Vet Follows Professors Advice and Is Banned From Campus

[Kathianne]

Another example of 'free speech' denial on university campus:

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=12214399


Killing 'Really Addictive:' Veteran's Essay Leads to Ban From Campus
College Bars Iraq Veteran Pending Psychological Evaluation
By KIM CAROLLO, ABC News Medical Unit

Nov. 24, 2010—

In an essay for a college English class, Charles Whittington Jr. opened up about his feelings about his time in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Killing becomes a drug, and it is really addictive. I had a really hard time with this problem when I returned to the United States, because turning this addiction off was impossible," Whittington wrote in the essay for his class at the Community College of Baltimore County in Catonsville, Md.

"I wrote this essay and the teacher gave me an A for it, and she encouraged me to publish it in the school newspaper," Whittington said. "Two weeks later, it was published."

After reading it, college administrators called Whittington into a meeting.

"They said he's barred until he gets a psychological evaluation," said Deborah O'Doherty, president of the Maryland chapter of American War Mothers and a friend of Whittington's family. She attended the meeting with Whittington. "They also gave him a no-trespass notice and kept bringing up the Virginia Tech shooting."

"I was really frustrated, because they didn't give me a chance to explain," said Whittington. "I wrote the paper to talk about the reality of what other soldiers go through and it was therapeutic for me."

...

[DragonStryk72]

And the thing is, their reasoning is stupid. Having been in Virginia for the shootings, I know a bit about the goings on. The guy who did them was clearly mentally disturbed, with no support network, friends, and groups that he belonged to, and did not discuss with anyone how he felt. He cut himself off, made himself and outsider long before the shootings occurred.

This vet is clearly putting his thoughts and feeling into the open, where everyone can see it, maybe even making some see the effects that war really has. This, I believe, is needed for people to really understand our troops. Blind faith and praise is great, but very few people really understand, because you don't until you're in that situation. Otherwise, it's like trying to explain a rainbow to a dog.

My point, though, is that this is a clear indication of solid mental health. People who are dangerous are the ones who bottle it up, who can't find a way to express themselves. That is not the problem here. Here, the problem is the society of terror we have made for ourselves. The college likely feels they are doing the only thing they can do, but in reacting this way, they've only made it oh so much harder for other soldiers and vets to come forward about their experiences.

[Mr. P]

I wanted to read his essay and draw my own conclusion/s.
I found it HERE (http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-11-20/news/bs-md-veteran-suspension-20101121_1_iraq-veteran-war-veteran-campus-violence) at the bottom of page 5 of the article if anyone is interested.


Veteran's essay
The following is the essay that Iraq war veteran Charles Whittington wrote for his English class at the Community College of Baltimore County. It was published in the campus newspaper Oct. 26:

[Kathianne]

I wanted to read his essay and draw my own conclusion/s.
I found it HERE (http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-11-20/news/bs-md-veteran-suspension-20101121_1_iraq-veteran-war-veteran-campus-violence) at the bottom of page 5 of the article if anyone is interested.

I must assume he was given the A for honesty and novelty of topic. It's not the best written piece I've seen on war horrors. I assume the teacher encouraged submitting to the paper in an honest attempt to introduce the student body to what some of our armed service members have experienced. (S)he should have been aware of the policies of the school, imho. With that said, the school should have investigated teachers, fellow students, and the vet himself before passing sentence.

[Kathianne]

I just came across this and see so many similarities:

http://lifeintheinfantry.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-am-i-thankful-for-quite-bit.html


Wednesday, November 24, 2010
What am I thankful for? Quite a bit...
So it's that time of year again where everyone is supposed to act extra thankful for the blessings they have in their lives. I am just as thankful as always, although I have to admit that life is a bit sweeter after just completing a deployment. I still find it hard to believe that I'm back in Italy and my biggest concern is whether or not it's going to rain today.

