A long-anticipated memorial to fallen American soldiers is fast becoming a reality. The famed 506th Airborne Infantry Regiment of the US Army will hold a formal dedication for its new memorial to soldiers of the regiment killed in action in four wars.

According to LTC David Womack, commanding officer of the 1st Battalion of the Regiment, “The memorial has come to symbolize the strong bonds that unite the Currahees across generations and wars.” He said, “Those bonds – founded in pride, commitment and shared experience – explain the esprit de corps that is legendary in the 506th, and which is demonstrated in the success of this project.”

The dedication ceremony will take place on November 12, 2009 – the day after Veteran’s Day — in the 506th regimental area at Fort Campbell, KY. Fort Campbell is the home of the renowned 101st Airborne Division, parent unit of the 506th for much of its history.

A Panorama of the Memorial

The dramatic granite monument is the first on American soil to honor the men and women of the historic regiment. The memorial is composed of a central granite cenotaph on a broad plaza, flanked by six parachute-shaped monuments. These will ultimately include the names of all of the war dead. It is being paid for totally by contributions from veterans and active duty soldiers, families of former soldiers and other private citizens, along with in-kind contributions. Reaching the first milestone in the ambitious project — fundraising for erection of the slabs and chiseling of the names of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan — will be celebrated at the November dedication.

Majesty by Eugene Morelli

A major addition to the memorial: one of America’s foremost wildlife sculptors, Eugene Morelli, has contributed a dramatic bronze sculpture of a large soaring American Eagle to grace the entrance to the memorial. It will complement the memorial plaza itself and welcome visitors to the site.

Mr. Morelli’s sculpture, entitled “Majesty”, is a magnificent bronze sculpture of an eagle in full flight. The eagle is both the mascot of the 101st Airborne Division and a symbol of the spirit and resolution of America’s soldiers. The statue, with a nearly five-foot wingspan, will be mounted on a plinth in the memorial plaza.

Morelli lives with his wife, artist and sculptor Joan Zygmunt, in Montana. His works have received widespread recognition for their beauty and realism, which he attributes to his education as a wildlife biologist and the inspiration and support he received from his wife. One of his sculptures is part of the White House collection, while others have been exhibited nationally and internationally.

The Morellis were moved to make this contribution (valued at $20,000) in memory of Ms. Zygmunt’s nephew. Matthew Zygmunt was a soldier in the 506th Airborne Infantry regiment. He fought with the Currahees in Iraq in 2005-2006, returning safely only to die in an automobile accident in August 2009 as he prepared to enter college. “Matthew was very proud of his service with the 506th, and treasured his association with that organization,” said Morelli in an interview. “Our families have a strong military tradition, and Joan and I felt this sculpture was an appropriate and meaningful way to honor his memory.”

Mr. Morelli and his wife plan on attending the dedication service at Fort Campbell.

Fundraising for the balance of the project, to cover engraving of the names of casualties from World War II and Vietnam, is still underway. The 506th Airborne Infantry Regiment Association, a nonprofit veterans’ organization dedicated to the support of both active duty soldiers and veterans of the 506th regiment, is acting on behalf of the regiment to collect contributions in support of the memorial. The Association recently turned over to the regiment the proceeds from the first phase of the fundraising – a check for $8,000. People or organizations wishing to contribute can do so online with PayPal on the website, or by sending a check or money order.

Fund raising is still needed to complete the engraving of the names of the honored war dead (Click to go to page with more information on donating)

The 506th Airborne Infantry Association is a charitable War Veterans Organization under IRS section 501(c) (19), and contributions are fully tax deductible.

For more information

Contact the John Lally from the 506th Airborne Infantry Association at (651) 788-03678 (Cell) (651) 451-0652 (Home) or via email

About the 506th Airborne Infantry Regiment (Currahees)

The 506th Airborne Infantry Regiment – known as the “Currahees” – has been in the thick of the fighting in every major American conflict since it jumped behind enemy lines in Normandy on D-Day in World War II. It subsequently suffered over 1,400 soldiers killed in action in World War II, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, and many thousands more wounded in action. Its history has been chronicled over the years in hit movies like “Saving Private Ryan” and the television series, “Band of Brothers.” The 506th is renowned for its valor in campaigns from the Battle of the Bulge in WWII to the battles of Hamburger Hill and Ripcord in Vietnam, and has been in the thick of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich

Washington D.C. – Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), a leading Congressional voice calling for an immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq, yesterday released the following statement after media reports that a U.S. airstrike on two stolen fuel transport vehicles left as many as 90 dead, including 40 civilians and a ten-year old child:

“News reports covering today’s attack by the U.S. command southwest of Kunduz province show that the good intentions of NATO forces in Afghanistan are not sufficient. If we want to avoid killing innocent civilians, we must end the war,” said Kucinich

After two fuel tankers were reportedly stolen by Taliban insurgents, a U.S. airstrike was carried out that took the lives of an unknown number of innocent Afghans.

