Veterans in Society
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- Examining Historical Perspectives in the Development of Veteran Studies ConstructsWahle, Steve; Hinton, Corrine; Rees, Owen (Veterans Studies Association, 2026-03)The expansion of veterans studies has highlighted a need to examine “veteran” as a construct essential to the work of the discipline. A variety of academic disciplines, theoretical frameworks, and cultures have contributed to the study of veterans, while increased collaboration and publication has exposed this gap in the field. Scholars have assumed “veteran” is universally understood.
- Materiality of Memory: Institutions, Functions, Artifacts, and MeaningHaugen, Inga; Shaughnessy, Brian (Veterans Studies Association, 2026-03)A case example around creating an award packet from an event in Operation Enduring Freedom in 2010 in Marjah, Afghanistan. The timeline to create the award packet was from 2015-2026. The Marine creating the packet and a librarian assisting him invite the general public and scholars and practitioners in military, library, and veteran studies to consider the materiality of memory. We compare and contrast who has ownership of memories and artifacts and where does a person’s rights end and a professional’s responsibility begin, using our roles as examples. The different, yet shared experience led us to the following ethical and operational questions. Who has the right to remember? Who has the right to forget? Who has the responsibility to remember? Who has the resources to remember?
- Navigating My Path to Veterans StudiesDubinsky, James M. (Veterans Studies Association, 2026-03)My contribution to the Roundtable: Pathways, Perils, and Promising Opportunities for the Futures of Veterans Studies (Hybrid).
- MIA: The Lost Narratives of Black Vietnam VeteransHodges, Eric (Veterans Studies Association, 2026-03-28)This presentation traces the lives of four Black Vietnam Veterans who were denied access to public education and then were drafted into the Vietnam War. The presentation considers topics such as patriotism, racism during military service, and the homecoming experience.
- Relationally Distributed Service (RDS): Remembering the Forgotten Supporters in Higher Education and Veterans StudiesHenderson, Latosha R. (Veterans Studies Association, 2026-03-28)Military spouses play a critical yet overlooked role in sustaining military service, often subordinating their own educational and career goals to support their partners and the broader mission. Despite their contributions, they remain largely invisible within higher education and policy discourse. This presentation introduces distributed service, a conceptual framework that extends James Spillane’s theory of distributed leadership to illuminate how spouses’ labor is enacted across relationships, institutions, and everyday routines. Drawing on Lewis A. Coser’s concept of greedy institutions, the framework highlights how spouses absorb structural demands that enable service members’ full participation. Using qualitative data from interviews with 16 military spouses, this session centers their narratives to reveal how mobility, caregiving, and institutional barriers shape disrupted educational pathways and diminished belonging. In alignment with the Veterans in Society 2026 theme, the presentation calls for reframing military service to formally recognize spouses’ contributions and advance more equitable higher education policies.
- Beyond the Uniform: Reimagining Civilian Understanding and Inclusion of Disabled Veterans in the WorkforceRodriguez, Christopher (Veterans Studies Association, 2026-03-28)As the United States approaches significant anniversaries in 2026, 250 years of independence, 25 years since 9/11, 15 years since the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and 5 years since the withdrawal from Afghanistan, we are called to reflect not only on past service but also on how remembrance is enacted in the present. More than two decades of sustained conflict have created a generation of veterans, many living with visible and invisible disabilities. Yet, despite their service, disabled veterans continue to face systemic barriers to employment, including employer stigma and the undervaluing of military-acquired skills and work ethics. This presentation asks what it would mean to honor service not only through memorials but through meaningful employment. Drawing on my qualitative research with 11 participants, the findings show how small veteran-owned businesses actively challenge stigma by recognizing the value disabled veterans bring. Some themes reveal the centrality of work ethics, adaptability, and inclusive practices such as mentorship and accommodations. Beyond these, the research also highlights how disabled veteran employees in small veteran-owned businesses contribute leadership and commitment that strengthen teams, how their adaptability generates positive organizational outcomes, and how their employment bolsters small business growth and success. These insights represent only part of the larger study; additional findings on hiring, integration, retention, and organizational impact will be explored during the presentation. I argue that remembrance must evolve beyond monuments and anniversaries to include systems that ensure the reintegration and visibility of all veterans, particularly those facing compounded marginalization. The presentation highlights strategies for reframing veteran employment discourse by providing new approaches for hiring, integrating, and supporting disabled veterans in small businesses. It also provides the organizational impact of employing disabled veterans. By situating disabled veterans within broader conversations about collective memory and civic responsibility, this work challenges audiences to rethink what it means to “honor service.” True remembrance requires not only symbolic recognition but also tangible opportunities for belonging and inclusion in the workforce and society at large.
