Submitted by Richard Moser, Author, New Winter Soldiers
If you want to stop war and challenge the empire then help our
soldiers and veterans organize.
If you want to stop war and challenge the empire then help our
soldiers and veterans organize.
Our soldiers and veterans carry special knowledge. They have seen first hand the horror and
futility of war. What we understand as
endless war, empire and occupation they know through personal experience. Today’s soldiers and veterans have been
treated worse by the US government than any generation of soldiers in well over
a century.
In an effort to hide the war from the US public the burden has
fallen heavily on approximately 1% of the American population to go into
combat. That 1% sees far more combat
than soldiers did in WWII or Vietnam or Korea.
Two, three, and more tours are not uncommon. This is far more than humans can endure. The
consequences in PTSD, suicides and casualties are more than tragic: this is the
empire eating its own.
But soldiers and veterans also have so much to teach us: they know the machine and the know how to
organize. Their training can teach us
the kinds of dedication and discipline we need to build a mass movement with
real power to disrupt the war machine.
Maybe most important they can teach us how we can recapture the
revolutionary spirit that once made America truly great. With a little help
from their friends soldiers and veterans can once again be leaders in a new
anti-war movement.
Since the Vietnam War there has been an unbroken tradition of
opposition to war from servicemembers, veterans and their families. During the Vietnam Era soldiers protested,
refused combat, insisted on discussing actions rather than simply following
orders and resisted the war effort in ways large and small. As veterans they organized the Vietnam
Veterans against the War and came to lead the anti-war movement in the early
1970’s. The Veterans For Peace and Iraq Veterans Agains the War continue the
struggle.
Want to help our service-members stand against war and the
oppressive conditions of military life?
The tradition of resistance continues.
Start by supporting any of the following organizations:
Gold Star Families for Peace
Given support and an opportunity to stand up for the kind of
values and ideals that they really wanted to fight for, a new GI and veteran
movement is ready to spring to life. We saw that movement come alive when the
veterans supported the courageous water protectors at Standing Rock. Reach out to soldiers and veterans, build a
civilian movement to support them, and when there are many Standing Rocks the
soldiers and veterans will answer the call.
Richard Moser is author of “New Winter Soldiers: GI and VeteranDissent During the Vietnam Era.” Moser
writes at befreedom.co .
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