The innocent appear to have been in harm’s way because the Taliban encouraged them to siphon off the fuel in the trucks which were immobilized in mud. The free fuel would be a natural draw to the citizens, given the level of poverty in the area. Corruption plaguing Afghanistan has ensured very little aid gets to Afghans in need.

“The NATO command claims to have checked for civilian presence before authorizing the air strike. When deadly force is used at high altitudes at high speeds, there is an even greater moral responsibility to be absolutely certain that no civilians will become casualties of military action.

“There is little hope for a truly independent investigation because the Karzai Government is compromised and NATO forces are digging in for the long term based on the Administration’s policy. The war in Afghanistan is quickly developing into a tragedy of monumental proportions. It is time for the U.S. to end this war and bring our troops home.”

A Community Fair featuring local organizations that offer their services to soldiers and their families.

The Community Health Fair gave a people a quick medical checkup, and with the harsh sun and high temperatures the sound advice to keep hydrated.

The Army Aviation Heritage Foundations Sky Soldiers Cobra Demonstration Team

The Red Cross was another life safer cooling people down with their misting fans, and first aid station.

The Budweiser Clydesdales also stayed over after their recent visit to Clarksville to put in an appearance at the Air show.

The Kids Fair kept the younger attendees entertained with inflatables, face painting, duck pond, dance demonstrations and more.

A static display of ground vehicles used by the 101st.

The 101st had a static display of the vehicles which serve our soldiers well during their deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan including the life saving Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle (MRAP), the ubiquitous Hummer,  various helicopters (CH47 Chinook, UH60 Blackhawk, OV58 Kiowa Warrior…), along with several other vehicles.

There was also a collection of historical displays featuring aircraft many of them operated by the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation, including their Sky Soldiers Demonstration Team, along with model WWII and Vietnam camps.

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, so  I will let the image gallery tell you the rest of the story!

Photo Gallery

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Washington D.C.

“We are discussing a $636 billion appropriations bill which will fund the continuation of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Congress has been gripped for months by a debate surrounding health care reform, but we will only have a brief debate about spending $636 billion dollars and the wars that money will fund. That is not enough.

“We need to have a serious debate about the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan and the priorities of this nation. We need to discuss our options and we must immediately withdraw U.S. troops and contractors, not just combat troops, but all of our troops. It is time for this body to rethink the validity of funding military operations throughout the world when we have so many priorities that need to be addressed at home.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich

“Just today we saw a memo from Col. Timothy R. Reese, Chief, Baghdad Operations Command Advisory Team, who wrote, ‘Our combat troops are currently the victim of circular logic. We conduct operations to kill or capture violent extremists of all types to protect the Iraqi people and support the Government of Iraq. The violent extremists attack us because we are still here conducting military operations.’

“The U.S. military is unmatched. Since 2001, total U.S. defense spending has increased by nearly 80 Percent. Furthermore, we are spending more on defense than all of the other countries of the world combined. 56 percent of the entire discretionary budget for fiscal year 2010 will be used to fund the defense department.

“I do not believe that the priority this body continues to place on funding our the military industrial complex is consistent with the priorities and values of the American people. This bill includes over $600 billion in spending while only a small fraction is dedicated to non-proliferation activities. However, in December 2008 World Public Opinion found that 77 percent of Americans favor an international agreement for eliminating all nuclear weapons.

“This war has taken the lives of 4,330 of our brave and honorable troops. Over 1 million Iraqi civilians have been killed. The war in Afghanistan has taken the lives of another 753 of our beloved military service members. As the U.S. continues to ramp up operations in Afghanistan, these numbers, as well as injury numbers, will continue to grow.”

Nashville

Mrs. Sheehan will be speaking about the robbery of billions of dollars to bail out financial speculators who have wrecked the economy through their greed and neglect. A small number of very wealthy people and international corporations are reaping billions of public money being bailed out and  in their pursuit of war and occupation in the Middle East. Tennesseans are losing thousands of jobs because of this irresponsible and covetous behavior. Thousands of people are saying “No more bail outs to the people and corporations that are causing so much pain and death.”

An outspoken supporter for health care justice, Reverend Henry Blaze, widely recognized as a leader committed to social justice, the social gospel, and to the philosophy of non-violence, will also speak. His 26 years in the ministry have been dedicated to the pursuit of a “Genuine Community” that recognizes the humanity and equality of all people. Reverend Blaze has consistently worked to ensure that access to health care is a reality for all Tennesseans, regardless of income or social strata. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Justice Center, a nonprofit, public interest law and advocacy firm that gives priority to policy issues and civil cases affecting the poor and marginalized communities.

