Talking with Monuments: Veteran Dialogues on Remembering

FAIN: AV-298396-24

Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee, WI 53233-2237)
Katinka Hooyer (Project Director: September 2023 to present)
Leslie Ruffalo (Co Project Director: July 2024 to present)

A two-year project to hold discussion programs for veterans, veterans support specialists, and the public that would analyze war memorials using site visits and poetry.

Warrior’s Path III: Talking with Monuments: Veteran Dialogues on Remembering is a program that engages war memorials as powerful stages to recall and reflect on military service. Often, monuments tell one story, at the cost of omitting the sacrifices of many. As a result, the experiences of diverse veterans and their stories become overlooked or forgotten, widening the military-civilian social divide. This can intensify veterans’ reintegration challenges. This program activates remembrance and expands cultural narratives around who serves and the stories that are untold. Through memorial site visits, poetry, and veteran-led conversations, we cultivate discussion around military service, forgetting, and moral injury. Our aim is to acknowledge the stories that have not been told or remembered and gain a deeper understanding of diverse veterans’ lives and service.