veterans Archives - �� News

Sunday school materials connect veterans, peace churches

Tim Huber — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 14:45:02 +0000

Developers of a new Sunday school curriculum say it goes down a seldom-walked path — where pacifists accompany veterans toward peace.

Released on Veterans’ Day, Nov. 11, the free six-week course focuses on biblical reflections and insights about trauma with significant input from a third source.“Returning Veterans, Returning Hope: Seeking Peace Together” was created by and the and .

Evan Knappenberger, an Iraq War veteran studying at �� in Harrisonburg, Va., spent the summer researching and writing as part of a nontraditional .

“I did a lot of coordinating with veterans in the Mennonite world,” he said. “In almost every little Mennonite community there is one or two, if not more. There are a lot more in the Brethren in Christ church in Pennsylvania.”

The idea for the curriculum was hatched when Knappenberger crossed paths with MCC U.S. peace education coordinator Titus Peachey and PJSN coordinating minister Jason Boone at .

The group sees the materials as a relatively new field — addressing how Christian pacifists can embrace returning warriors. For this, Knappenberger looked on his own experience.

As an intelligence analyst for the Army, he developed doubts about the military’s role and actions after joining out of high school three days after the war started in 2003. When the Army tried to “stop-loss” him for two years of active duty beyond his required time, he managed to secure a general discharge — later upgraded to honorable.

“I didn’t consider myself as a peace person until I was out for a couple months,” said the .

New kind of analyst

Since his discharge, Knappenberger enrolled at ��, where he is finishing his bachelor’s degree and planning to enroll at next year. He has attended in Harrisonburg for more than two years and has enjoyed getting to know the broader Mennonite church.

His experience in two worlds most people consider quite different brings a fresh perspective.

“There are a lot of potentially good things that veterans can offer churches,” he said. “There are good qualities of soldiers and veterans. Gandhi was a veteran; Tolstoy was a veteran. The people who teach us nonviolence, many of them wore a uniform.”

He said both veterans and Mennonites have stories of trauma.

“Any time you can connect the experience of trauma in a community that is focused on wholeness like the Anabaptists are, that’s helpful for both sides,” he said.

“ . . . Veterans are very mission-oriented people. That’s part of our indoctrination — mission first — and that’s also a value of at least some parts of the Mennonite world. There’s also a big focus in the military on community.”

Making community isn’t always easy. Knappenberger acknowledged fundamental differences could lead to misunderstandings and misconceptions, but that’s not a reason to avoid each other.

“I think the thing to remember is that it is going to be messy,” he said. “But I think if it’s done in the spirit of love, the messiness won’t override the intention, which is good.”

The curriculum is available at no cost online at ��ǰ��.

Courtesy of Mennonite World Review, Dec. 15, 2014

Friend, confidant, of Martin Luther King Jr. to speak at �� – 52 years after first visit in segregated era

Steve Shenk — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 20:16:17 +0000

When civil rights leader Vincent Harding visited �� 52 years ago, he knew that Mennonites had refused to own slaves during the slavery era. But he was surprised to see in 1962 that they were doing little to protest segregation and other racial injustices around them.

Harding also knew that �� was the first historically white colleges in Virginia to admit African-American students and one of the first in the South. But those students couldn’t go into most restaurants in Harrisonburg and their parents couldn’t stay in local hotels when they came to visit their children.

Vincent and Rosemarie Harding. (Photo courtesy of Mennonite Historical Bulletin)

Now 82, Harding is coming back to ��. He is the speaker for the second annual. His topic: “Is America Possible?” He will also speak at the university chapel service earlier that day at 10 a.m. in Lehman Auditorium and at the seminary chapel the next day at 11 a.m. in Martin Chapel.

Harding was a close friend of Martin Luther King Jr. for the last 10 years of King’s life. Harding is perhaps best known as the person who drafted King’s powerful (and controversial) speech, in which King announced his opposition to the Vietnam War and criticized the destructive, unfair impact of U.S. economic, political and social policies, both domestically and abroad. King delivered the speech on April 4, 1967, before a group of anti-war opinion leaders at Riverside Church in New York City.

After King’s assassination exactly a year later, Harding became the first director of the . Later he was the senior academic advisor for the PBS television series on the civil rights movement titled “Eyes on the Prize.” In a 2008 interview with Democracy Now, Harding said that King toward the end of his life “was calling us to a way that was very difficult, a way beyond racism, a way beyond materialism and a way beyond militarism.”

