The May 4 Task Force held a war veteran’s panel on Sunday evening at the Kent State Kiva to discuss the idea of peacekeeping.

The discussion session began with an introduction by Paul Chappell, a 2006 Iraq War veteran and the current peace leadership director for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. He is also the author of the “Road to Peace” series, a seven-book series about waging peace. Chappell said he also teaches college courses and workshops on peace leadership.

Chappell spoke for the first half hour, keeping an open discussion on peacekeeping with his audience. He ended by giving the audience what he called his greatest peace leadership skill: An “almost-fight” among inebriated people over a fork at a Waffle House in Alabama five years ago.

“The reason I tell you that story is because there was almost a mini-war started just over people feeling disrespected,” Chappell said. “There’s a reason why martial arts teaches you to always respect everybody, including your opponent. The reason is that the vast majority of human conflict comes from people just feeling disrespected. Disrespect causes most human conflict. That’s it.”

After Chappell finished, a student member of M4TF introduced the war veteran’s panel, which consisted of four war veterans, including Chappell. The other three members of the panel were all Vietnam veterans.

The panel was asked questions dealing with peacekeeping, war and violence. The first question of the night: “What factors do you believe contribute to peaceful or aggressive actions in conflict?” The panel was also an open conversation with an audience of about 30 people, and those attending were given the opportunity to ask questions and express their own opinions. The discussion lasted for roughly two hours.

To learn more about the May 4 Task Force, visit the May 4 Task Force Facebook page.

Contact Kianna Bugglin at [email protected].