David Rovics is a dangerous man who tells the truth. We all know the truth is rare these days in our media.  He asks us to think about what we would do if we knew the truth about why things are happening around us that don’t make sense. What “If every time we went to war to fight our evil foes, they told you we were really fighting for the good of CEOs — If you could feel the hunger of the many and see the riches of the few — If they told it like it is — what if you knew? David loves the ideals of our country. He thinks that we would realize the words of our national song that says we are the “home of the brave, and the land of the free” if we had unfiltered information to be the free people who would have the moral strength to make good decisions. So he sings, “If you knew that the whole planet depend on what you do now –  would you take command with the speed our times allow?  If the pundits told the truth for just a week or two, and real life was shown on TV — What if you knew?”

Our times are so exciting! It really is up to us. We must not allow ourselves to be divided left or right. We are all concerned Americans who see that real change must be brought about. So, come and party with good folks from all walks of life to show the politicians, that there are so many of us, they must pay attention. And we will have a good time showing them.

For more information contact:

• Chris Lugo: 615-593-0304
• Eliz Barger: 931-964-2119

As we celebrate Memorial Day this year, I hope that Americans will remember that there is more to this day than hot dogs and hamburgers. I truly hope that they remember, that as they celebrate with their family and friends, that many soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines stand in harm’s way, miles away from their families and friends.

The freedoms we enjoy today, those very freedoms that are currently being tested, are ours because of these brave soliders, sailors, airmen and marines who willingly accept the possibility of an ultimate sacrifice to secure them for you and I. From our nation’s founding revolution to the current military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, whether you agree or not with the current engagements; the REASON that we have the opportunity to exercise our God-given right to speak out is due to those who have gone before.

I hope that everyone will take a moment to reflect on the true purpose of this day. Say a prayer for those families who have lost loved ones, and for our national heroes bearing the burden of the fight even as I type this. God Bless our soldiers and our great Nation!

The ceremony is being held at the gravesite of former battalion commander, Lt. Col. Kim Orlando, who was killed in action in Karbala, Iraq, on October 16, 2003.

Concurrently, the noncommissioned officers and Soldiers of the 716th will hold a ceremony at Fort Campbell’s Memorial Park at the Don F. Pratt Museum, honoring the Staff Sgt. Joseph P. Bellavia and Sgt. Sean R. Grilley, also killed in action with Orlando.

These are Iraqi troops surrendering by the thousand to U.S. forces during the first Gulf War in 1991.  These drafted Iraqi fighters chose to turn themselves over to Americans in droves because they knew they’d be treated better by U.S. troops than by their own government.  They had faith in us that we wouldn’t execute them, that we’d feed them and give them water, and that we’d provide them with shelter.  To them, facing capture was a much better option than either retreating back to the care of Saddam and his sadistic sons or of fighting to the death.

This worked out well, because it meant that we, as Americans, wouldn’t have to face a determined, cornered enemy that could’ve drawn out the war and inflicted unnecessary casualties on our side.  It was seen as a great victory.

(Warning: This article contains images which depict torture, and may be considered graphic)

Know what this is?

This is a shot of German troops surrendering to Americans during World War Two.  At the end of that war, German soldiers were so desperate to surrender to the Americans or the British that they actually fought to break out of areas on the Eastern Front just so they wouldn’t have to surrender to the Russians.  They knew that inhumane treatment, a long train ride to Siberia, and a likely miserable death awaited them if they didn’t make it.

This also worked out well for us, because it meant that we, as Americans, had a much easier time in Germany than the Russians did.  The Russians–battling men who were literally fighting for their lives during the push to Berlin–suffered 80,000 troops killed.  On the Western Front, however, U.S. forces never faced that level of resistance.

Once upon a time, America was known around the world for its powerful, benevolent nature when handling captured enemy fighters.  Even our adversaries knew they could hoist the white flag and expect to be treated humanely.  In turn, this made them more likely to give up sooner.  And it not only kept American soldiers out of countless bloody fights, but it made victory and success all that much easier for our troops.

For years, rank and file soldiers and insurgents around the world viewed surrender to the Americans as a reasonable option when finding themselves out gunned.

And then we went and did this:

Now, our opponents won’t feel secure in surrendering to U.S. forces.  In fact, I wouldn’t expect to see images like those of the surrendering soldiers above for decades.  It’s just not going to happen anymore.  If a hot war breaks out in Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, or anywhere else, we can expect to face an enemy that simply won’t accept surrender.  No Taliban fighter, no starving North Korean soldier in his right mind will surrender willingly if he thinks he’s going to be tortured or beaten to death.  Instead, he’ll prefer a fight to the death, even as he becomes cornered.  And this will get Americans killed.

