Army veteran Gene Rovang of Decorah, Iowa, tells the story of a World War II veteran he interviewed about fighting in the Battle of the Bulge for a class project in his Life After War: Post-Deployment Issues class at the University of Iowa campus in Iowa City, Iowa. Rovang fought in the Gulf war while on active duty and then did two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan with the National Guard. Colleges and universities are beginning to offer veterans-only classes that cater to a populations that tends to be older, more experienced and farther removed from the classroom.By ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON – The students in the Saturday morning class trickle in and, as they introduce themselves around a table, reveal far more intimate biographies than just name and hometown.
One confesses to demons he struggles to control. Another says he’s here to find a community. “Forgive me,” an Iraq war veteran begins haltingly. “I have to use notes. I have a brain injury.”
The students are participants in a veterans writing seminar at George Washington University, where for two days they immerse themselves in the basics of the craft and learn how to plumb for therapeutic and creative purposes their experiences in places like Iraq, Bosnia and Vietnam. The class is a non-credit weekend seminar open to veterans and their relatives, but the university plans to soon adapt the model into a for-credit semester-long course for student veterans.