When a professor approached Mayer about having a public forum with other student veterans, Mayer helped put it together with the help of the on-campus organization, the Veterans Student Union.
Six student veterans — five men and one woman — fielded questions Thursday at UCI’s campus from a full house of students, faculty and community members. They talked about the war in Iraq, racism, mental health, politics, education, and even bumper stickers.
“Support policies that are in our best interests,” Marine veteran Thomas Sim said, perhaps hinting at his own slogan following a discussion about “support our troops” bumper stickers.
Some of the slogans have gotten politicized and miss the point, the vets said. To them it’s all about helping people — troops and civilians.
“We just need to think about the human condition,” said Erik Christensen, who was a part of the 101st Airborne deployed in 2003. “I think we need to be there for the people.”
The discussion touched on the G.I. bill, military conditioning and culture clash, among other topics.
“I had a one-day crash course,” Marine veteran Kevin Chiao said about his education on Islamic culture before being deployed to Iraq. “I was told I was not going to come in contact with an Iraqi anyway because I am a helicopter guy.”
Chiao said he had to learn the differences between various Middle Eastern cultures, such as Pakistanis working in Iraq, for his protection, but also for the people’s safety because confusion could be dangerous, according to Chiao.
Others, mostly those from Army divisions, said they spent a number of hours a week learning about culture and customs before they were deployed.