This is what torture policies have wrought.  We no longer hold the moral high ground.  We borrowed against it in an effort to get a few false confessions from Khalid Sheikh Mohamed, Abu Zubaydah, and others.  And the next time we face an organized fighting force in the field, the cost of doing so will become readily apparent.

Not only does torture not work, but it directly endangers our troops fighting now.

* Also available at VetVoice, Used here with permission.

About Brandon Friedman

Brandon Friedman is a writer with extensive experience in both the military and politics.  He is the author of The War I Always Wanted: The Illusion of Glory and the Reality of War, and has served since 2007 as the Vice Chairman of VoteVets.org—a 100,000-member organization dedicated to getting veterans elected to public office.

Brandon served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan and Iraq.  In March 2002, he led a rifle platoon into Afghanistan’s Shah-e-Kot Valley in order to engage Taliban and al Qaeda fighters as part of Operation Anaconda—a battle later written about by award-winning journalist Sean Naylor in Not a Good Day to Die. A year later, Brandon commanded a heavy weapons platoon during the invasion of Iraq.  He led troops during combat operations in Hillah, Baghdad, and Tal Afar.  Brandon eventually left active duty in 2004 after having spent the latter portion of his Iraq tour as an executive officer managing troop movements, security issues, and logistics throughout northern Iraq as the insurgency intensified.  He was awarded two Bronze Stars for his service in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Brandon has been interviewed by ABC News, the Associated Press, McClatchy, Bloomberg, the Washington Times, the Dallas Morning News, the UK’s Press Association, Guardian, and Daily Telegraph, the Military Times, and other news organizations.  He has also appeared on ABC, CNN, MSNBC, and C-SPAN, as well as on numerous radio stations across the country.  Brandon’s writing has been featured on a wide range of new media outlets to include Military.com, the UK’s Guardian Unlimited, The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, and, most recently, as the Editor of VetVoice—a blog on politics and the military.

Brandon holds a BA in History from Louisiana State University in Shreveport and an MPA in Public Policy and Administration from the University of Texas at Dallas.  He is currently a Captain in the Individual Ready Reserve.

Despite heavy rains, the Nashville Peace Coalition held a planned Peace street  rally at Centennial Park in Nashville today, just days before the anniversary (March 19) of the Iraq War.

The Nashville Peace Coalition has called  for peace in Afghanistan and Iraq on the sixth anniversary of the occupation of Iraq; the street protest went on as planned but rain washed out plans for an accompanying concert and speaker program that was to have from noon to 4 p.m.

“Now is the Time for Peace” was intended as an appeal to President Obama and the Democratic House and Senate to withdraw all troops from Iraq including non-combat troops and reverse the recently announced troop surge in Afghanistan. 

In February, President Obama announced a troop surge of 17,000 troops to Afghanistan.  In response, the Peace Coalition organized legislative visits to Federal representatives in Nashville to urge them to press the current administration to withdraw combat troops from Afghanistan, citing no clear mission for the troops and the extreme costs of continued occupation during a time of economic crisis.

March 19th marks the actual anniversary of the beginning of the Iraqi War and although the Peace Coalition does acknowledge the announced withdrawal of 70,000 combat troops from Iraq under the current administration, they call for a complete withdrawal of all troops from Iraq including the 50,000 who will remain after the announced drawdown and a closing of all military bases in Iraq.

In addition the Peace Coalition calls for a withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan. The Nashville Peace Coalition is a project of the Nashville Peace and Justice Center. participating in this event were the Firebrand Community Center, Veterans for Peace, Vanderbilt Students for Nonviolence, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Cumberland Greens, Eric Schecter for Congress, Tennessee Alliance for Progress, Peace Roots Alliance, Clarksville’s Freethinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties, and the Nashville Greenlands.

Across the nation millions of people will be participating in peace rallies and demonstrations during the week of March 14th – 21st to mark the sixth anniversary of the occupation of Iraq.  On March 21st tens of thousands of peace activists will converge in Washington DC for a march on the Pentagon organized by national anti-war protest organizations including ANSWER and the Declaration of Peace.

In a release to the media on March 1st, ANSWER called for widespread demonstrations on the anniversary of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying that:

“The Iraq and Afghanistan war will drag on for years unless we act now. The cost in lives and resources is criminal regardless of whether the Democrats or Republicans are in charge of the government. The Pentagon has employed 200,000 foreign contractors (mercenaries) and 150,000 U.S. troops to maintain the occupation of Iraq. They have no right to be there. A few thousand are being brought out of Iraq only to be redeployed to occupy Afghanistan. The people of the United States want change. We are sick and tired of wars of aggression waged abroad under false slogans of “national security.” The occupation of Iraq alone costs $12 billion each month. This amounts to $400 million each day, $16.7 million per hour and $278,000 per minute.”