- Born on the Fourth of July versus Hillbilly Elegy: A Taiwanese Veteran on American Dis- versus Re-member-ing VeterancyMa, Sheng-mei (Veterans Studies Association, 2026-04)This Taiwanese veteran reflects on American dis- versus re-member-ing veterancy, specifically, on the binary oppositions of Ron Kovic and J. D. Vance, and the Oliver Stone and Ron Howard Hollywood remakes. The shared binary representations split between the trash and the treasure. In terms of trash-vagrancy, Taiwan’s laobing (老兵old soldier[s] for veteran[s]) manifests an uncanny cross-cultural kinship with America’s PTSD-plagued and disabled veterans, tragically embodied by Vietnam War vet Kovic’s paraplegia from the chest down in Born on the Fourth of July. In terms of treasure-victory, Taiwan’s no-one contrasts starkly with America’s veteran-politician supremacy, culminating in the Iraq War vet and vice president J. D. Vance, whose Hillbilly Elegy with its “magic touch” of the Marine Corps launched his political ascent.
- Lest We Forget: The U.S. Infantry Division Associations as Custodians of Memory, Commemoration and Military History, 1945-1950Carlson, Erik D. (2024-04-15)In the immediate post-World War II period, returning American veterans began to form unit Associations. This second phase of commemoration did many things for its membership, including reconnecting former comrades forged by wartime experiences, wrote divisional histories, preserved unit military heritage, and commemorated the sacrifice of comrades that died in service. This phase of veteran initiated commemoration also generated familial and public awareness of the wartime sacrifices of combat veterans throughout the United States.
- In Another Country, At Another Time. Frederick John White (1814-1854): Lieutenant in the Royal Marines, Prisoner of War of the CarlistsVande Kemp, Hendrika (2025-04-15)This presentation focuses on the experiences of Second Lieutenant Frederick John White (1814-1854), a British prisoner of war from August 1837 to June 1838 in Ataun, Spain, during the First Carlist War, when Lord Eliot’s Convention of 1835 against firing squads was poorly enforced. White faced hunger, untreated medical issues, threats to his life, and a long wait for a prisoner exchange, piled on a series of attacks prior to his formal imprisonment.
- An Emic Conceptualization of Veteran, “You're Either One Of Two Things; You're Captain America Or You're Broken”Wahle, Steve (2024-04-15)This study explored the insider perspective of former military members discussing the concept veteran. Using a symbolic interactionist framework, semistructured interviews (N = 16) were utilized to ask former military members about veteran as symbol, veteran as self, and where these two veterans diverge or overlap. Six themes emerged: 1) The public describes veteran in absolutes/ tropes (object); 2) Service is the key to veteran status (object); 3) Participants are more critical of their own service (self); 4) Conceptions of veteran are coupled with war (object/self); 5) Public displays of veteran (object/self); 6) Deeper engagement between public and former military members (object/self).
- Navigating the Archipelago of Veteran Research: Broadening Knowledge Horizons with Diverse Data Colletion TechniquesMcCoy, Brigette (2024-04-15)My qualitative research in Veteran Studies has focused on the auto-ethnographic experiences of women veterans including students using collage and photovoice to complete a digital scrapbook to illuminate individual experiences and the collective experiences of women who served on a visual basis and capture qualitative data from themes. This presentation argues for computer mediated participatory data collection practices for capturing and sharing diverse perspectives in the veteran community.
- Pop Culture and The Military: A Test for Accuracy in Media RepresentationLewis, Samuel (2024-04-15)The Bechdel test has provided an analysis of gender roles in media for female characters for decades. This presentation proposes a new test inspired by The Bechdel Test for veterans and military personnel to be analyzed in much the same way in their media representations. These representations are sometimes the only general public ideas of military life and expectations; thus, accuracy and recognition are important and need to be analyzed. This presentation then uses various pop culture figures as the examples needed to test the functioning of the new test and show times that the culture passes or fails.
- Unveiling the Unseen: Bridging the Gap for Veterans with Felonies and Less-Than-Honorable DischargesMartin, Marsha (2024-04-14)There is currently a community of veterans that often find themselves hiding in the shadows. While there are numerous studies that cover justice-involved veterans that are receiving services from specialty courts such as Veteran Treatment Courts, a gap remains in the literature that examines the lived experiences of veterans discharged under less than honorable conditions or felony convictions (Craddock, 2022; Douds & Hummer, 2019). This presentation seeks to shed light on this overlooked segment of the veteran population by delving into the unique adversities these individuals face during their post-service reintegration journey. A project of this magnitude underscores the necessity of far-reaching public collaborations. Veterans that transition out with a less than honorable discharge, “bad paper”, often find themselves unable to take advantage of opportunities that could change the trajectory of their lives. It is critical to address the continuous oversight and lack of knowledge surrounding the various types of discharges awarded. Additionally, the lack of support significantly impacts the well-being of this ostracized group of veterans, such as finding employment, limitations on the availability of benefits, and associated stigma. In an effort to right past wrongs, previous researchers have acknowledged that the eligibility requirements of select programs should be expanded to include veterans with other than honorable discharges on a case-by-case basis (Moore 2023). While numerous dimensions of military identity such as obedience, honor, order and discipline, and loyalty may be assets during active military service, the same is often not said of those who have been convicted of criminal actions and behavior while serving. As members transition, the resulting identity change from active-duty military member to convicted felon, can immediately trigger an unexpected identity crisis due to lack of veteran status recognition among society. It’s widely known that in our judicial system double jeopardy is prohibited; an individual cannot be subjected to trial for the same offense more than once. However, a veteran that exits the military with both a felony conviction and a negative discharge effectively endures a form of continuous double jeopardy, even though not of a judicial nature it can be viewed as collateral consequences. In light of the numerous barriers that lie in their path, the overarching ambition extends beyond identification. Subsequently, championing for a deeper, empathetic, and holistic understanding of their distinct experiences and challenges is paramount. This presentation underscores an unwavering commitment to every shade of the veteran experience. The desire is to spark meaningful discussions, elevate awareness levels, and catalyze positive and lasting changes that will redefine these veterans’ lives. In order to holistically understand the broad domain of veterans, it must be viewed through an all-encompassing lens. While many find their rightful spotlight, others, despite their significance, remain muted. Our initiative champions the cause of those underrepresented, ensuring that each story, each experience, is acknowledged and celebrated in our collective narrative. It's a call to unity, recognition, and understanding. Together, let's pledge to redefine the narrative, ensuring that every veteran is served, voice is heard, and valued.