Harding founded the Veterans of Hope Project, which continues to collect the stories of people who dedicated their lives to social change. The project is based at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, where he was a professor of religion and social transformation for 23 years until his retirement in 2004.

He says his current work is focused on encouraging America to become “we the people” and to create a “more perfect union” as well as participate in the making of a more just and compassionate world. His most recent book, published in 2013, is America Will Be! It is a volume of conversations on hope, freedom, and democracy between Harding and longtime Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda.

Harding’s other books include There Is a River – The Black Struggle for Freedom in America; Martin Luther King – The Inconvenient Hero; and Hope and History – Why We Must Share the Story of the Movement.

A native of New York City, Harding graduated in history from City College of New York in 1952, then earned a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University in 1953, before serving two years in the U.S. Army. In 1956 he earned a master’s degree in history from the University of Chicago, followed by a doctorate in history from Chicago in 1965.

In the mid-1950s he learned about the Anabaptist/Mennonite movement of the Protestant Reformation. From 1958 to 1961, Harding was the co-pastor of Woodlawn Mennonite Church in Chicago. He often challenged Mennonites to live up to, and stand up for, their ideals about sisterhood and brotherhood socially and politically. At a conference on Mennonites and Race in Chicago in 1959, Harding met his future wife, Rosemarie Freeney. She was a 1955 sociology graduate of a Mennonite college, Goshen in Indiana, and a member of , where she worked in social services.

Vincent and Rosemarie married in 1960 and, in 1961, settled in Atlanta, Georgia, where they founded the South’s first interracial voluntary service center, Mennonite House, under the auspices of . The center, which was also their home (a block from Martin Luther King’s home), was an important gathering place for movement activists who found respite, hospitality, encouragement and stimulating dialogue. (Just before Rosemarie died from complications of diabetes in 2004, she noted that she had remained a member of Bethel Mennonite Church over her adult life.)

During Vincent’s first visit to �� – and subsequent visits over the years – “he shocked and offended some members of the community, but inspired and energized others,” says �� professor . Among the inspired were two �� professors, John Lapp and Samuel Horst, who helped start a committee that pushed for – and won – integration of the public schools in Harrisonburg.

The Keim History Lecture Series are named for the late Albert Keim, a member of the �� faculty from 1965 to 2000. For seven of those years he was academic dean. Keim was a popular history professor, and his courses included African-American History.

Former Fulbright fellow, nationally known leader in human security, to speak at intercollegiate peace forum

Mike Zucconi — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 19:50:20 +0000

, PhD, director of human security at the and a former fellow in East and West Africa, will give the keynote speech at the 2014 Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship Conference, Jan. 31-Feb. 2, at ��.

The theme of the conference is “Peace in practice: What does it look like when our theories become action?”

“Lisa’s example of field work with local, international, and systems-based conflicts is inspirational for college students,” says Christine Baer, a conference co-organizer and a senior and major.

Schirch and other speakers will focus on building peace at all levels, from local to international, and integrating this work into art and other forms of community engagement.

�� Lisa Schirch

Lisa Schirch

In her role at the Alliance for Peacebuildling, Schirch connects policymakers with global civil society networks, facilitates civil-military dialogue, and provides a conflict prevention and peacebuilding lens on current policy issues.

Schirch is also a research professor at .

She has conducted conflict assessments and participated in peacebuilding planning alongside local colleagues in more than 20 countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Kenya, Ghana, and Fiji.

Schirch works primarily with small local NGOs and civil society organizations. Schirch also has worked as a consultant on conflict assessment and peacebuilding planning for large entities, such as the , the World Bank, several branches of the U.S. government, the U.S. Foreign Service Institute, and many other international organizations.

She holds a BA in international relations from the University of Waterloo in Canada and an MS and a PhD in conflict analysis and resolution from George Mason University.

Drama that entertains and informs

Tim Ruebke (left) and Ted Swartz in “I’d Like to Buy an Enemy.”

“I’d Like to Buy an Enemy” will be performed by on Friday, Jan. 31, at 8 p.m., in the MainStage Theater in University Commons.

