Welcome to Veterans Week at UW Oshkosh

Iraq War in Retrospect will provide citizens of Wisconsin with a unique opportunity to critically assess a war that impacted American (and Iraqi) society, politics and military families significantly over the past decade.  This first-of-its-kind symposium, made possible by a grant from the Wisconsin Humanities Council and a partnership between the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and the Military Veterans Museum of Oshkosh, is free and open to the public.

Through the course of the day panels featuring scholars, journalists, artists, psychologists, authors, military leaders, Gold Star moms, Blue star spouses, humanities experts and, importantly, Iraq War veterans will afford us the opportunity to inaugurate public, retrospective analysis of the war in Iraq.

The keynote lecture will be delivered by Dexter Filkins, Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent for the New York Times and author of the best-selling book The Forever War.

Panelists will include:

• Meg Jones, war correspondent for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
• David Abrams, author of Fobbit
• Matt Bors, cartoonist and co-author of War is Boring
• Major Gen. Donald P. Dunbar, adjutant general of Wisconsin
• Brigadier General Daniel R. Ammerman, Deputy Commanding General of the 99th Regional Support Command

War: Through Their Eyes, Warriors & Nurses is a student/faculty multimedia project – which includes a book, a series of podcasts and a photo exhibit – that focuses on the veterans in the College of Nursing at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. Warriors & Nurses are the stories of the students and alumni who have seen war in the jungles of Vietnam to the deserts in the Middle East, and yet have found their way into a field of healing.

War: Through Their Eyes, Warriors & Nurses, is the second volume of the War: Through Their Eyes series, which began in 2009. That first volume gave 16 student soldiers and Marines a forum to tell the world why they enlisted, what they did and what they felt at the front lines of war. Their stories gave us a
glimpse into a world that most of us will never see. Warriors & Nurses continues that tradition of giving our veterans a name, a face and a voice.

Friday's event will include short opening remarks from UW Oshkosh administrators, a multimedia presentation led by journalism students and a special recognition of the veterans who participated in the project from elected officials. The Warriors & Nurses photo exhibit - which includes war-time photos and personal photos of the veterans - will be on display in the Steinhilber Gallery. The gallery will also be host to the Remember Our Fallen traveling exhibit, which is a photo tribute to all the Wisconsin men and women who have died from wounds suffered in a war zone, while in uniform, since Sept. 11, 2001. A light reception will begin at 5:30 p.m.; opening remarks and presentation will begin at 6 p.m. in the Reeve Memorial Union Theatre.