2017 Gables Washington

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE is a collection that was conceptualized and directly influenced by 5 United States Iraqi War Veterans and 5 United States Civil-ians.The project highlights the troubles veterans face when it is time for them to transition back into civilian life after war, a transition that is often riddled with many challenges and hardships. The project examines this transition in a very personal manner through the eyes of each Iraq War Veteran through the process of journaling. Moreover this collection explores the disconnect between between veteran and civilian. Many veterans when returning home are completely different people than who they were before they were deployed, however our perceptions of them stay the same. Within in American society we are taught to view the military and its members as sacred. This sacredness is taught to us through the way our society celebrates and honors our United States military. Forms of celebration and remembrance that have always been tinted through the lens of the american flag; the most symbolic American object, that has never been changed since its inception. We have been taught to interconnect the two in such a strong relationship, that many Americans can’t think of the military as an institution and its members, soldiers and veterans, without thinking of the American flag.