War is a harsh reality of our world. We fight over scarce resources and land, and even a face can launch 1,000 ships. When it’s over and the dust has settled on the battlefield, we celebrate our heroes and mourn those who rode valiantly into Valhalla. But those who come home from the fight are left with scars, some physical and others deeply psychological. As time goes on, we immortalize the ones that we lost with monuments and celebrations, but we start to forget about those who are still with us.
On Sept. 15, Tech Residential Life and ROTC will be hosting a tug of war event on the intramural fields for the Wounded Warrior project. Teams can start registering at 6 p.m., and the event will begin at 6:30. Teams can consist of 10 to 12 people with any combination of faculty, staff or students. To help keep things fair, teams as a whole will be weighed on scales and match-ups will be based on weight classes.
Each team must pay $20 to participate in the event. All proceeds go toward Wounded Warrior Project.
Lauren Johnson, assistant coordinator of M.S. Cooper, Pinkerton and Jobe, is heading the project. She said she chose Wounded Warrior Project because it doesn’t matter what your view of the military is. If someone puts their life on the line and comes home injured, you should thank them. She also said this is a great way to get the campus community together.
“I don’t think a lot of time professors or administrators see students out of the classroom, and I think this is a great place for that to happen,” Johnson said.
Wounded Warrior Project was started in 2003 in Roanoke, Virginia by a group of veterans who wanted to help this generation’s wounded servicemen and women. According to the organization’s website, woundedwarriorproject.org, their mission is: “To raise awareness and enlist the public's aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured service members aid and assist each other, and to provide unique and direct programs and services to meet the needs of injured service members.”
