climate being what it is, and the de-emphasis of DEI, actually, we need the Human Library more than ever.”

And for Ned Rick, every Reading is a chance to remind people that behind every presumption is a real person, who probably doesn’t fit the model you’ve set them in. That listening matters, and that sometimes, being a Book is the best way to rewrite someone’s assumptions.

This month, we honor Ned Rick for the courage and compassion he brings to every conversation as a Human Library Book.

 

Welcome home, Ned. And thank you for being part of our Library.

 

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