The Boston Globe: Veterans reach out about their needs, one town at a time
“War is one of the most unique experiences in the world, and it’s an experience that is incredibly hard to understand unless you’ve been there.” Vets Town Halls are intended to help bridge that gap. “It doesn’t matter if you’re liberal or conservative, gay or straight, rich or poor” in combat, Junger said. “And in…
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The Guardian: ‘A sacred space’: Sebastian Junger and Seth Moulton on Vets Town Hall
“In this ‘dire time of polarisation’, Junger said, Vets Town Hall might provide ‘kind of a sacred space. I’m an atheist, but I use the word sacred all the time. It’s a sacred space in the sense that ordinary life is suspended and here we are in this place, and we’re honoring something, and we’re…
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VTDigger: Bestselling author Sebastian Junger registers nonprofit for veterans in Vermont
By starting Vets Town Hall, Junger said, he hopes to reinforce the connection between veterans and their communities. “We are of one nation and we’re doing this together, and the people that actually pulled the triggers were sent there by us.” …[Fellow board member Jon] Turner said storytelling plays a central role in veterans’ events…
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Boston Globe: We need a new narrative for the Afghanistan War
Dan Vallone, a veteran who served in Afghanistan, writes, “We forge new narratives by challenging what we think we know about the war, not with facts, dates, and figures, but with stories: of hardship and lost friends; of triumphs small and profound; and of pride, confusion, anger, and alienation. We can begin by holding town…
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Sebastian Junger at SVA NatCon 2022
“I’m here to tell you now that your country still needs you. And they need you because you have experienced what unity, real unity, feels like.” Sebastian Junger spoke about coming home, community, and the purpose of Vets Town Halls at Student Veterans of America‘s National Conference on January 8, 2022. Listen to Sebastian’s talk…
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Help Sheet: Running a Vets Town Hall
We’ve just uploaded an updated printer-friendly PDF version of our Running a Town Hall page. You can download, print and share. Don’t forget to let us know how your town hall goes, or get in touch to ask any question.
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Speaking at a Vets Town Hall
At a Vets Town Hall, veterans of any era who have served in any capacity have the right to stand before their community and speak for up to ten minutes. We’ve posted some notes and starting points for speakers, and uploaded a printable speaker info sheet.
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‘What it’s like to go to war’: Veterans share their stories of service, suffering, levity (Cape Cod Times)
HYANNIS — Tears streamed down Paula Smith’s face as she stood behind a podium, sharing her anguish over leaving her children when she served in Iraq in 2009. “I was so far away from my babies,” she said. “That was one thing I didn’t figure into my preparation for deployment. How would I make up the time that…
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Virtual Vets Town Hall 2021
Rep. Seth Moulton hosted a virtual Vets Town Hall this year. You can watch the Facebook Live recording here.
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Timekeeping at a Vets Town Hall
At a Vets Town Hall, each speaker has up to ten minutes to speak about what it was like to serve their country. Keeping to a ten-minute time limit ensures that many veterans will have the opportunity to speak, and that each speaker will be allowed equal time. In order to keep speakers on schedule…
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