A
book of essays by veterans who are University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point students is about to be published. A book
launch for “See
Me for Who I Am” will be held Wednesday, Feb. 17, on campus.
The book includes essays by 20 student-veterans at UW-Stevens
Point, aimed at undermining stereotypes of military service. “See Me for Who I Am: Student Veterans’
Stories of War and Coming Home” works to bridge a gap that divides veterans from
the American people they fought to protect.
The
book launch party is from 4 to 6 p.m. Feb. 17 in the Encore Room of the Dreyfus
University Center. Sponsored by the Veterans Club, it is open to the public. Several
authors will read
excerpts from their essays and be
available to sign books.
The book is compilation
of essays written for a UW-Stevens Point class developed by David Chrisinger.
The UW-Stevens Point alumnus began teaching “Back from the Front: Transitioning
from the Military to Civilian Life” in fall 2014 as a first-year seminar. The class
was open only to veterans, one of few classes like it in the country.
First-year seminars help new students learn the skills they need to do well in
college.
Chrisinger helped
students transition by learning the history of war, running and writing about
their experiences. Inspired by veteran Brian Castner, author of “The Long
Walk,” members of the class learn to translate military skills to those needed
to succeed in life.
Chrisinger
originally planned to self-publish the collection as a
fundraiser to keep the class going. When he asked author Castner to read the
essays and write a foreword for it, Castner said the essays were good enough to
be published professionally.
“I started researching university
presses that specialize in military-related topics, and I found Hudson Whitman
Press out of Albany, New York. I submitted the manuscript last spring, and the
editor emailed me back within an hour,” Chrisinger said. The press had been
looking for a project like this.
Students’ essays from the first two semesters of “Back from
the Front” seminar are in the book, edited by Chrisinger. “With thoughtfulness, humor and
honesty, they relive and relate their worst memories, illustrate shared
experiences, explain the fulfillment of combat, and show us what going to war
really entails,” he writes in the introduction.
“This is as authentic as it gets.
These essays reflect the eloquent, powerful voice of the 21st-century
American combat veterans’ collective efforts to navigate their way back into a
society that offers gratitude and respect, but lacks empathy and
understanding,” writes David J. Danelo, veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom
and author of The Return: A Field
Manual for Life after Combat.
The
book will be available at the launch, in the UW-Stevens Point Store and through
Amazon Feb. 15, 2016. For more, visit http://hudsonwhitman.com/books/see-me-for-who-i-am/