PHOTOS by Debbie Boen

The Nashville Peace Coalition is calling for peace in Afghanistan & Iraq on the sixth anniversary of the occupation of Iraq with a street protest and peace concert in Centennial Park on Saturday, March 14th beginning at Noon.  The theme of the event titled, “Now is the Time for Peace” is intended as an appeal to President Obama and the Democratic House and Senate to withdraw all troops from Iraq including non-combat troops and reverse the recently announced troop surge in Afghanistan. 

In February, President Obama announced a troop surge of 17,000 troops to Afghanistan.  In response, the Peace Coalition organized legislative visits to Federal representatives in Nashville to urge them to press the current administration to withdraw combat troops from Afghanistan, citing no clear mission for the troops and the extreme costs of continued occupation during a time of economic crisis. The street protest on March 14th will begin at noon on West End Avenue in front of Centennial Park and will feature street theater and the Code Pink dancers performing the “Yes We Can Can Get Out of Afghanistan” dance and protest.

In addition to the street protest, the Nashville Peace Coalition will also be organizing a peace concert with speakers and music to begin at 1pm on Saturday March 14th at the Centennial Park bandshell.  The peace concert, which is meant to commemorate the six year anniversary of the occupation of Iraq, will feature Sonnye Dixon of the Hobson United Methodist Church and NAACP of Nashville speaking on the theme of peace.  The concert and rally will also feature the Shelby Bottoms String Band, Mike Muldoon, Ross Falzone, Randall Venson and Ngawang Losell among other speakers and performers.  The event will finish with a performance from the Farm band Night Train from Summertown, Tennessee.

The emcee’s of the peace concert will be Bill Humble, a member of Veterans for Peace and 27 year veteran of the Navy who is calling for peace in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Elizabeth Barger, a community organizer for Peace Roots Alliance in Summertown, Tennessee and regional coordinator for CodePink Women for Peace.

March 19th marks the actual anniversary of the beginning of the Iraqi War and although the Peace Coalition does acknowledge the announced withdrawal of 70,000 combat troops from Iraq under the current administration, they call for a complete withdrawal of all troops from Iraq including the 50,000 who will remain after the announced drawdown and a closing of all military bases in Iraq.

In addition the Peace Coalition calls for a withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan. The Nashville Peace Coalition is a project of the Nashville Peace and Justice Center which will have a table at the event.  Also tabling at the event will be a group advocating peace in Palestine and an end to the occupation of that country, as well as members of the Firebrand Community Center, a local anarchist performance space and infoshop, and members of Veterans for Peace, Vanderbilt Students for Nonviolence, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Cumberland Greens, Eric Schecter for Congress, Tennessee Alliance for Progress, Peace Roots Alliance, Clarksville Freethinkers and the Nashville Greenlands.

Across the nation millions of people will be participating in peace rallies and demonstrations during the week of March 14th – 21st to mark the sixth anniversary of the occupation of Iraq.  On March 21st tens of thousands of peace activists will converge in Washington DC for a march on the Pentagon organized by national anti-war protest organizations including ANSWER and the Declaration of Peace.

In a release to the media on March 1st, ANSWER called for widespread demonstrations on the anniversary of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying that:

“The Iraq and Afghanistan war will drag on for years unless we act now. The cost in lives and resources is criminal regardless of whether the Democrats or Republicans are in charge of the government. The Pentagon has employed 200,000 foreign contractors (mercenaries) and 150,000 U.S. troops to maintain the occupation of Iraq. They have no right to be there. A few thousand are being brought out of Iraq only to be redeployed to occupy Afghanistan. The people of the United States want change. We are sick and tired of wars of aggression waged abroad under false slogans of “national security.” The occupation of Iraq alone costs $12 billion each month. This amounts to $400 million each day, $16.7 million per hour and $278,000 per minute.”

For more information please contact:

Chris Lugo 615-593-0304  or by e-mail at
Elizabeth Barger 931-964-2119  or by e-mail at

Ceremony time and units are as follows:

• Thursday, 2 p.m., Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 101s Sustainment Brigade; 326th Engineering Battalion; Human Resources Company, 101st Sust. Bde., and one soldier from 101st Division Special Troops Battalion, approximately 200 soldiers
• Tuesday, 7 a.m., Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 101st Sust. Bde., approximately 200 soldiers. HHC 101st SB has been on a 12-month deployment to Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom. 326th Engineering Battalion has been on a 15-month deployment to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 101st DSTB is on a 15-month deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Changes of command

Over the next several months various 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) brigade and subordinate units will be conducting changes of command.

