Dayton Peace Agreements

Perhaps this will betray my utter lack of knowledge surrounding the Bosnian War, but I think that even this lack of knowledge might say something about the experience I've had with the conflict.

Before moving to Richmond, VA I lived in Dayton, OH for 8 years (2nd through 9th grade). Reading Sarah Wagner's, To Know Where He Lies, I kept noticing her mention of the Dayton Peace Agreements. I continually assumed that the Dayton she was referring to must be somewhere else in a place that also happened to be called Dayton. Somewhere that was much more interesting where it would make sense for such a major agreement to be settled. When Wagner later referenced Wright-Patterson Air Force Base I was blown away, for a few reasons. First, I was amazed that the Dayton being referred to was Dayton, OH, where I had lived for so long and nothing exciting ever seemed to happen. Second, I was troubled by the fact that I had never heard of this meeting and subsequent agreement. While I think the conflict in the former Yugoslavia is under-taught and generally ignored in most places, I figured that the city that hosted the meeting to bring the conflict to an end would at least be advertising the role it had played.

Dayton is no stranger to famous people and inventions (Wright brothers, the first cash register, etc.) and I remember learning about these things extensively in school. Many of my friends' parents also worked at Wright-Patterson AFB and I was well aware of its existence and the role it played in the community. My point here is that I had plenty of opportunities to be introduced to the subject of the Dayton Peace Agreements - their location and subject matter were not far off, untouchable, unimaginable things - but I never was, not in any of my 8 years of school or simply living there. This was a major event for the area that could've provided the perfect segue into a discussion on the Bosnian War, but this never happened. I'm not entirely sure what this might be a commentary on, if anything. I do know, however, that I am disappointed that no teacher thought this subject matter valuable enough to introduce to their classroom. I think these feelings are especially salient now that I live in a city with such a large Bosnian population. The vast majority of the housekeeping staff in Residential Life buildings are Bosnian and, having lived in the same building for four years, I have built a fairly strong relationship with the staff that works in it. I am ashamed that I know so little about something that I assume to be a fairly relevant part of their lives and confused as to how it is possible that I was never taught anything about it, given my proximity to its resolution.