{"id":14906,"date":"2012-11-12T17:06:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-12T22:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=14906"},"modified":"2012-11-26T09:58:36","modified_gmt":"2012-11-26T14:58:36","slug":"overwhelming-response-to-veterans-remembrance-at-pacifist-emu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/overwhelming-response-to-veterans-remembrance-at-pacifist-emu\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Overwhelming Response’ to Veterans\u2019 Remembrance at Pacifist EMU"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an event marking Veterans Day 2012, dozens of students, faculty, staff and visitors at Eastern Mennonite University circulated sometime between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. among rows of 200 pairs of boots that had belonged to members of the U.S. armed services who died in Iraq or Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

\u201cResponse was overwhelmingly positive,\u201d said organizer Evan Knappenberger, 27, a junior at EMU and a veteran of the war in Iraq. \u201cThe experience was emotional \u2013 many people cried \u2013 over the tragedy of the loss of these solders\u2019 lives. The comment I heard most often was \u2018thank you.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n

The boots, all tagged with the deceased soldier\u2019s name and home town in Virginia, came in all sizes and shades of black and gray \u2013 some seemed new, as if they had been dress boots, and others were scuffed and water-marked to the point of turning whitish.<\/p>\n

Some had photos of children and spouses attached, or poems and prayers preserved in clear plastic sleeves underneath the boot soles.<\/p>\n

All ethnicities seemed to be present. There was Humayun Khan from Bristol, whose boot bore a \u201cwage peace button\u201d distributed by the American Friends Service Committee. And Avaro R. Regaldo Sessarego from Virginia Beach.\u00a0 Sharon T. Swartworth\u2019s small boots had a button that read, \u201cRecognizing Women Veterans \u2013 It\u2019s about time!\u201d She was from Alexandria.<\/p>\n

Dwayne L Moore\u2019s boots came with more documentation than most. We learned that this native of Williamsburg \u2013 \u201ca great man of faith who loved the Lord and his family\u201d \u2013 died on April 19, 2007, at age 31 in Iraq, leaving behind his wife and daughter (pictured), parents, and six siblings. He had been in the Army for 13 years.<\/p>\n

Knappenberger received help in setting up and tearing down the display \u00ad\u2013 which required a 16-foot truck to transport the boots in 32 plastic boxes from their permanent storage location in Richmond \u2013 from about 20 members of the EMU community. One of those helping was Daniela Bergen, a senior from Paraguay, who said she wanted to pitch in to show her respect to those who sacrificially served the United States, \u201cthe country giving me an education.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview the week before Veterans Day, Knappenberger said it is \u201ctypically a holiday that pays homage to veterans with parades, concerts and celebration.\u201d Knappenberger left the army in 2007 after nearly four years of service as an enlisted man, including a year in the Iraqi war. \u201cSometimes it can seem like a celebration of war and militarism, more of a political event than a remembrance. \u00a0Because of this, portions of the community \u2013 especially young people and pacifists \u2013 can be left feeling alienated on this special holiday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knappenberger, president of the Charlottesville chapter of Veterans for Peace<\/a>, said he is working with other veterans, as well as non-veterans in the EMU community, to bridge what he calls a \u201ccultural divide\u201c on matters of military service and sacrifices.<\/p>\n

Knappenberger said veterans can feel \u201coppressed,\u201d even by \u201ctraditionally pacifist people like Mennonites who have come to be afraid of us. \u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cVeterans are a sacred political cow,\u201d he added. \u201cThey are given lip-service, swept under the rug and ignored. But many veterans are also peace advocates, pacifists, scholars, and activists.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of politics, soldiers want to serve their country, which is an honorable thing \u2013 not to kill random people in some country they\u2019ve never heard of. \u00a0We must reach out to veterans and help them find peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nov. 12 remembrance at EMU was called \u201cEyes Wide Open.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese boots show the human cost of war and bring to light the cultural and social oppression of veterans as a whole,\u201d said Knappenberger, who entered EMU as a junior majoring in philosophy and theology<\/a> in the fall of 2012.\u00a0 \u201cEyes Wide Open is a powerful display of what goes on just under the surface of U.S. foreign and economic policy, and a poignant reminder of the burdens of young soldiers\u2019 oppression in unpopular and unsuccessful wars.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an event marking Veterans Day 2012, dozens of students, faculty, staff and visitors at Eastern Mennonite University circulated sometime between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. among rows of 200 ... read more about ‘Overwhelming Response’ to Veterans\u2019 Remembrance at Pacifist EMU<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":14907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5583],"tags":[14638,10879,6347],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-14906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","tag-evan-knappenberger","tag-remembrance","tag-veterans"],"yoast_head":"\n'Overwhelming Response' to Veterans\u2019 Remembrance at Pacifist EMU - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/overwhelming-response-to-veterans-remembrance-at-pacifist-emu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Overwhelming Response' to Veterans\u2019 Remembrance at Pacifist EMU - 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