My Brother’s War

Mysteries of the past often go unsolved, but digging up artifacts proved to be a therapeutic journey for Georgia Southern art professor Jessica Hines, who ventured to post-war Viet Nam to retrace her brothers’ footsteps as a soldier in the Viet Nam War.

Hines uses photographs to piece together his story in the internationally acclaimed, award-winning photography portfolio “My Brother’s War,” exhibited worldwide.

“My Brother’s War” is the product of a personal journey to uncover the truth about the life of Hines’ brother, Gary. After serving nearly three years in Viet Nam, Gary was honorably discharged and diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, which led to his eventual suicide 10 years later.

“I think it is possible for this personal story about what happens after a war to have universal resonance,” said Hines. “The effects of war, virtually the same in all cultures, never really go away, and lives are forever changed.”

The debilitating mental disorder forever changed Gary and his relationships with people around him.

“He became very detached like so many others who had seen death and protected themselves from further pain by not forming close relationships,” Hines said, “Combat and witnessing combat can change the brain permanently; that’s why avoidance behaviors are survival skills.”

Hines has few memories of her brother before the war. He was much older and the siblings lived with separate relatives. It wasn’t until his return to civilian life that they were able to establish a personal relationship, though he refused to discuss the war.

Gary’s photographs, letters and memorabilia only illustrate the images he saw, but Hines wished to know more about his experience and some of the emotions. Hines embarked on the journey of a lifetime to Chu Lai, Saigon, Hanoi and other cities in Viet Nam, accompanied by two colleagues who were familiar with the area. She returned alone a year later to photograph Chu Lai.

“The moment I decided to make art about this occurred when a friend asked me about Gary’s letters from Viet Nam. My friend, Vincent Kohler, taught a class in political science at Georgia Southern and wanted the students to feel a real connection to a soldier they were studying. I agreed to let the class read Gary’s letters and I also visited the class and discussed my experiences with them,” Hines said. “Because I read the letters before loaning them to my friend, I was inspired to revisit this past.”

During her journey, Hines discovered that Gary had a Vietnamese girlfriend. She was, Hines realized, the person who had inscribed a message in Gary’s dictionary. It is loosely translated as “I pray for your spirit.” Hines intends to visit Viet Nam again to find out more about Gary’s girlfriend.

In July, three pieces from the series were purchased by the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York and Hines donated a fourth. The work is scheduled to be exhibited in the coming year. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston also purchased a print from the series. The portfolio received the Grand Prize in the Lens Culture International Exposures Award, proving to be superior to more than 18,912 images received from 65 countries, and was also first place prizewinner in Fine Art Portfolio in the Worldwide Photography Gala Awards. As a result of her work, Hines received the Humanitarian Documentary Award for 2011.

“I am grateful that the work has been well-received and that I have been able to use art, not only as a healing tool for myself, but to honor the spirit of my brother, Gary, and all of the other people just like him who suffered from the effects of war,” Hines said.