- Lost in a Sea of Terms: Moral Injury and Civilian Appropriation of Language and DiagnosisBroyles, Kathryn (2024-04-15)Since the 1994 publication of, “Achilles in Vietnam: Combat trauma and the undoing of character,” (J. Shay), Moral Injury as separate from Post-Traumatic Stress– has become terminology of increasing importance in supporting military personnel and veterans grappling with critical internal, psycho/spiritual challenges at odds with their self-defining moral core. Because definitions for Moral Injury vary and have yet to coalesce into set standards within disciplines, researchers see room to “do theory” but in ways that, rhetorically, may hamper the kind of close research and ready application of healing protocols veterans need. I explore how academic borrowing of civilian-oriented analysis frameworks, like “A MacIntyrean account of chronic moral injury: Assessing the implications of bad management and marginalized practices at work,” (Abadal and Potts 2022), risk moral injury being misconstrued. I dissect these discoursal differences and their impacts, attending especially to how veterans studies and military chaplaincy practices in moral injury can resist civilian appropriation that risks obscuring fundamental avenues of healing for veterans.
- Navigating the Challenges of Memorializing the Global War on Terrorism: Lessons from Other National MemorialsCraig, Jim (2024-04-14)Despite Congressional approval to establish a Global War on Terrorism Memorial located on the National Mall, questions loom regarding its design, programming, and our readiness to commemorate an ongoing conflict. Drawing from multidisciplinary, qualitative approaches, this research explores three crucial inquiries: lessons from existing war memorials, distinctions between war-named and veteran-named memorials, and the appropriateness of memorializing an ongoing war. By engaging in these inquiries, this study aims to ensure the GWOT Memorial will be a meaningful symbol in American memory.
- 2024 Veterans in Society Conference ProgramVeterans and Military Affairs of the University of South Carolina, The University of South Carolina Press, and the Veterans Studies Association (2024-04-14)
- 5th Veterans in Society Conference: Resilience, Pedagogy, and Veteran Studies(2022-10-20)The program for the 5th Veterans in Society conference, held at the Arizona State University downtown Phoenix campus on October 20-21, 2022.
- From "The Veteran Problem" to people with problems: The American WWII VeteranMcDonald, Todd (2022-10)This paper is part of the research that I am doing for my dissertation. In my dissertation, I investigate the ways American veterans were portrayed as social problems in U.S. policy discourse near the end of WWII (1943-1946). Willard Waller, a WWI veteran and professor of sociology at Columbia University, outlined how he understood veterans to be a social problem in The Veteran Comes Back, and the National Broadcast Company (NBC) gave Waller’s perspective a national audience when his book was dramatized for a radio show in 1944. Waller’s theory of “The Veteran Problem” suggests that veterans return from military service as people with problems and eventually become threats to political and social stability if they are not properly reintegrated into civilian society. This study considers the extent to which other people who participated in WWII veteran policy discourse shared or deviated from a Waller-like theory. While my dissertation’s analysis will account for U.S. policy discourse in newspapers, academic papers, and Congressional hearings, this paper only discusses the preliminary findings from my analysis of academic papers. I also explain the next steps I will take in this project.
- Don Quixote: A Demonstration of Veteran Resilience in LiteratureDarbous Marthaller, Nan (2022-10)Veteran resilience is demonstrated in the novel Don Quixote by the author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra who was a military veteran as well as a prisoner. In his novel, Cervantes draws on his own battle and captivity experience, weaving it into the tale of Don Quixote. Buried in this work of fiction is the lived experience of a resilient veteran who returns to civilian life disabled, yet through his writing provides insight into military service.
- What Motivates Veterans to Become Small Business Owners: A Grounded Theory StudyFletcher, Joshua (2022-10)The purpose of this grounded theory qualitative study will be to explore the motivations of veterans that became small business owners. There is currently a gap in research literature on veteran small business owners, even though they make up the largest minority of the entire U.S. small business population at 14 percent. And only about a third of small businesses survive more than ten years. A better understanding of what motivates so many veterans to become small business owners could benefit other current and future small business owners and possibly increase their chances of success, as well as contributing to the existing body of research on small business.