No. 848 Daniel James Christiansen, 2014

File — Box: 76, Folder: 17

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

University of Utah student and Army veteran Sgt. Daniel Christiansen was born and raised in Utah. In 2005, at age twenty, he enlisted as a combat medic and attended basic training at Fort Leonard Wood and Fort Benning, then took his medical training at Fort Sam Houston. He was deployed to Afghanistan twice, the second time as part of a Security Force Advise and Assist Team near Herat. He describes his sense of mission and realization that he did not want to come home, and relates his experiences as a medic in the combat zone. Christiansen discusses the disconnect in his head between being at home and deployment overseas, the cognitive dissonance that comes when he’s called a veteran and he thinks of World War II vets, and his sense of separation from mainstream society. He also discusses attitudes in the military toward women, sex and sexual assault.
Project: Iraq and Afghanistan oral history project.
Interviewer: Mira Reynolds.

Dates

2014

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.