The ceremonies scheduled for the remainder of February are as follows:

• Feb. 5, 10 a.m., 3rd BCT (Hangar 3),
• Feb. 9, 10 a.m., 1st Squadron, 32rd Cavalry Regiment, 1st BCT,
• Feb. 9, 2 p.m., 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st BCT,
• Feb. 10, 10 a.m.,1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion,
• Feb. 10, 2 p.m., 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st BCT,
• Feb. 11, 10 a.m., 426th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st BCT,
• Feb. 11, 2 p.m., 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st BCT,
• Feb. 12, 10 a.m., 1st BCT,
• Feb. 23, 10 a.m., 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade,
• Feb. 24, 10 a.m., 96th Aviation Support Battalion, 101st CAB,
• Feb. 25, 10 a.m., 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 101stCAB,
• Feb. 26, 10 a.m., 5th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st CAB,
• Feb. 27, 10 a.m., 101st CAB,

Changes of command will take place on the Division Parade Field, unless
otherwise specified.

On Tuesday, January 13th at six in the morning I boarded a Delta Airlines jet in Nashville bound for Savannah, Georgia.  Accompanying me on the plane were two employers of a local rock station in Nashville that caters to young adults, high school teachers from rural and mid sized school districts in Tennessee, and two recruiters for the U.S. Marines.  Our destination was Parris Island, South Carolina, which is the primary training ground for new recruits to the United States Marine Corps.

The Marines, which are a small branch of the US armed forces, receive about six percent of the Department of Defense annual budget and have two training facilities for newly enlistees.  I had been invited along a USMC Educator’s Workshop, which is essentially a marketing strategy designed to encouraged high school teachers to develop friendlier relations with Marine recruiters, and to encourage journalists write positive stories about the USMC.

I am a peace activist, and my training and education is in the business of ending war and promoting peace.  I am also a politician who has run for office twice as a candidate for U.S. Senate representing the Green Party of Tennessee.  If I had been elected to office, one of my first actions as Senator would have been to sponsor legislation to immediately withdraw all U.S. armed forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, to drastically reduce the scope of U.S. military spending and close our military bases overseas, so I didn’t fit easily into any category that the USMC had constructed for the three day program.  Still, as a former candidate and in the interest of good will and cooperation, I attended, because I believe that it is important to hear all sides in any conversation — and the USMC clearly has one side and they want to make sure that you understand exactly what that side is.

We flew into Atlanta early that morning with a two-hour layover.  I milled around the airport looking for a Starbucks and the smoking lounge.  I found a great restaurant serving eggs and grits. I ate while working on my laptop, smoking and drinking coffee.  My head was still wrapped up with the most current manifestation of the war on the Palestinian people. I was editing a video I had shot two nights before at the Islamic Center of Nashville in which Yassir Arafat had given a fairly direct presentation on the history of Palestine and the impact of Zionism as a political ideology on that community.  It was a forceful presentation that was unapologetically one-sided, documenting the history of abuse of the Palestinian people, the war of 1967, the demolition of houses and entire villages, the rounding up of civilians, the loss of citizenship, identity, imprisonment and the tedium of life under constant occupation. I looked at the clock and realized it was time to get on the transfer to Savannah.  The war in Gaza and twelve hundred dead Palestinians continued to occupy my thoughts as I glanced out the window of the airplane and caught a good view of Stone Mountain, Georgia — a granite monolith protruding from the relatively flat plains of Atlanta where a monumental Confederate memorial was originally planned to function as the Mount Rushmore of the South.

In the halls and terminals of the Atlanta airport there had been Marines and soldiers of various types in uniforms walking about everywhere, a clear reminder of current activity within the U.S. armed forces.  My initial reaction to men in camouflage and hiking boots walking around an airport is caution and intimidation, especially when confronted by literally hundreds of them, including some on the plane. We landed after a short thirty minute flight from Atlanta to a gray, overcast day with rain speckling the windows.  The first thing I noticed about Savannah was that it was green.  There were still leaves on some of the trees and Spanish moss.  I noticed a few palm trees and was wondering if they were real or the plastic kind you find at used car lots in New Mexico.  Arriving at the airport, unsure of what came next, I approached our Marine guide and asked him what was next.  He told us they had lunch available;  we were waiting for another plane to arrive and then we would all get on the bus to the hotel.

