When Foreign Policy students walked into class on Friday, March 4, they expected to meet a disturbed Iraq veteran, overflowing with horror stories about the trauma of war. Instead, they met 21-year-old Henry Maldonado, a volunteer marine recently injured in Fallujah, who shocked students with his positive attitude toward the war.

The class, taught by Maureen McCorry, recently finished studying U.S. policy in Iraq and was anticipating the opportunity to see the conflict from a soldier’s point of view.

Maldonado, however, refused to engage in a discussion about politics.

"We don’t think about it; we just work," Maldonado said. "No one actually argued about why we’re here – who cares? We have no control."

According to Maldonado, the marines learn how to focus on the task at hand and keep their emotions separated from their assignments. They call it the KISS method, which stands for, "Keep It Simple, Stupid."

Most students were amazed by Maldonado’s descriptions of the troops’ conditions in Iraq. "We had it pretty nice," Maldonado said. Most marines work on rotation: three days on, two days off. Their air-conditioned rooms are equipped with TVs, DVD players, X-Boxes, Internet, and phones.

"I was expecting him to say that war is this horrible thing, kind of the cliché notion of war," senior Stephen Reese said. "I was surprised at how his account of Iraq didn’t really match up with that."

While Maldonado focused on the more mild aspects of Iraq, like the extreme heat and boredom, he did talk about some of the violence and its effect on him. In between episodes of Friends and Dark Angel, there was work to be done, schools to rebuild and civilian areas to patrol, which unfortunately often included tragedy.

"[People dying around you] sucks," Maldonado said. "You see those guys every day, all day. They sleep next to you … You get to know them and get close to them. You know their stuff, what they’re going through."

Maldonado accepted the unfortunate conditions of war when he signed up for the marines three years ago. Despite public opinion against the U.S. occupation of Iraq, Maldonado defends his troops’ actions.

"I do what I’m told," Maldonado said. "[The war] wasn’t my idea."

When asked if he had considered the extreme danger of his situation while in Iraq, Maldonado said that while he tried not to think about it; he wasn’t afraid of dying.

"I didn’t get drafted, I signed up," he said. "I knew that [it was dangerous] when I signed the paper … I’m an infantry guy."

Many students found it hard to relate to Maldonado’s mentality, but were appreciative of the experience.

"I was shocked by what he had to say, but at the same time I understood where he’s coming from," Reese said. "It was good that he came in because we could see another face … another perspective."

McCorry was also pleased by Maldonado’s visit.

"I think he brought into the classroom a perspective that’s really important for students to hear, that they’re not likely to hear, that’s difficult to hear," McCorry said.

Some students had harder times dealing with the Maldonado’s speech.

"I have never had an experience like that before," junior Mariel Matze said. "The way I’ve come to terms with some of the things that were difficult to hear is, he put his life in danger and was asked to do some hard things. Detaching emotionally was probably the way he’s learned to cope with it."