2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Faces of War
Reflections on Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq
by Sandi Tatum
Issue date: 4/14/08 Section: Features
"They went up one night and didn't come back; it struck me real hard," says Bob Justas
"Imagine your quad. You are getting up and going to class and you find it covered in tombstones. It was horrifying," says Evelyn Sweet-Hurd
"When I realized he was serious and he was leaving in October, I worried myself sick. How is he going to survive without talking to me everyday?," says Linda Wofford
"I was so excited. Nobody really understood why and I told them that this is the reason I joined the Army. This is going to be so much fun," says Katherine Von Nessen
Wars impact people in different ways. Students, faculty, parents of alumni and parents of current students described how war impacts them.
The Faces of War program at Piedmont gave the perspectives of a Vietnam veteran, a college student during the Vietnam War, the mother of a soldier and a soldier that served in the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Bob Justus served in the Korean and Vietnam wars with the Air Force. While he was in Korea, he was a member of the 3rd Bomb group. Justus says that while he was in Vietnam, the Army contracted for a post office that he was to run. He says that he had never run a post office before. If it wasn't for his unit, he would have never learned how.
Evelyn Sweet-Hurd attended college during the Vietnam War. She told stories about how hard it was to attend class and concentrate on studies when protesters were constantly doing horrifying things at the college.
Sweet-Hurd's brother was drafted during the Vietnam War. Her brother was killed during the war. Forty years after his death, she was finally able to tell his story through a book she wrote called His Name was Donn. The book is all of the letters that he wrote to his mother while he was in Vietnam.
"The best part about writing this book was finding [my brother] again," says Sweet-Hurd during her presentation.
Linda Wofford, registrar, has a son who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan a few times since the war started. She gave a mother's perspective of her son leaving for war. Her son is a ranger in the Army. She has no idea when he leaves or comes back because he isn't allowed to tell her. She would get a phone call from him tell ing her that he loved her. That was his sign that he was leaving.
"He didn't belong to me anymore. He was property of the U.S. Army," says Wofford.
Katherine Von Nessen is a student at Piedmont. She enlisted in the military right after high school. She spoke about her experience in basic training and her deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq. She says she was excited the first time she was deployed, but during her second deployment she was no longer happy. When her three years were up, she decided to go to college at Piedmont.
Dr. Karl Michel, assistant professor of art, is a Vietnam veteran. When he returned from Vietnam, he began to draw and paint his thoughts. While he was receiving his doctorate, he did his thesis on Veterans Record, React, and Reflect on War through Art. He spoke about how veterans communicated and vented their feelings through art.
Linda Pitts and the Patriots at Piedmont created the event. Pitts says that she hopes Piedmont can have another Faces of War program in the fall.
"Imagine your quad. You are getting up and going to class and you find it covered in tombstones. It was horrifying," says Evelyn Sweet-Hurd
"When I realized he was serious and he was leaving in October, I worried myself sick. How is he going to survive without talking to me everyday?," says Linda Wofford
"I was so excited. Nobody really understood why and I told them that this is the reason I joined the Army. This is going to be so much fun," says Katherine Von Nessen
Wars impact people in different ways. Students, faculty, parents of alumni and parents of current students described how war impacts them.
The Faces of War program at Piedmont gave the perspectives of a Vietnam veteran, a college student during the Vietnam War, the mother of a soldier and a soldier that served in the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Bob Justus served in the Korean and Vietnam wars with the Air Force. While he was in Korea, he was a member of the 3rd Bomb group. Justus says that while he was in Vietnam, the Army contracted for a post office that he was to run. He says that he had never run a post office before. If it wasn't for his unit, he would have never learned how.
Evelyn Sweet-Hurd attended college during the Vietnam War. She told stories about how hard it was to attend class and concentrate on studies when protesters were constantly doing horrifying things at the college.
Sweet-Hurd's brother was drafted during the Vietnam War. Her brother was killed during the war. Forty years after his death, she was finally able to tell his story through a book she wrote called His Name was Donn. The book is all of the letters that he wrote to his mother while he was in Vietnam.
"The best part about writing this book was finding [my brother] again," says Sweet-Hurd during her presentation.
Linda Wofford, registrar, has a son who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan a few times since the war started. She gave a mother's perspective of her son leaving for war. Her son is a ranger in the Army. She has no idea when he leaves or comes back because he isn't allowed to tell her. She would get a phone call from him tell ing her that he loved her. That was his sign that he was leaving.
"He didn't belong to me anymore. He was property of the U.S. Army," says Wofford.
Katherine Von Nessen is a student at Piedmont. She enlisted in the military right after high school. She spoke about her experience in basic training and her deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq. She says she was excited the first time she was deployed, but during her second deployment she was no longer happy. When her three years were up, she decided to go to college at Piedmont.
Dr. Karl Michel, assistant professor of art, is a Vietnam veteran. When he returned from Vietnam, he began to draw and paint his thoughts. While he was receiving his doctorate, he did his thesis on Veterans Record, React, and Reflect on War through Art. He spoke about how veterans communicated and vented their feelings through art.
Linda Pitts and the Patriots at Piedmont created the event. Pitts says that she hopes Piedmont can have another Faces of War program in the fall.
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