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CHARLOTTE – Veterans at UNC Charlotte got the chance to turn their old uniforms into art. The program is called the Combat Paper Project.

It allows participants to literally turn their fatigues into a canvas that allows them to express their emotions after returning from war.

Logan Cason stared down at a blank piece of gray paper Thursday afternoon, as he stood in a room inside UNC Charlotte's Art Department.

Dozens of similar pieces hung from clothes lines scattered throughout the room. Although they look somewhat unspectacular on the surface, it's the story behind the paper-making process and what the final product is used for afterward that Cason appreciates.

"It's just pride. It's just a way to continue my pride in what I've done," said Cason, a veteran who is now the coordinator for UNC Charlotte's Veteran Students Outreach program.

Cason was among the veterans who took part in the Combat Paper Project, during which participants cut their uniforms into pieces and put them through a machine that liquifies the clothing and turns it into pulp. The gray paper he created was once a Navy uniform.
 
Once the former fatigues are dried out, they become a canvas on which veterans can tell their story or air their emotions.  The paper is most often used to create paintings, books and postcards.
 
For some, the process is a form of therapy.
 
"I had a rough go of things psychologically and I became very angry and resentful and that stuff is still working its way out in my artwork," said Army veteran Christopher Arendt.
 
Cason said there are some who believe shredding military uniforms is unpatriotic, but he disagrees.
 
"I went through a lot with that uniform and it would otherwise just be another thing hanging in my closet," Cason said.  "This is a way that I can put it on display and continue that memory."
 
The Combat Paper Project is a nationwide program that began in 2007.