I remember a couple years ago when I first heard that George W. Bush was painting wounded warriors – I wasn’t sure what to think. On the hand, I was very cynical, “painting the people he sent to war?” It seemed like an empty gesture coming far too late. But then I heard him interviewed […]
In the post-9/11 era, “thank you for your service” (TYFYS) has become the new mantra of public support bestowed upon the veteran community. In the early 2000s, as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began escalating, “Support Our Troops” car magnets increasingly appeared on the trunks of cars across America. After well over 15 years […]
In the nearly fifteen years since we began “creating” veterans of our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it would seem that the public has embraced contemporary veterans. The ritual of thanking those who serve or have served in the military at sporting events is one example. While veterans from the Vietnam War may have returned […]
**Participants have been given pseudonyms to protect confidentiality** The most interesting little nuggets of qualitative data are the things you don’t ask about, but that come up over and over again. While Meredith and I were conducting interviews with servicemembers who were about to leave the military—we kept hearing the same curious statement unprompted by […]
I am currently in Tucson at the Arizona Methods Workshops refreshing and updating my knowledge on experiments in social sciences. It’s been a number of years since I last conducted a field experiment of hiring, often called an audit study. This research method is deceptively simple—send applications for fictitious job seekers in response to real […]
For the last half of my graduate career, I have been a qualitative researcher where I examine the intricate details of the populations I study. While preparing to write this piece I looked back and tallied the interviews I’ve done over the past three years; I have conducted 110 interviews with 85-90 different individuals. To […]
As a nation, we honor veterans, their service, and their sacrifices throughout the year, but we also honor them during the holiday season. As we prepare for the holidays this week, we wanted to highlight some of the unique ways veterans and servicemembers are recognized during this time of year. Wreaths Across America Wreaths across […]
In recent years, the Department of Defense has made the wise decision to allow mid-career officers increased opportunity to pursue advanced degrees at civilian universities. There have long been programs allowing officers to earn civilian graduate degrees as part of their official military duties, but these opportunities appear to be on the rise. I am […]
In Transformative Experience, philosopher L.A. Paul grapples with the dilemma of how to make decisions about life-changing experiences when the nature of that experience can’t be understood until experienced, and when the experience itself might change the very values upon which one would make such decisions. She offers several running examples of transformative experiences, such […]
In Part 1 (read it here!) I focused on the evolution of visible and invisible injuries throughout the history of America’s military engagements. For Part 2, I’m focusing on the compensation for wounded veterans and the expectations for their lives after their injuries… Pensions & Compensation: What Do We Owe the Wounded Veteran? Wounded and […]
Sidra Montgomery
Meredith Kleykamp
Veteran Scholars 