This was my first experience with military time, which I came to know well over the course of the next three days.  Military time does not operate on the same scale as civilian time.  Military time happens all at once, it is ordered and punctual, yet also seems to be chaotic and undeterminable.  Military time, as with military culture, appears to be somewhat pedantic and mindless, but this can be said of any large organization.  Being approached by the Marines was definitely a surprise, and I wondered what their motivation was for inviting me to tour their facility.  Surely they must have reviewed my campaign website or read some of the articles that I have published, but being a good journalist and good citizen I felt that it was my responsibility to attend this event and see what they have to say.

A Marine aboard an LAV-25 light armored vehicle holds onto the L7A2 machine gun mounted on the vehicle's turret while on patrol in the city. Marines are in Zakhu as part of Operation Provide Comfort, multinational effort to aid Kurdish refugees in southern Turkey and northern Iraq. Public domain photo.

It was my intention as an observer to try to be objective, in spite of my training as a peace activist.  I would say that the Marines really believe in what they say.  In the three days of touring their facilities I received endless lectures on how the Marines build character and turn boys into men.  They discussed the value of taking someone who might be a troublemaker or not have a sense of direction in life and present them with a sense of direction through their training.  I found their training methods to be highly questionable and their sense of character building to be tantamount to brainwashing and indoctrination.

The entire environment on the military base is girded by a constant sense of control, authoritarianism and violence.  Let me be as frank as I can here: the purpose of the Marines is to train men to become highly skilled killers.  There is no doubt about this.  Everything in their training is about working in a group with the purpose of killing when needed.  Stripped of ideology, this is the function of the military.

Click here to view the embedded video.

(Video (above) from Across the Universe, which revisits the Vietnam era issue of the military draft)

Whether this is good or bad, I think it is important to evaluate this experience objectively without ideology and without filters.  In my touring of the military base I constantly asked questions, and one of the primary questions I asked was whether the Marines who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan were accomplishing their objectives.  I asked them what their objectives were and did they believe that they had the support of the American people and their elected representatives.  How did they feel about the morality of their actions and did they believe that the people of Iraq and Afghanistan supported their objectives? Most of my questions were concerned with morality, ethics and intention.

What I received as a response over and over again was that my  questions were not appropriate.

I was often told that my question was above the pay grade of the officer I was talking to or that this was a decision for the people in Washington DC to make.

All I saw of Savannah was the airport.  I browsed the brochures of the travel center looking at the places I could go — Hilton Head, historic downtown Savannah, golf clubs, beachfront condos, fishing excursions and art galleries.  The last time I was in Savannah I was out marching in the streets with protesters surrounded by police protesting the meeting of the G8 at Sea Island, Georgia.  The landscape looked the same, especially the distinctive Spanish moss that hangs down from the trees everywhere and gives the area a look of antebellum charm even in the airport terminal.  While we were waiting for the other plane to arrive I sat down with a couple of teachers from a public school system in Mississippi.  They were happy to get a week off with pay and were very proud of the work that the Marines are doing at their schools.

The Educator’s Workshop is really more of a public relations effort than an effort at education.  During the course of the week-long event, journalists and teachers travel along with Marine officers on base and off base to learn what life is like for a new recruit to the Marines.  We sit with new recruits who are in the midst of their thirteen weeks of training.  Those of us who choose to can learn how to fire a military rifle, inspect an F-18 fighter jet, and go through the “yellowfeet” indoctrination process. This includes becoming part of a formation, learning how to march and follow the orders of a drill instructor.

Although I did not choose to actively participate in this element of the process, everyone was assigned a drill instructor.  We were broken up geographically into Tennessee and Alabama/Mississippi.  Over the course of the week everyone from Tennessee traveled around on the same bus with the same drill instructor who gave us lectures about his pride in the USMC and how it has changed his life and made him a better person.  We were given the ‘inside scoop’ on particular aspects of language, speech, dress code, social interaction and hierarchy within USMC culture.

Tennessee has about 100 Marine recruiters scattered across the state.  The function of these recruiters is to go to the high schools and foster relationships with students and encourage them to join the Marines by promising them money for college, world travel, service to their country and character building.  In Tennessee approximately 850 students are recruited into the Marines this way every year.  Since only about ten percent of all these students sign up voluntarily, then it is the job of the Marine recruiters to get the other ninety percent through various forms of persuasion.

The USMC has an active force of just over two hundred thousand.  This force is broken up into many functions, but the heart and soul of the Marine force is its Infantry, which accounts for about forty thousand of the total service members.  These are the people who fire the guns and are on the front lines of any action.  For the most part the Infantry is composed of recruits, although every officer in the Marines is in the Infantry, but their function is more to administer and coordinate the actions of the general forces.