The play, starring Ted Swartz, MDiv ’92, and Tim Ruebke MA ’99 (), allows audiences to laugh at themselves while raising important questions about the place of the United States in the world, confronting the fear that is such a large part of contemporary culture, and exploring ways to honestly work for peace and justice in this country.

Tickets are $8 for general audience and $5 for �� faculty and staff. �� students and conference attendees are free, if they show their identifications.

Ted and Company will also host university chapel on Friday at 10 a.m.

Organizers

The Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship Conference is sponsored and organized by , a student organization that organizes campus-wide activities, regular space to share meals and discussions, and special speakers to spark meaningful dialogue. For more information about the conference or Peace Fellowship, contact the applied social sciences department.

Conference details

The program will open on Friday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m., and end on Sunday, Feb. 2, at 1 p.m. Participating schools include Bluffton University in Ohio; Conrad Grebel College in Canada; Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania; Goshen College in Indiana; Hesston College in Kansas; and Messiah College in Pennsylvania.

Workshops will be offered on a wide range of topics, including “A Subversive Shalom: Enacting Radical Peace” with and ; “Home Front: the Untold History of Radical Veteran Peacemaking” with ; and “: Promoting Personal Growth and Community Well-Being” with Philip Fisher Rhodes and Ron Copeland.

Other topics to be covered range from “The Relationship Between Islam and Peace” and “Restorative Justice in Our Schools” to “Arts, Theater, and Peacebuilding.”

Most sessions will be held in of the seminary building and seminary classrooms.

Creating connections

“We expect this conference to be a time of sharing stories and experiences at all levels, with many practical applications of peacebuilding,” said Krista Nyce, an �� senior major and conference co-organizer. “We have heard a lot in the classroom about theories and have debated concepts; thus we hope this can be a time to build on those with realistic accounts of speakers’ varied involvements from local organizations to experiences of national organizing, from art to restorative justice to education.”

and a is available . is also available.

For more information on the conference visit or email: emupeacefellowship@gmail.com.

Veterans’ suicides remembered by �� students, faculty and staff

Lora Steiner and Bonnie Price Lofton — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 16:37:17 +0000

Veterans Day 2013 was remembered at �� with 242 dog tags hung from a tree along a well-traveled footpath near the center of campus.

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.

“I wanted to open a line of conversation between the world that I was in and the world I’m in now,” said McAndrew, who completed his service with the U.S. Navy earlier in 2013 and began pursuing a at �� this fall.

McAndrew said the idea of covering a tree with dog tags occurred to him after he heard some male students at the �� gym talking about how awesome it would be to be a Navy Seal or to go to a war zone. “I was like, ‘These guys don’t know anything.’ I wanted to do something to show the real cost of war.”

Raised differently from McAndrew, with a pacifist Mennonite family background, Gehman’s 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 ��’s .

“People who have been hurt and who are suffering within the military community need to be shown compassion and support, values that Mennonites have, ” she said. “I want to bring attention to veterans who don’t feel they are being seen.”

McAndrew and Gehman found common cause in a program in September called the Journey Home From War, a specialized workshop under . It’s designed for veterans and people in their families, communities or congregations looking for ways to support them.

Gehman, who is a classmate of McAndrew’s in CJP, has a strong interest in the invisible wounds, “the moral injury,” borne by many returning from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq – wounds which don’t get as readily acknowledged and treated as do physical wounds.

“I’m one of the lucky ones,” said McAndrew. “I wasn’t 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 ��]. I care about the ones who aren’t as lucky.”

In a gathering at ��’s coffee house on Veterans Day evening, CJP professor spoke up about the disconnect veterans often feel between the constructed meaning of their military service and life apart from that construct. “People have to find meaning in community, meaning within themselves.”

Gehman gave a presentation in the coffee house on the myriad reasons for veterans’ 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 , consisting of volunteer efforts in communities across the nation in support of veterans, military members and their families.

Veterans Day at �� 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.

‘Overwhelming Response’ to Veterans’ Remembrance at Pacifist ��

Bonnie Lofton — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 22:06:00 +0000

In an event marking Veterans Day 2012, dozens of students, faculty, staff and visitors at �� circulated sometime between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. among rows of 200 pairs of boots that had belonged to members of the U.S. armed services who died in Iraq or Afghanistan.

