War Vol 3

war3 cover

Vol. 3 Warriors & Students

Warriors & Students is the third of the War: Through Their Eyes series. This latest installment features the work of 10 journalism students who’ve produced an 100-page book, 300 online journal entries and 30 audio podcasts that highlight the stories of 10 student veterans. These warriors and students shared stories that they haven’t told before. One joined the Marines because he wanted to show the world he wasn’t a quitter; another joined the Army to make money so his sister could get life-saving surgery. Another talked about being part of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, how surreal the scene was and how far away he felt from his home in Wisconsin.

I teach my students the value of story, how stories connect us as people. This third installment of the War series also include a new component - the Story Behind the Story. For nine of the 10 student reporters, war had been a foreign concept; one student is an Iraq War veteran. The students understood on some level that the United States is still engaged in warfare, but they had little understanding of what that really meant. In the Story Behind the Story, I asked my students to delve into their own journey in the telling of the veteran’ stories. The student reporters held nothing back.

On one level Warriors & Students refers to our student veterans; on another level, it is about two groups of people - warriors and students.

And War: Through Their Eyes, Vol. 3, Warriors & Students, is their story. - Grace Lim, editor