Baghdad is more than 6,000 miles from Gainesville, but three veterans managed to bring the War in Iraq closer to home as they shared stories of their wartime experiences Wednesday night at the Reitz Union Amphitheatre.
The veterans spoke as part of A Salute to Soldiers, an event organized by Actions! as part of Raise Your Voice Month, a national effort to increase student civil engagement on college campuses.
The event was organized to pay tribute to the lives lost in battle in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Seven veterans and more than 20 students attended.
“You don’t hear the stories of the people who go off to war,” said Lauren Taylor, coordinator of the event and a biology junior.
Taylor is the daughter of a retired Air Force member and the granddaughter of a Vietnam veteran, so she has experienced military life firsthand.
“Whether you agree with the war or not, it doesn’t change the fact that someone is out there giving their life for your safety,” Taylor said.
Jason Yulee is president of the Collegiate Veterans Society, who helped organize the event with Actions! Yulee is a political science senior and an Army veteran who is attending UF on the GI Bill, which pays for tuition for veterans.
“When you’re in a war zone, it makes you think about what’s special,” Yulee said, reflecting on his eight months in Iraq. “That’s the purpose of this vigil. These people are selfless and gave their lives for their country.”
The three Iraq veterans who spoke, Jason Coen of the navy, Marine Cpl. Edward Hines, [unranked] and retired Army Capt. Jonathan Pruden, talked about friends of theirs who died.
Hines, 32, and a junior history major, spent seven months in the city of Ramadi, Iraq, in 2004. He said that, in those seven months, approximately 34 soldiers were killed and 126 were wounded.
“When you’re that close to guys like that, you know them,” Hines said before the event.
Hines spoke about his friend Andrew Dang, who died his first week in Iraq by a rocket-propelled grenade.
“It pierced right through the Humvee, didn’t even stop to collect $200,” he said.
After the veterans concluded their speeches, a candlelight vigil was held as “Taps” was played.
Taylor concluded the night with a simple request for those in attendance.
“When you go to sleep at night, keep these people in your prayers.”