In the past two weeks I've had about 6 panic attacks during which I feel like I left my weapon somewhere and can't believe I don't have it, but that's my only complaint about being home. My hands are just missing the comfort of holding a weapon all the time. I will be perfectly fine eventually.

I also have to comment on the fact that it feels like I never left this place. We were standing in formation for PT a few days ago, and someone commented "did we really go on a deployment? It seems like we never left." It's a very true statement. The past year seems like a dream....an exceptionally lengthy dream.

So anyways, here is a short photo list of the things I am thankful for this year...

[Kathianne]

and starting to look at his 'blog' found this too:

http://lifeintheinfantry.blogspot.com/2010/11/i-am-so-confused.html


Friday, November 26, 2010
I am so confused.
Why do I miss Afghanistan and deployment?

It's impossible to convincingly describe this(especially because my mom would probably prefer not to read this) , but I miss being deployed. I completely remember the worst parts of being deployed: the boredom, terror, helplessness, fear and misery of a year in Afghanistan....but there's just a constant nagging part of me that wants to go back. I initially figured that the feeling would go away after being back in Italy for a couple of days, but I've been back for almost 3 weeks now and the thought just has not left my mind. Is this normal? Is it a stupid type of withdrawal that everyone goes through?

Maybe going HOME for Christmas will clear up my head. But until then...

[Mr. P]

I must assume he was given the A for honesty and novelty of topic. It's not the best written piece I've seen on war horrors. I assume the teacher encouraged submitting to the paper in an honest attempt to introduce the student body to what some of our armed service members have experienced. (S)he should have been aware of the policies of the school, imho. With that said, the school should have investigated teachers, fellow students, and the vet himself before passing sentence.
I agree! The other two posts above are very interesting. Shows a commonality doesn't it? Much better written though.

[Kathianne]

I agree! The other two posts above are very interesting. Shows a commonality doesn't it? Much better written though.

Indeed, which is why I looked for alternative reasons for the A. Still he does get to the heart of the matter, something I doubt that professor had seen prior. Good on her/him.

[DragonStryk72]

Well, it's also the rarity of the truths contained within the essay. It's the simplicity of what he wrote that really captures you. I think we lose track these days of the idea that something simple can be excellent because of its simplicity.

Professors often have trouble getting students to really open themselves up, to commit something to paper that really of their experience, and so they are very glad when it does happen those few times.

[Gaffer]

Someone needs to get deeper in his psyche. I don't think he needed to be kicked off campus, but they should evaluate him. He doesn't specify where he was. He claims to be an infantryman. Very few soldiers ever get close to the enemy to see them when they die, let alone use a knife. I think he is playing for sympathy or trying to make himself look like a bad ass. 95% of soldiers involved in combat couldn't tell you if they ever killed anyone or not. You rarely get that close.

The essay is poorly written with no background information whatsoever. Makes me wonder what he really did over there.

[DragonStryk72]

Someone needs to get deeper in his psyche. I don't think he needed to be kicked off campus, but they should evaluate him. He doesn't specify where he was. He claims to be an infantryman. Very few soldiers ever get close to the enemy to see them when they die, let alone use a knife. I think he is playing for sympathy or trying to make himself look like a bad ass. 95% of soldiers involved in combat couldn't tell you if they ever killed anyone or not. You rarely get that close.

The essay is poorly written with no background information whatsoever. Makes me wonder what he really did over there.

Could still be true, though. I mean, we're not exactly fighting our standard war these days. You're getting more terrorist style attacks, and that means more chance of close-up fighting.

[Gaffer]

Could still be true, though. I mean, we're not exactly fighting our standard war these days. You're getting more terrorist style attacks, and that means more chance of close-up fighting.

Could well be true. But he seems to infer the close up fighting happened frequently which I find hard to believe. Once or twice, yeah. Multiple times doesn't happen. I didn't get the impression he was involved in covert operations so using a knife would not be practical. But he did expand on how that came to be.