POUGHKEEPSIE- When the Iraq War began in 2003, then-NBC News Correspondent and Vassar College alum Chip Reid was embedded with U.S. Marines as they fought their way from Kuwait to Baghdad. On November 9, 2023, Reid will speak on the Vassar campus about his book Battle Scars,” which chronicles that experience and the conversations Reid had with those Marines when he checked in with them 20 years later.
Reid’s talk, which will be moderated by members of the Vassar Veterans Association, will start at 6 p.m. in Room 300 of Rockefeller Hall. The event is free and open to the public and will also be accessible via Zoom.
VVA President Brittany Andrade ’24 said the event was being held to spur discussion about the meaning of Veterans Day “as it acknowledges the pathway that men and women take while in the military and afterward.”
Reid spent six weeks with the 3rd Battalion 5th Marines in Kuwait and Iraq. Twenty years later, he sat down with many of those Marines as they told him their stories of battle, brotherhood, those that were lost, patriotism, and belief in the mission. They also discussed the long-term impact of war on themselves and their families. Battle Scars was published earlier this year and will be available for sale at the event.
