30 Poets in 30 Days

J. Stevens Berry: We visited Steve Berry in his offices in Lincoln where he regaled us with so many good stories we could have spent the afternoon there with him! We recorded two of his powerful poems about his time in Vietnam, which are included in his upcoming book "Foot Soldier." A well-known criminal defense attorney and founder of the Berry Law Firm in Lincoln, NE. Berry attended Stanford University, Infantry Officer School at Fort Benning, GA, and the Judge Advocate General School in Charlottesville, VA. During his service, in 1968 and 1969, Berry was the chief defense counsel for II Field Force Vietnam, the largest general court martial jurisdiction for American forces in Vietnam. He also served as defense counsel with the 101st Airborne, the 82nd Airborne, the 1st Infantry Division, the 1st Cavalry Division, and other units. His Vietnam memoir, Those Gallant Men, 1983, recounts his efforts to defend the commander of the Green Berets and some of his officers against murder and conspiracy charges. The book was a Military Book Club selection for the Book of the Month, and is considered an important historical document on the Green Berets trial. Berry has written prize winning poetry and was the lead author of a book on the use of forensic science in criminal cases. From 1956-1960 Berry studied poetry with Yvor Winters and prose with Wallace Stegner at Stanford University.