“Response was overwhelmingly positive,” said organizer Evan Knappenberger, 27, a junior at �� and a veteran of the war in Iraq. “The experience was emotional – many people cried – over the tragedy of the loss of these solders’ lives. The comment I heard most often was ‘thank you.””

The boots, all tagged with the deceased soldier’s name and home town in Virginia, came in all sizes and shades of black and gray – some seemed new, as if they had been dress boots, and others were scuffed and water-marked to the point of turning whitish.

Some had photos of children and spouses attached, or poems and prayers preserved in clear plastic sleeves underneath the boot soles.

All ethnicities seemed to be present. There was Humayun Khan from Bristol, whose boot bore a “wage peace button” distributed by the American Friends Service Committee. And Avaro R. Regaldo Sessarego from Virginia Beach. Sharon T. Swartworth’s small boots had a button that read, “Recognizing Women Veterans – It’s about time!” She was from Alexandria.

Dwayne L Moore’s boots came with more documentation than most. We learned that this native of Williamsburg – “a great man of faith who loved the Lord and his family” – died on April 19, 2007, at age 31 in Iraq, leaving behind his wife and daughter (pictured), parents, and six siblings. He had been in the Army for 13 years.

Knappenberger received help in setting up and tearing down the display – which required a 16-foot truck to transport the boots in 32 plastic boxes from their permanent storage location in Richmond – from about 20 members of the �� community. One of those helping was Daniela Bergen, a senior from Paraguay, who said she wanted to pitch in to show her respect to those who sacrificially served the United States, “the country giving me an education.”

In an interview the week before Veterans Day, Knappenberger said it is “typically a holiday that pays homage to veterans with parades, concerts and celebration.” Knappenberger left the army in 2007 after nearly four years of service as an enlisted man, including a year in the Iraqi war. “Sometimes it can seem like a celebration of war and militarism, more of a political event than a remembrance. Because of this, portions of the community – especially young people and pacifists – can be left feeling alienated on this special holiday.”

Knappenberger, president of the Charlottesville chapter of , said he is working with other veterans, as well as non-veterans in the �� community, to bridge what he calls a “cultural divide“ on matters of military service and sacrifices.

Knappenberger said veterans can feel “oppressed,” even by “traditionally pacifist people like Mennonites who have come to be afraid of us. “

“Veterans are a sacred political cow,” he added. “They are given lip-service, swept under the rug and ignored. But many veterans are also peace advocates, pacifists, scholars, and activists.

“Regardless of politics, soldiers want to serve their country, which is an honorable thing – not to kill random people in some country they’ve never heard of. We must reach out to veterans and help them find peace.”

The Nov. 12 remembrance at �� was called “Eyes Wide Open.”

“These boots show the human cost of war and bring to light the cultural and social oppression of veterans as a whole,” said Knappenberger, who entered �� as a junior majoring in in the fall of 2012. “Eyes Wide Open is a powerful display of what goes on just under the surface of U.S. foreign and economic policy, and a poignant reminder of the burdens of young soldiers’ oppression in unpopular and unsuccessful wars.”

Veterans’ Remembrance Held at Pacifist ��

Bonnie Price Lofton — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 16:49:09 +0000

A U.S. Army veteran of the Iraqi War, Evan Knappenberger, led a student-initiated remembrance of veterans on Monday, Nov. 12, at �� (��).

“Veterans Day is typically a holiday that pays homage to veterans with parades, concerts and celebration,” said Knappenberger, who left the army in 2007 after nearly four years of service as an enlisted man, including a year in the Iraqi war. “Sometimes it can seem like a celebration of war and militarism, more of a political event than a remembrance. Because of this, portions of the community – especially young people and pacifists – can be left feeling alienated on this special holiday.”

Knappenberger said veterans can feel “oppressed,” even by “traditionally pacifist people like Mennonites who have come to be afraid of us. “

“Veterans are a sacred political cow,” he added. “They are given lip-service, swept under the rug and ignored. But many veterans are also peace advocates, pacifists, scholars, and activists.

The Nov. 12 remembrance at �� centered around a project called “Eyes Wide Open,” for which 200 pairs of military-issued boots were displayed in rows in front of the central campus building at ��, along with tags linking each pair to the deceased Virginia soldier who wore the boots in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The Eyes Wide Open display was staffed from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Nov. 12, said Knappenberger. A talk-back event was held in the Strite Conference Room in the Campus Center at 9 that evening. Knappenberger said he welcomes inquiries and volunteers. He can be reached at .

