"People are usually raptured about the war stories and conditions... very rarely do I get the opportunity to get asked how I felt about it, or what I think politically," says Garett Reppenhagen, a war vet who fought in Iraq.
Reppenhagen and Tom Morgan, a Vietnam veteran and member of Veterans for Peace, will be visiting UMD and St. Scholastica this week for the screening of the film What I Want You to Know, an intimate documentary illustrating the cost of war and moral injury. Following the screening, there will be a panel featuring Reppenhagen to aid the audience in understanding and processing the film.
"We as a nation have to ask ourselves... is it worth it?" says Morgan, who explains that when he returned from Vietnam, he did not feel like a hero; he believed that he had killed for no reason. Reppenhagen adds that it is incredibly important for us as a society to have these difficult moral discussions about war because it helps veterans and soldiers heal by carrying part of the burden.
The film will be screening at UMD on September 25 at 6:30pm in the Solon Campus Center, and at St. Scholastica on September 26 at 7pm in the Mitchell Auditorium.
You can hear Community Connection every Tuesday and Thursday at 8am on Northland Morning. This edition of Community Connection is made possible in part by Lakewalk Surgery Center.
