ST. PAUL, Minn. — Military veterans have moved front and center in the debate over Minnesota's proposed voter ID constitutional amendment.

For voter ID supporters, veterans are a symbol to sell their message of election integrity. Opponents have turned to veterans to point out the potential problems that soldiers could face when they try to vote.

The pro-amendment campaign organization Protect My Vote started airing its first television ad last month. The 30-second spot features Robert McWhite of Minneapolis, a 91-year-old World War II veteran and former prisoner of war in Europe, who talks about defending the nation and its ideals.

"Nothing is more central to America's success than the right to vote," McWhite says in the ad. "That's why I'm supporting the effort to protect that right by showing photo ID."

Dan McGrath, chairman of Protect My Vote, told Minnesota Public Radio that the ad is certain to appeal to voters who respect the military.

"We did focus group testing on a number of different concepts, and one of them was around the idea of defending democracy," he said. "We tied the idea of defending democracy in war, military veterans, with voter ID, and it focus-group-tested very well. So that's how our ad came together."

Additionally, McGrath said, the ad tries to address accusations from amendment opponents that a photo ID requirement could make it harder for soldiers, veterans and the elderly to vote. He insists that everyone who is eligible to vote will be able to obtain an ID and cast a ballot.

As for current military personnel, McGrath insisted nothing will get in their way.

"Soldiers overseas are protected by federal laws, and their vote can't be threatened by a constitutional amendment or a state statute," McGrath said.

Voter ID opponents said the amendment would threaten the ability of soldiers to vote. Greta Bergstrom, a spokeswoman for the anti-amendment campaign organization Our Vote Our Future, said the pro-amendment ad uses "powerful imagery" to mislead voters.

Bergstrom said she thinks the ad tries to make voter ID sound simpler than it really is and neglects to tell voters that it could set up procedures that inhibit people in the military from voting.

The insult expressed in the Rutgers University class was aimed at the nearly 1 million veterans enrolled at U.S. schools under the GI Bill. And Scott Hakim, barely a year removed from combat, took the slam personally.

“Why should we pay for these guys to go to college?” Hakim said he recalls a female student asking during a discussion on the nation’s responsibility to service members returning from war. “Everybody who goes into the military is stupid – that’s why they joined the military instead of going to college.”

Hakim – a Marine infantryman in Iraq and Afghanistan – immediately vowed to out-study every classmate on the midterm exam and said he ultimately posted the highest mark: 98 out of 100. Later, he said, he overheard that same female student reveal her grade: F.

“I guess I proved her wrong,” Hakim said. “It wasn't a me-versus-her thing, more like: Maybe now she realizes how idiotic her statement was.”

Anti-veteran sentiments – though sporadic and scattered – are nonetheless emerging at some American colleges just as thousands of veterans enroll with their tuition fees fully covered by the post-9/11 GI Bill. In student gatherings or via anonymous posts in online forums, some university students are expressing open disdain for former service members now massing in academia.

Student Veterans of America, a support network with more than 500 campus chapters, acknowledges the presence of some unwelcoming vibes. “It exists,” said Michael Dakduk, executive director of SVA. “But, by and large, college students respect the sacrifices made by those who have served in the military.”
At Columbia University in New York City, a wounded Iraq War veteran was heckled and booed in February by fellow students as he argued for the return to that school of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, or ROTC, during a campus meeting. That reaction angered the national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, who openly questioned the school’s leadership.

At the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, student veteran Jason Thigpen said he has “personally experienced what seems to be ‘anti-veteran’ sentiment on more than a few occasions.”

“I had a History 101 professor in 2011 actually refer to how much better he was than military service members,” said Thigpen, an Army National Guard member who served in Iraq through January 2010. The UNC “system seems to disregard us in such a widespread manner, most student veterans no longer bother to even admit their time in-service, which is just sad.”

An Army reservist and Afghanistan veteran alleges in a lawsuit that he lost his job as a North Carolina school administrator because of his military service.

Sgt. 1st Class Dwayne Coffer claims his contract at Warren County High School was not renewed after he was ordered to instruct at an Army leadership course for one month in March 2008, according to court documents filed Friday.

Under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, it is illegal to terminate employment if a person misses work because of a military deployment.

Despite Coffer receiving positive performance reviews from the school’s outgoing principal, he was told by Superintendent Ray Spain in April 2008 that he would not recommend that his contract be renewed, and at first would not tell him why, according to the complaint.

"Spain said that he would provide Coffer with information regarding the reason for his recommendation if Coffer voluntarily resigned,” the complaint states.

Coffer did not resign. Three days later, the school board followed Spain’s recommendation to end Coffer’s employment.

Spain then told Coffer that he made the move because “Coffer had a choice as to whether to take military leave during the school year,” according to the complaint.

When Coffer left for his military assignment in March 2008, he had been appointed acting principal by the principal at the time, who was on medical leave.

When Coffer returned, the administrator who assumed control in his absence refused to turn the job back over to him. That administrator was later named principal following Coffer’s loss of employment, according to court documents.

Coffer is asking for a new contract with the Warren County school system, lost wages since 2008 and other remedies.