On Thursday, October 6th I attended the veteran’s monologue panel.  The panel consisted of approximately 12 students.  These students acted to convey the personal stories of veterans.  The students presented the stories rather than the veterans because it was thought that they would better evoke feelings from the audience as it enabled more of a connection to the ordinary, nonmilitary-involved viewer. At the beginning of the event, the student speakers were situated in the audience so that the they would blend in with the crowd, thus enhancing their relationship with the audience members so that they would appear to be an everyday student rather than someone who volunteered to regurgitate the stories of veterans. When it was time for the event to begin, the student panel walked up onstage, while still wearing their backpacks and carrying books making their presence relatable to the viewers.

Prior to speaking in front of an audience, students were assigned the task of interviewing a veteran and obtaining a story from them that they would be able to present.  Based on the veteran’s memories of war, the social environment; or milieu; of boot camp and of war in general is much different than that of everyday life.  One of the veteran’s stories explained how life truly began for him at boot camp as it was quite the, “cultural shock.” After re-entering civilian world, many of the veterans thought they would be able to move on past war and be joyous to be back but it appeared that life in the civilian world had been put on hold while everyone else moved on. At times many of the veterans would feel so alone in the world regardless of the number of people around them.   The veterans recollected how they had to change their initial moral beliefs upon entering the military.  One veteran explained how prior to being employed he was an atheist but, “Once something extreme happens, once you witness the horrors on the battlefield, you will pray to anyone and anything in hope that there is some greater force out there looking over you.”

Additionally, one of the veterans returned home after deployment and stated, “This isn’t the America that I fought for.” Before he left for the military, he remembers fighting for a country formed by the kindness of those who live in it but when he returned home he was only greeted with the hate and disrespect that citizens exhibited towards one another .  There is now doubt and mistrust everywhere and a lack of courage and compassion.  We rise and fall as one nation and, “Even though we are all unique in America,” the veteran mentioned, “That’s what makes us great.”