The pulpy gray sludge may not look like much, but it was once a military uniform, perhaps carrying the dust of Iraq or Afghanistan. Soon it’ll be something altogether different, a one-of-a-kind memento of military service.

For members of the UI Student Veterans Association, turning fatigues into handmade paper ready for print and paint is a way to honor their service and mark the transition to civilian life.

The group joined papermakers at the UI Center for the Book for “Operation Wrecklamation” in early November. They cut uniforms into pieces, beat the pieces into fibers, stirred the fibers into a soup, and dried the mixture into sheets of paper to serve as the base for screen prints, paintings, and collages.

Organized by UI Veterans Center counselor Cate Hartmann, the event was inspired by the Combat Paper Project, a national program that sponsored a spring 2010 workshop on the UI campus. Student veterans displayed some of their work during the Statewide Veterans Conference held at the University on Nov. 19.

They’re also distributing blank paper to military families who can create their own works in recognition of loves ones serving abroad.