"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends" -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

It was an ordinary day at my community college. I walked in to the main foyer where I saw a couple of recruiters. I immediately harassed them. I told the boy talking to them to make sure, if he joined, to get nice and screwed up like I did. When asked about my comment I informed the slick-armed (no combat patch) buck sergeant that I was a 60% disabled combat veteran. I was discussing my time in the Army when an NCO from my old unit, who had apparently landed recruiting duty, appeared behind me. We reminisced for a while and we talked about our friend that we had lost. It was his soldier, he was the one who pulled her badly burned body from the flames. It was this talk that led to talk of how the unit was doing now. They are currently in Kirkuk and I had heard they were not doing well. This was when he floored me. He told me that Bravo had lost a guy. Bravo was my old battery and when I asked who, he said "Webster, I think, yeah it was Webster." I was in denial. I called everyone I knew from the unit. I called CQ, I called my friend on Rear D, I called a bunch of people. When I had exhausted all of my plausible deniability, I realized it and the tears came. A full grown man wept like a child right where I stood. I saw his picture and it was even less deniable. Webster's gone...



It's funny the things that go through your head when you learn about something like this. I remembered that I owed him 50 dollars, I remembered hanging out and drinking and how he always had a dip in. I remembered him wiping his ass with our favorite NCO's Arkansas Razorbacks flag. I remembered his wife and 3 daughters. Webster was there for me while I struggled with my failed marriage and subsequent divorce. He was there for everyone in Iraq, with his indomitable sense of humor and realistic optimism. He was even there for me when I got back and was struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Alcoholism. I'm not a religious man, but it's times like this I wish I was. If Webster could read this, I would tell him that I'm here if his family ever needs me for ANYTHING. I'd tell him that he chose his wife wisely and that his 3 daughters will be brought up to be 3 beautiful, successful women. I thought the war was over for me, but I don't think it ever will be. For everyone else Iraq is 6,000 miles away, but for me it's there waiting for me when I close my eyes. I want my friends all to come home...



"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends" - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.



http://www.wqad.com/news/wqad-leroy-webster-iowa-solider-iraq-042809,0,5894961.story
http://www.militarycity.com/valor/4061461.html

Ceasfire

In this fierce battle between right and left, oftentimes we forget what we are fighting for. I speak of course about the soldiers who are still in the Army, who are still in Iraq and Afghanistan. The wives, husbands, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, best friends, grandmothers, and grandfathers who are in constant peril every day. We forget about the casualties of war and I'm not just speaking of the dead, but of the living. They face the hardships of trying to be a member of a family from across the world and manage bills, and so many other things. I've been in this situation and it's not fun. I think it is pretty bi-partisan to say that we all want our loved ones back from Iraq. I got an e-mail from Melissa Berlin, who works for Rock Ridge Music and she linked me to this touching song from Pat McGee. It really took me back...

My Fireside Chat with John Ashcroft

I had to sit through an hour of Bush's former Attorney General's blathering. I passed the time by turning his speech into a spectator sport and when that got old I played "The Legend of Zelda II: Adventure of Link" obnoxiously loud until it was time for me to put my 2 cents in. Watch him stumble around and not answer me:

Hays County Veterans v. KBR

Today Greg and I responded to a local article about KBR seeking a contract with Hays County to build a road (FM-110) relatively close to our house. We did not oppose the road, we only opposed paying an internationally scandalous corporate entity accused of covering up rapes, gang rapes, negligent homicide, wrongful death, war profiteering, bribery, and tax evasion (the list goes on) to build our roads. While it is another story to pull a federal contract, we can at least stop them from doing business with our county, which is what we did today. The council of 4 County Commissioners and the County Judge all agreed to push the decision back a week while they did more research on KBR and we are also building a case to return again next week. The videos can be found on YouTube by googling KBR vs. Hays County Veterans or checking out Nitro's YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/rebeccaleonawilson

new blog!

collegegi.blogspot.com

Winter Soldier Review

You'll excuse me if it is poorly written. I had to dumb it down for my incompetent speech teacher.



Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan
Eyewitness Accounts by Iraq Veterans Against the War


Stories are timeless, with some being passed down since before written language existed. There are many forms of stories and one of the more prevalent story archetypes we hear growing up are war stories. These stories are often told to us by aging men and women, with wise wrinkles on their faces and smile lines worn deep through years of hardship. People rarely hear stories like these from generation Y. People rarely ever hear some of the stories I heard today from anyone, regardless of age. Today I attended and took part in Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan, Eyewitness Accounts by Iraq Veterans Against the War and it was a very difficult day indeed. The room was full of emotion as these people of all shapes, sizes, colors, and creeds gathered under the roof of a local church to bear witness of an expose that is rarely ever seen in a country where the war is in the tickers on the bottom of the news screen.
The name Winter Soldier comes from a Thomas Paine quote that was written to inspire the revolutionaries at Valley Forge, to include the women, indentured servants, and slaves:

“These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.
-Published on 23 December 1776 ”

It is this quote that the etymology of the term winter soldier is derived from. As much as I would like to take credit for such an insightful name, I cannot since it was created by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War back in 1971 when they hosted the first Winter Soldier in Detroit, MI at a local hotel. It was recreated in 2008 in the town of Silver Springs, Maryland. Since then there have been multiple regional Winter Soldier events with Veterans speaking out about war crimes and gross misgivings of the American public. There was even a Winter Soldier event on Capitol hill for members of congress.



The event I attended in Austin was divided into 2 panels of 5 people, a short intermission followed by some antiwar videos that were filmed by an active duty soldier, and a question and answer session at the end. The first panel was focusing on the war abroad and how it affects the people abroad. Dr. Dahlia Wasfi, a woman from Iraq who still has family there, spoke of growing up in Iraq before the war started and how her family has been affected since it started. Ronn Cantu spoke of things he was ordered to do that made him unable to support the war and spoke briefly about the Conscientious Objector process in the military. Rooster Romriell testified to gross mishandling of the war including soldiers shooting 2 detainees who were flexi-cuffed. Brandon Neely was a guard at camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay, often just referred to as Gitmo by many soldiers and veterans. He testified to detainee abuse, which has gone under reported in Guantenemo Bay and claims of it are often discredited by people who portray the detention center as posh or comfortable. Next came Greg Foster, who talked a bit about the current situation in Iraq and proposed a few solutions to the problem, which were to leave now, take care of our veterans, and help the Iraqis repair the damages we've done to their country.
The second panel was about the war at home and how it affects everyday people in the U.S. As well as returning veterans. Here to speak about the war at home was Marie Combs who worked for the NSA, which does a lot of information collecting that might make the public feel uncomfortable. Mike Corwin is a local antiwar activist who spoke about the deeper issues this country has that caused this war. He explained that war is a symptom caused by failed systems and how close we are to being a failed state. Bobby Whittenburg testified about the horrors of the military healthcare system and also the bureaucratic maze of the Veterans Affairs system. Last, but certainly not least, we had the honor of hosting John Scripsick, a gold star father. A gold star parent is a parent who loses a child in a war. John testified about how hard it is to bury your child and know that he died in such a violent manner. I, Bryan Hannah, spoke briefly about militarism in families and military recruiters. This was not a planned subject, but was part of a question and answer session.

All in all the event was a great success with over 300 people attending and media from 4 News stations, and countless independent media outlets to include live webcasts, radio shows, print articles, interviews and TV News segments.

Back in Black

I will keep this very brief, since I'm in a hurry. I only have 2 questions to ask the president:

1)What is a non-combat troop?

2)How does keeping a military present of 30,000+ soldiers, or any military presence at all, ending the war?

I will also be blogging more now that the local activism scene is taking a breather. Winter Soldier in Austin was a huge success and so was the ensuing march.

In solidarity,
Bryan

Addition 2MAR09

The only change here is a change in the promise we were made to have our brothers and sisters home immediately. That turned to a year, which changed to 16 months to 19 months, which is the mid-term elections by the way, and now it is being compromised. What's to stop him from changing his mind again? It didn't take 19 months to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan. You want an exit strategy? HMMWV's, boats, planes tanks, and helicopters.