Veterans’ war memorial wall reminds us of fighters’ service

This past Saturday, MTSU honored veterans with the dedication of their Veterans’ Memorial Wall, located outside of the Tom H. Jackson Building.

The university should be commended for its nod to veterans, both past and present. More importantly, it should be commended for the welcoming attitude to future veterans.

Since the military campaign in Iraq began back in 2003, it seems like the nation has been swept up in a constant political battle, with both sides crusading their opinions, strategies and agendas for our military.

Six years later, the crusade is still going strong, but our troops have been relegated to a mere headcount – the media’s tally of soldier deaths every now and then. In 2007, President George W. Bush announced an additional 20,000 or so troops would be shipped to the Middle East. In February 2009, President Barack Obama announced plans to withdraw soldiers, leaving behind a “transitional force” of up to 50,000.

But what does 20,000 or 50,000 people really mean to us? A nice and easily-rounded-off number that runs into our brains during a 45 second newscast, then skips out as the next story comes on.

In a current political climate where numbers are the primary focus, it can be hard to imagine the personal impact of such a high number of troops.

Let’s use MTSU’s population of around 24,000 as our anchor to reality.

The new memorial brings those neatly packaged numbers into perspective. Those numbers mean our classmates, our alumni, our community members, our friends and our family. They are people who survived combat and University 1010.

Next time you’re bored in a lecture class, count your classmates. Under Bush, one in every five people you count was shipped overseas in 2007. Under Obama, one in every two people is staying until 2011.

Then take those one-in-every-five or one-in-every-two and think about everyone who is connected to them. Think about the families and friends and the fear, pain and sacrifice they feel. Suddenly the 20,000 to 50,000 headcount becomes a much larger number.

Obviously our military population isn’t solely comprised of MTSU students, but it is the easiest way to humanize what some of student soldiers give to us. It helps us to take conscious note of their service.

MTSU has done a great service to veterans by building this wall. With our perpetual support and remembrance, each name on the wall could say “I’m one!”

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