Vets Find Healing Hope in Combat Paper Project

Drew Cameron and Drew Matott prove an organic pair when it comes to paper-making. Through their project, Combat Paper, they have been generating inspiration for war veterans the nation over. Drew C. is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, having served multiple tours abroad. Whether or not someone agrees with war resistance, the Combat Paper project focuses on encouraging all veterans of combat in their return to civilian life. The striking, if not shocking, part: the paper is made from shredded uniforms that have been in war conflict.

The project began in a paper-making studio in Burlington, VT. Green Door Studios has now grown into a haven for healing veterans. Drew C. and Drew M. took the project on tour earlier this year, in the form of paper-making workshops, to various supporting institutions such as St. Lawrence University in NY and UC Santa Barbara. The majority of the participants are Iraq vets, but many Vietnam War veterans came out for conversation. Not all bring their uniforms. Some just come to check it out, to find community. Drew M. says about the tour: "Most of the time the veterans have never met. It's amazing to see how much they have in common."

Combat Paper is art therapy that "utilizes paper as its medium" and dialogue as its process. The process is about "making something tactile that expresses [the vets'] transformative process," Drew M. says. It transforms a uniform that has carried negative connotations into something hopeful, positive, artistic. The project "lays down a very open atmosphere for expression through dialogue, to find a common language so they don't feel so alone".

The hope that many Vets discover through Combat Paper is in the commonality found in shared experience through dialogue. They are affirmed in their respective struggles returning from Iraq, and encouraged in their lives.