Five years ago, the United States went to war in Iraq. As some of this generation watches their siblings and friends fight or die overseas some are choosing to support those efforts or protest for peace. UWIRE affiliates are giving voice to the soldiers’ stories.

USC student veterans face limited resources

Between 150 and 175 student military veterans at USC continue to face a lack of support and social programs intended to help ease students’ transition from military to civilian life.

Military veterans enrolled at USC who are making the shift - which can be difficult, said Quence Smith, USC’s Veterans Affairs coordinator - have few departments, programs or organizations to assist them.

The only USC department that aids military veterans is the Office of Veteran Affairs, which is housed in the Office of Academic Records and Registrar and only deals with enrollment and financial issues.
Full story from The Daily Trojan

Soldier recounts War in Iraq

Liam Madden spoke last night at the Earthfoods Café in the Student Union about his experiences in Iraq and his involvement in the anti-war movement. Earthfoods Café was packed, as there were people of all ages in attendance, including many veterans of the Iraq war.

Madden, 23, served as a communications electronics specialist in the Marine Corps from Jan. 2003 to Jan. 2007, touring in Iraq, Kuwait, Thailand, Okinawa, Japan and Korea.

He is a student at Northeastern University and is on the board of directors for the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). IVAW members are from 48 states, Washington, D.C., Canada and on numerous bases overseas, including Iraq. IVAW members say they educate the public about the realities of the Iraq War by speaking to communities and to the media about their experiences.
Full Story from The Daily collegian

Gator returns to campus after service in Afghanistan

As Adam Stout stepped off the bus and into the biting cold and blinding snow, the wind whipped against his face. He could see the Himalayan Mountains peeking over the base walls, the tops were barely visible. This was not what he expected.

When Air Force Reserve Staff Sgt. Adam Stout, a senior political science major at UF, got the call to go to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, he expected what most people would: hot desert climate. But when he arrived shortly before Christmas in 2006, it was anything but warm.

Like most in the service, Stout knew he would get called eventually.
Full Story from The Independent Florida Alligator

Veterans Against the War tell horror stories from Iraq’s Abu Ghraib

University of Cincinnati students were given an opportunity to hear first-hand accounts of abuses carried out by U.S. forces in Iraq during Truth, Lies and Torture: Stories from Iraq. The event took place Jan. 24 in the Great Hall of Tangeman University Center.

Three speakers protesting the Iraq war, Fedaa Jasim, an Iraqi-American, Aidan Delgado, an Iraq War veteran and Marty Webster, national coordinator of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, shared stories of abuse and voiced their opinions of the current situation in Iraq.

Jasim, a fourth-year pharmacy student, shared her story about visiting Iraq for the first time during her winter break in 2003.
Full Story from The News Record

Rising suicides concern veterans

When Eric Barzydlo returned from his deployment in Iraq with the U.S. Army, he was faced with an onslaught of paperwork.

“We had to fill out a lot of health surveys, and they made you talk to people,” he said.

Still, Barzydlo (freshman — political science) said there was a stigma attached to talking with a doctor about mental health.

For other soldiers, however, the Army is facing a difficult dilemma: how to deal with the increasing rate of suicides and suicide attempts among its soldiers.
Full Story from The Daily Collegian

Vets face colleges’ discretion for credits

Veterans looking to receive college credit for the knowledge they picked up in the service deal with inconsistent transfer systems from school to school, said veterans advocates and higher education officials.

Colleges that receive most of their students straight out of high school do not often follow the American Council of Education’s recommendations for evaluating military knowledge for course work equivalency, said Council of College and Military Educators President Louis Martini.

“I don’t think it’s anything malicious,” he said. “It’s just that traditional brick-and-mortar institutions are not really used to dealing with that population.”
Full Story from The Daily Free Press

‘Body of War’ depicts soldier’s anti-war fight

On April 4, 2004, Tomas Young was on his first mission to Sadr City in Iraq. While riding in an unarmored Humvee with no canvas covering, Young was shot just above his left collarbone. He was paralyzed instantly. He had been serving in Iraq for less than a week.

“Body of War” is a new documentary directed by UT associate professor Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue. The film chronicles Young’s day-to-day struggles, dealing with his paralysis and taking part in anti-war protests. The Daily Texan had a chance to sit down with the directors and the star of the documentary when they were in town to premiere the film at SXSW.
Full Story from The Daily Texan