Iraq War Vet Finds Support on Campus

OSHKOSH, Wisc., Feb. 25, 2009 -- Chris Albright doesn't like loud, crowded places. He can't relate to the excitement of screaming fans at sports events, and he can't stand fireworks on the Fourth of July.

All of that reminds the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh sophomore of the sounds of war.

When Albright, 23, came back from the Iraq War in 2007, he felt he needed something else. "I was feeling like a fat body at home. I thought that it would be best for me to go to school," said Albright, who is a business and military science major and a member of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).

From July 2006 to July 2007, Albright was part of a nine-person squad that provided security for convoys throughout Iraq. Adjusting to life as a regular student is a constant challenge.

''Seeing students walking around without a care in the world made me a little bitter,'' Albright said. ''I have been to football games, but I don't like going because I don't have control over the situation. It makes me feel vulnerable.''

Albright found understanding and comfort in a campus veterans' support group created in the fall of 2008. Currently, the group has six members and is led by Paul Clark, a staff counselor at the university's counseling center. ''It really gives each veteran an opportunity to talk about those issues before they were deployed and when they came back, and how their lives have changed,'' Clark said.

Albright's first days as a college student were difficult. ''When I first arrived here for school I had no one to talk to and I was on the edge of almost dropping out,'' he said.

U.S. Army Maj. Robert Wagner understands the challenges returning soldiers face. The ROTC instructor has been in the Army for 25 years and was stationed in Kuwait from 2004 to 2005 during the Iraq War.

''They all have different stuff they have to deal with. Some have jobs and some have families while going to school,'' said Wagner, an assistant professor of military science.