U. of Texas prof: Keep these crazy vets and ROTC cadets away from me!

A history professor at the University
of Texas at Arlington candidly
discusses why she no longer wants to teach military history. Basically,
there are too many vets and ROTC cadets in the class, and they take this stuff
too personally. By her account, they are waaaay too into the subject,
and kind of nuts:

Some students admitted privately that
they themselves were suffering from PTSD, but for various reasons had rejected
available help. As we approached the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing,
a retired Air Force officer asked permission to recount his experiences
searching for bodies in the rubble because he had been advised that it would
help with his post-trauma disorder.

One student, a veteran, explained
that he had been deployed six times and was now at the university in order to
attend aviation school and thus avoid another deployment. Another student, one
of several who seemed to be suffering from anxiety, frequently talked of all
the guns he had purchased since he had returned. One had just returned home in
December and had immediately begun classes in January, but confessed he simply
could not relate to other students. Two dropped out because of combat wounds
that required attention.

Enlisted veterans spoke disparagingly
of officers commissioned through ROTC; veterans who had been commissioned
through ROTC spoke disparagingly of military-academy graduates;
"lifers" made clear that they, alone, could really understand
military-history issues; veterans of one branch of military service made
derogatory comments about members of other branches-and not in a teasing way.
There was a noticeable edge to their class contributions that wasn't present in
my other classes.

What these students needed was
personal catharsis, but I am not a trained psychologist. What these students
craved was the opportunity to express their anger or pain, but my class was not
the place to do it.

Tom again: I think it would be fun to
teach a class of really engaged, committed students for whom the subject matter
carried life-and-death importance. Sure, you'd get some "edge." Just like we do
in our comments section, from which. I learn a lot.

(HT to Scout)