Written by Monica VanDerWeide, ’95
As a Marine Corps veteran who served in the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Greg Whalen, a 2017 Hillsdale Academy graduate and soon-to-be Hillsdale College graduate, has a perspective and life experiences that very few of his fellow students share. Drawing on those experiences and tapping into his love of music and writing, Whalen is sharing his stories and talents with an ever-growing audience with the release of his EP, American Deployed.
From an early age, Whalen thought about entering the military, inspired by his older brother Patrick’s service in the Marine Corps. As a high school junior, he considered a contract with the Army but decided to attend Hillsdale College instead upon graduation.
Just a few weeks into his first semester at Hillsdale, however, Whalen withdrew. “I was really restless,” he recalled. “It seemed foolish to force myself to stay and waste the investment in college if I wasn’t ready for it.”
Whalen then enlisted in the Marine Corps for a four-year term of service and began boot camp in January 2018 at Parris Island in South Carolina. His love of good literature and reading that he developed at Hillsdale Academy, along with playing his guitar, sustained him during periods of downtime and provided a respite from the rigors of training. He remained stateside until he received deployment orders in late 2020 and left in February 2021 on a Marine Expeditionary Unit that took him to various locations overseas.
In mid-August 2021, Whalen’s infantry unit was sent to Kabul, Afghanistan, to assist with the American withdrawal, a situation he described as “utter chaos.” Over the course of two weeks, American troops assisted in helping countless people evacuate the country as the Taliban stood poised to take over after the August 31 American withdrawal deadline. During the withdrawal, an ISIS suicide bomber attacked near the airport, killing 13 American service members and more than 150 Afghans. Being so close to the tragedy deeply affected Whalen.
Whalen’s active duty ended in December 2021, when he returned home to Hillsdale and re-enrolled at Hillsdale College, beginning classes in January 2022. “I had such a strong desire to go to college after the military that it was a really smooth transition back to the classroom,” he said. “I was comfortable getting back into schoolwork and writing. Dr. Condict’s literature and writing classes at Hillsdale Academy stuck with me over that four-year gap and really helped me.”
But Whalen was writing more than just papers for his classes. He began writing songs while on deployment, and upon his return, wrote three songs about his two weeks in Afghanistan: “Broken Eyes,” “Nineteen,” and Kabul 2021.” “I had never thought about recording my songs,” he recalled. “I was just writing and performing locally as a hobby.” But then, after hearing Whalen perform his three songs at a Hillsdale coffeehouse in 2023, two local musicians—Luke Martin and David Johnson, who comprise the folk duo Lost Mary and own a small recording studio in Hillsdale—approached Whalen about recording the songs. “We decided to record an EP and release it in August 2024 to coincide with the anniversary of the bombing,” Whalen said.
Whalen and his music began to garner attention following the release of the EP, not only locally, but beyond. In addition to performing on campus and at Veterans Day events at the College and at Hillsdale Academy, Whalen was the opening act for John Ondrasik (better known as Five for Fighting) at a concert in Corning, New York, last September. He has also performed at memorial events in Alabama and California for fallen Marines. In February, he will perform a full-length concert of original music at the Dawn Theater in downtown Hillsdale, with some help from Adjunct Professor of Music Dan Palmer—who is also his guitar teacher and played on the EP—Martin, Johnson, and other local musicians.
Even as his music career accelerates, Whalen continues with his senior year at Hillsdale. An English major, he also serves as the vice president of Omicron Delta Kappa leadership honorary and works as the student manager of the Security Department. He belongs to the campus Veterans Club, whose members get together periodically for meals and help with local Veterans Day events. Whalen is especially grateful for the way Hillsdale College cares for its veteran students.
“Hillsdale covers tuition, books, and meal plans for veterans, plus gives them a living stipend,” he said. “It’s a comprehensive replacement of the GI Bill. It’s unbelievable. I feel that I have the freedom to pursue what I love here.”
Whalen plans to see where his music will take him over the next year or so. Armed with a Hillsdale College education and his military experience, he feels “competent and confident” in his options. “A Hillsdale education is not a technical training but is focused on making a well-rounded person capable of adapting to whatever life brings,” he said. “The education and moral formation you receive here give you a flexibility of mind and imagination that leads to a good and happy life in whatever you choose to do.”
Monica VanDerWeide is Director of Marketing Content for Hillsdale College. She graduated from Hillsdale in 1995 with a degree in English and German.
Published in January 2025
