{"id":18557,"date":"2013-11-12T11:37:17","date_gmt":"2013-11-12T16:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=18557"},"modified":"2013-12-04T09:50:39","modified_gmt":"2013-12-04T14:50:39","slug":"veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Veterans\u2019 suicides remembered by EMU students, faculty and staff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Veterans Day 2013 was remembered at Eastern Mennonite University with 242 dog tags hung from a tree along a well-traveled footpath near the center of campus.<\/p>\n

Two graduate students, Michael McAndrew and Katrina Gehman, began hanging 22 dog tags per day at the beginning of November, marking the average number of U.S. military veterans who commit suicide every 24 hours, culminating in 242 tags hanging on Veterans Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to open a line of conversation between the world that I was in and the world I\u2019m in now,\u201d said McAndrew, who completed his service with the U.S. Navy earlier in 2013 and began pursuing a master\u2019s degree in conflict transformation<\/a> at EMU this fall.<\/p>\n

McAndrew said the idea of covering a tree with dog tags occurred to him after he heard some male students at the EMU gym talking about how awesome it would be to be a Navy Seal or to go to a war zone. \u201cI was like, \u2018These guys don\u2019t know anything.\u2019 I wanted to do something to show the real cost of war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raised differently from McAndrew, with a pacifist Mennonite family background, Gehman\u2019s knowledge of veterans was acquired through interacting with friends after college who returned from military service and reading about the reintegration of veterans into civilian society. She also conducted interviews with veterans this fall as part of her graduate research at EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who have been hurt and who are suffering within the military community need to be shown compassion and support, values that Mennonites have, \u201d she said. \u201cI want to bring attention to veterans who don\u2019t feel they are being seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

McAndrew and Gehman found common cause in a program in September called the Journey Home From War, a specialized workshop under STAR (Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience)<\/a>. It\u2019s designed for veterans and people in their families, communities or congregations looking for ways to support them.<\/p>\n

Gehman, who is a classmate of McAndrew\u2019s in CJP, has a strong interest in the invisible wounds, \u201cthe moral injury,\u201d borne by many returning from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq \u2013 wounds which don\u2019t get as readily acknowledged and treated as do physical wounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m one of the lucky ones,\u201d said McAndrew. \u201cI wasn\u2019t a combat veteran. I have a wife with whom I have a strong relationship, and the day I got out I immediately integrated into a new community [at EMU]. I care about the ones who aren\u2019t as lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a gathering at EMU\u2019s coffee house on Veterans Day evening, CJP professor Barry Hart<\/a> spoke up about the disconnect veterans often feel between the constructed meaning of their military service and life apart from that construct. \u201cPeople have to find meaning in community, meaning within themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gehman gave a presentation in the coffee house on the myriad reasons for veterans\u2019 loss of meaning and difficulty reintegrating into civilian life. She stressed the need for communities to play an active role in meeting their needs and supporting their reintegration. In response, an audience member recommended the Community Blueprint Network<\/a>, consisting of volunteer efforts in communities across the nation in support of veterans, military members and their families.<\/p>\n

Veterans Day at EMU concluded with about 30 people holding candles in a circle around the tree bearing 242 dog tags, soberly acknowledging the loss of many lives to war and its aftermath.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Veterans Day 2013 was remembered at Eastern Mennonite University with 242 dog tags hung from a tree along a well-traveled footpath near the center of campus. Two graduate students, Michael ... read more about Veterans\u2019 suicides remembered by EMU students, faculty and staff<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":18558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5583,12503,5623,12537],"tags":[5790,15215,15214,15213,6347],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-18557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","category-cjp","category-special-programs","category-star","tag-barry-hart","tag-community-blueprint-network","tag-katrina-gehman","tag-michael-mcandrew","tag-veterans"],"yoast_head":"\nVeterans\u2019 suicides remembered by EMU students, faculty and staff - 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\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Veterans\u2019 suicides remembered by EMU students, faculty and staff - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Veterans Day 2013 was remembered at Eastern Mennonite University with 242 dog tags hung from a tree along a well-traveled footpath near the center of campus. Two graduate students, Michael\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-11-12T16:37:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-12-04T14:50:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2013\/11\/Dogtags_web.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1525\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"925\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/\",\"name\":\"Veterans\u2019 suicides remembered by EMU students, faculty and staff - EMU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2013\/11\/Dogtags_web.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-12T16:37:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-12-04T14:50:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2013\/11\/Dogtags_web.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2013\/11\/Dogtags_web.jpg\",\"width\":1525,\"height\":925},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Veterans\u2019 suicides remembered by EMU students, faculty and staff\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\",\"name\":\"EMU News\",\"description\":\"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Veterans\u2019 suicides remembered by EMU students, faculty and staff - EMU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Veterans\u2019 suicides remembered by EMU students, faculty and staff - EMU News","og_description":"Veterans Day 2013 was remembered at Eastern Mennonite University with 242 dog tags hung from a tree along a well-traveled footpath near the center of campus. Two graduate students, Michael","og_url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/","og_site_name":"EMU News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite","article_published_time":"2013-11-12T16:37:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-12-04T14:50:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1525,"height":925,"url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2013\/11\/Dogtags_web.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EMU_News","twitter_site":"@EMU_News","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/","name":"Veterans\u2019 suicides remembered by EMU students, faculty and staff - EMU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2013\/11\/Dogtags_web.jpg","datePublished":"2013-11-12T16:37:17+00:00","dateModified":"2013-12-04T14:50:39+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2013\/11\/Dogtags_web.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2013\/11\/Dogtags_web.jpg","width":1525,"height":925},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/veterans-suicides-remembered-by-emu-students-faculty-and-staff\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Veterans\u2019 suicides remembered by EMU students, faculty and staff"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/","name":"EMU News","description":"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18557"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18562,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18557\/revisions\/18562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18557"},{"taxonomy":"feature","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature?post=18557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}