�� Students Tap Veterans and Conscientious Objectors for WWII History Project

Mike Zucconi — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 15:37:35 +0000

Leroy Plaugher, a World War II army veteran, likes young people to be interested in the war, even if they go beyond the usual battle stories to explore the less-known stories of conscientious objectors and the men and women who were on a “different front line.”

Plaugher was among a group of veterans and conscientious objectors who participated in “Ways of War & Peace,” a spring 2012 class taught by , professor of in the at �� (��).

The course was designed to look at selected readings – memoirs, poetry, fiction and drama – emerging from World War II and examine them for clues about Christian attitudes toward war and . In addition, students collaborated with conscientious objectors, veterans and their spouses to generate oral histories covering fresh ground.

“We should never forget the contributions of those who did not fight – those who kept feeding the people who were suffering because of the war,” said Plaugher.

�� the course

When she could, Eads paired students from peace-church backgrounds with military veterans and students from non-peace-church backgrounds with conscientious objectors “so everyone involved would have a chance to engage in appreciative dialogue with someone from a different perspective.”

“Serious Christians have a wide range of views about war and peacemaking and taking time to hear each other out is well worth our while,” added Eads.

Becca Longenecker, an and double-major from Lancaster, Pa., spoke with Landon Walker, a veteran, about his experiences during the war. Longenecker wrote in her final paper for class that by learning from the past and trying not to contribute to similar events, “I can respect his story and the suffering and loss that he and so many others that lived through WWII experienced.

“I realized in thinking about my respect and admiration for Landon that I did not need to change my convictions about pacifism in order to respect him.”

For Amanda Grace Lewis, a major from Richmond, Va., the power of peacemaking stuck with her as she interviewed Hubert Pellman ‘38, a retired �� English professor.

“I was amazed by how he took the ‘peace church’ tradition and showed his passion for Jesus’ teachings in all areas of his life,” said Lewis. “He chose to be a conscientious objector because of his belief in God’s love being stronger than human violence and conflict and the belief that God calls us, as Christians, to follow Jesus’ example of peace and nonviolence.”

Pellman said the “peace view” was broader than he had originally thought when the war broke out, but added, “I think peace means far more than saying, ‘I don’t kill.’ I think it means doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. It intersects with Jesus’ teachings and way of life.”

Eads said she hoped all the students would leave the class holding the peace position, but knew “real dialogue could be risky.”

“University life, though, ought to give students opportunities to examine beliefs closely and then own them for themselves.”

Rescheduled Softball Games Moving Off Campus

James De Boer — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:31:02 +0000

The rescheduled softball games for �� not only have new dates, but now will also have new locations. Due to exam schedules at ��, both makeup doubleheaders need to be played in the evening, thus forcing them to an off campus field which would have lights.

Tuesday’s twinbill with ODAC-leading Virginia Wesleyan will now be played at James Madison University in Harrisonburg. First pitch is at 6:00pm at Veterans Memorial Park. Admission will be free.

Wednesday’s contest with Randolph-Macon College will be played at Harrisonburg High School with a start time of 5:00pm. The date with the Yellow Jackets will also be Senior Recognition for ��.

Rains over the weekend forced the postponement of both conference doubleheaders. The games needed to be played quickly, as the ODAC Tournament starts on Friday in Salem. The Lady Royals are currently 23-9 overall and sixth in the ODAC at 7-7.

�� Hosts Concern Group for Military Vets

Chris Edwards — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 04:00:00 +0000

Carolyn Yoder (l.), STAR director, facilitates a small group discussion at the military veterans roundtable.
Photo by Jim Bishop

Ten adults were given clay, blocks and pipe-cleaners. During a March retreat at the Mountain Valley center near Harrisonburg, these ten

Drama Ministry Class Performs Original Play

Kristine Sensenig — Wed, 18 Feb 2004 05:00:00 +0000

By Kristine Sensenig

The message of ROTC recruiters to the young people of America: “Give us a few weekends each year and you

veterans Archives - ���������� News

Sunday school materials connect veterans, peace churches

Friend, confidant, of Martin Luther King Jr. to speak at ���������� – 52 years after first visit in segregated era