Events

Kuenzel Room, Michigan Union 

In 2021, with the withdrawal of U.S. and allied forces, the Afghanistan capital Kabul fell. Anger and confusion reigned across America, mixed with relief that the 20-year war was over. Questions and controversy remain regarding the rationale for the Iraq invasion, and the future of Iraq is still uncertain. So both of our recent wars have ended with questions of “what it all meant.” Almost 50 years before, Saigon fell after the last American forces pulled out of Vietnam, raising similar questions of what service and sacrifice means if a conflict is not resolved well. 

How do Afghanistan and Iraq veterans feel about their sacrifice and service today compared to how Vietnam vets now feel about theirs? What, in fact, does winning a modern war look like? This panel will be one of the first in the nation to ask this urgently important question from those who were there.