2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Winter soldiers: support the truth
CELESTE DE VORE
Opinion Writer
Issue date: 3/20/08 Section: Opinion
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In an echo of the same event held during the Vietnam War 37 years ago, more than 200 U.S. military veterans and active-duty troops from Iraq and Afghanistan attended to testify about the atrocities committed by U.S. occupation forces - war crimes they have witnessed and, in some cases, participated in.
Many people may not even know this is happening; the event has been completely ignored by the corporate media. I suppose I can understand why: If America really took hold of the message portrayed by these brave veterans and soldiers (a message of betrayal, brutality, dismay and disillusionment) its citizens couldn't stand in silent ignorance anymore. We would demand an end to the Iraq occupation now.
During the four-day event, the soldiers testified to the crimes they committed or witnessed. Some were full of rage, some sadness, but all revealed their remorse. To begin his testimony, Sgt. Clifton Hicks stated that all of the soldiers in Iraq were there out of love; a love, he said, for their country, for ideals, for their fellow soldiers. He added, "For that, they are beyond judgment. I am here to judge the war itself."
Hicks testified to daily inhumanities that were commonplace during duty tours. He told of a time that he and other comrades threw full water bottles from their military vehicle, hitting unsuspecting civilians in the head. One troop, he recalled, defecated into an MRE bag and threw it into a crowd of Iraqi civilians. He also told about the free fire orders in city neighborhoods and of indiscriminate acts of vengeance upon innocent citizens often carried out by frustrated soldiers.
Marine Sgt. Jon Turner began his testimony by throwing his military dog tags into an audience of veterans, press and friends, saying, "F--- you. I don't work for you no more." He then went on to tell the story of his first kill in Iraq, a young Iraqi boy whom he shot in front of the boy's father. Turner told how he had carried a picture of the boy's open skull around with him. For that kill, he was personally congratulated by his commanding officer, who also offered a four-day pass to anyone who got a kill by stabbing an Iraqi. Staring out into the audience of shocked attendees, Turner solemnly concluded, "I am sorry for the hate and destruction that I have inflicted on innocent people. I am sorry for the things I did. I am no longer the monster that I once was."
Another soldier testified, "If some foreign occupying force came into my part of the world, every self-respecting citizen would come out of the hills with a shotgun to defend their country."
Our disassociation from the violence of this war can no longer be tolerated. We cannot afford to stand silent while acts of brutality are committed not only on the citizens of Iraq, but also on the fragile psyche of our American troops. War is hell, and our soldiers are discharged home to face emotional purgatory - a silent agony no civilian can ever truly understand. The suffering of our soldiers cannot be ignored, and the truth about this illegal war should be actively sought. While the government-run media ignores the testimony of our wounded brave, those who truly support our troops must find the truth in independent media outlets. To learn more about the Winter Soldier Iraq, watch video clips of the testimonies and learn about what you can do to help bring an end to the Iraq war, go to www.ivaw.org/.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Vet
posted 3/20/08 @ 11:59 AM MST
Thank you for covering this. I served two tours in Iraq. I have mental scars forver. I really appreciate people like you who actually listen to what the soldiers say about the war. (Continued…)
Landon
posted 3/20/08 @ 2:01 PM MST
I didn't even know about this??? These are the things you never hear about on TV or in the paper. I feel so much sympathy for the soliders that have to face these things every day. (Continued…)
Todd
posted 4/01/08 @ 9:58 AM MST
As as soldier and someone who spent a year over there, and I spent the year outside the wire doing route clearance, combat patrols and qrf, not a pencil pusher. (Continued…)
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