A man wakes with a start. He jumps instinctively out of bed as the sound of rapid gunfire cuts through the air of his open window — He knows the sound of an assault rifle all too well. It’s only when he realizes there are no bullets flying in his direction, that his tiny apartment comes into focus. He notices the man in a hard hat using a jackhammer on the road outside.
Soldiers returning home from war often face a difficult transition. Their lives make a dramatic switch as they abandon strictly regimented military schedules and the pressures of situations unknown, and return to the busyness of daily life in the United States and its expectations of normalcy.
The memories of days spent on foreign soil and the impulsive reactions to shadows and noises tend to come back to them in startling flashes and variations of post-traumatic stress disorder.
But staff and faculty with Regis University’s Center for the Study of War Experience believe that transition can become easier, beginning with one simple step: communication.
“(For veterans), there’s no re-entry into society … As far as feeling like you belong, there’s often this (sentiment of), ‘I don’t feel understood,’” said Rose Campbell, associate director for the center. “We really try to create a dialogue between the public and veterans because there’s not one. There’s a disconnect.”
The center’s mission is to educate undergraduates about the complexities of war through the collection and preservation of interviews, artifacts and documents from American war veterans. An elective course, “Stories From Wartime,” is part of the mission. It puts students face-to-face with veterans as they share their war experiences.
Each year, the students dissect the topic of war from new angles and through the lens of different themes. This year’s themes include “The Combat Experience,” “Gender, Race and the Military” and “The Korean War and its Legacy.”
The course brings in veterans from WWII, Afghanistan and other wars in between. Veterans of different genders, ethnicity and backgrounds speak to their varying experiences. This year, a gay veteran and a transgender veteran both spoke to a classroom full of students.
“It does provide a service for both people,” Campbell said. “The vets get to tell their stories … and for our students, it gives them a chance to take in these big nuances (of war).”
And the program isn’t limited to students. The community is invited to join the conversation during select panels. Previously held on campus, this year’s public panel discussions are hosted by the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, which began a partnership with the university about a year and a half ago.
Regis first sought to use the Arvada Center’s resources for its art students. In turn, the center saw an opportunity to use the university’s scholarly reserves to better tap into humanities programs and services. Hosting the “Stories From Wartime” series is an example of the relationship at work, said Philip Sneed, the Arvada Center’s executive director.
“I think it’s a terrific series that increases understanding all around,” he said.
Sneed has attended all of this year’s public panels.
“What’s great about the series, whether you like war or you don’t, whether you agree with it or not… (the panelists) all have interesting stories to tell. I think for everyone, whatever their point of view, it helps them understand what it’s like to be in the military and the challenges (the troops) face.”
The most recent panel discussion, “Gender, Race and the Military,” featured three Vietnam veterans — two women and a man — who spoke about how their racial and gender identities impacted their experiences in the war zone.
Kate Penick, 20, a peace and justice studies major, said the decision to enroll in “Stories From Wartime” was a “no-brainer.”
“It’s an eye-opening course,” she said. “For me, it’s humanized a lot of the stories we hear in the news about war.”
It’s the “real human impact” that she appreciates most, Penick added.
The series aims to provide a safe space for veterans to tell stories they’ve never shared in a raw and honest way, and that’s often the beginning of their healing process, Campbell said.
This year’s “Stories From Wartime” has two remaining public panels — “The ‘Othering’ of Perceived Enemies” and “The Complexities of Commemoration” — from 6 to 8 p.m. on April 11 and 25.
Sneed said the community can expect the series to return to the Arvada Center next year.
“The more visible veterans are, the more they speak, the more respect there is, the more we understand,” he said. “We do owe them a debt.”