At Parris Island about twenty-thousand recruits are turned out every year.  Once a young person has signed a contract with the Marines, they are committed to four years of general service and then four years of reserve duty during which time they may be called back up to service or not.  Every week the Marines graduate a new class of recruits, as Parris Island is a continuous training facility.  After thirteen weeks of training the new recruits are considered graduates and ready for the next step in their training.  Currently about seventy five percent of all new recruits will be shipped off to Iraq or Afghanistan within six months of graduation.

Our last plane of high school teachers arrived at the airport, and we got on a white diesel school bus and headed to our hotel.  On the way I chatted with a female Major who reminded me of a character on the television series ’MASH.’  In fact, most of what I saw on Parris Island the next three days reminded me of that television series.  It was all there — the tedium of military culture, the unending monotony and illogic of that environment.  On base there is a strong emphasis on attention to detail, appearance and function without any obvious purpose.  I was also reminded of the way in which the military strips people of individual identity but also of the interesting ways in which identity still manages to surface beyond the carefully constructed facade of group identity.  I chatted with the Major about politics.  I asked her about voting on the base during the recent elections and if people had put up Obama or McCain yard signs.  Obviously ignorant to anything about life on a military base, I was told that political signs were not permitted on the base.  In fact, no form of political speech or free speech really exists on Parris Island.

Military life does not appear to resemble civilian life in many aspects, but perhaps most of all in the area of individual freedoms.  What the military offers in exchange is group identity.  Everything in the military, and especially in the Marines is about group identity.  A Marine’s primary objective isn’t patriotism, humanitarian concerns or political ideology.  That might be true on some level for officers, but for your average Marine, their primary motivation is to protect the other people in their unit; this is what they fight for and how they have been conditioned by Parris Island.

In Stanley Kubrick's acclaimed film, Full Metal Jacket, Marine Gunnery Sergeant Hartman is played by R. Lee Ermey.

New recruits spend every waking hour of their training period marching together, firing guns, running obstacle courses, engaging in combat exercises and obeying whatever order is presented to them as a unit.  They are yelled at, humiliated, stripped of their identity, demoralized, intimidated and taught to unquestioningly obey orders.  The function of this violence and intimidation and loss of individual identity is to suppress any kind of individual instinct for self-reflection and moral judgment in a situation of crisis or conflict.

In order to train a soldier to kill unquestioningly there must be a suppression of the natural instinct to react with caution and compassion toward another human being.  The most important aspect of training an individual to kill is not technological but rather psychological and the Marines specialize in exactly this form of psychological conditioning.

As a journalist this is my perspective, but I would not be fair if I did not offer the perspective that is presented by the Marines.  The primary message presented at the Educator’s Workshop was that the Marines build character.  The Marines believe that what they are offering young recruits is character building and citizenship.   The Marines present themselves as model citizens who volunteer at the boy scouts and work as tutors in their community.  They are proud of their fellow Marines who have run for public office and are elected to high positions and are key players in all aspects of society.  Marines like to use the language of civic function and patriotism in their public relations efforts, and I have no doubt that most of them believe this message.

Human beings tend to believe information that corresponds with their worldview, and they construct language that reinforces that perspective.  As a journalist, I am trained to look below the surface and examine the issues that are not questioned.  I think that for me the real question is about the role of the military: how do we use it and what do we get in exchange.  Therefore, most of the questions I asked the Marines had to do with specific actions, such as the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.

National Geographic map

At Parris Island this is called the ‘war on terror.’  When I used the word occupation my language was always corrected, and when I asked the Marines about the ethics and morality of current service deployments, I was told that Marines simply follow orders.  I tried to explain to them that I understand the U.S. Congress and the President authorized the use of military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.  I understand that they are only following orders and they are not the ones who decided to go to war.  The reason I asked those questions is because I was curious.  I wonder if a specially trained force of mostly young men who spend every waking hour thinking about, preparing for and training for war will not have an instinctive, cathartic, romantic response to the possibility of war, let alone to its realization?

While at Parris Island I heard many stories of glory in Vietnam, of fallen heroes and great battles.  The romantic language of war and battle which is the standard fare of military culture was presented as ‘warrior culture.’  New recruits were ’forged’ in the ‘crucible’ and transformed into men, warriors, citizens and servants of their country.  This is presented as the mythology of Marine culture.  It is one of the many aspects of patriotism that exists both examined and unexamined in civilian life.  My questions elicited a fairly common response that the Marines are defending my freedom.  I was told that I would not even have the ability to walk around on a military base asking questions unless they were wiling to die for my freedom.  It is this very set of assumptions that interests me, because it is my impression that the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq has not increased my personal freedom or secured it.  In fact my own bias is that the military actions in these countries has generally lessened my security.

What I wanted to know, while I was on base, was whether an individual Marine who had served three tours of duty in Iraq ever wondered if they were in violation of international law.  I wondered if anyone who had been in the battle of Fallujah imagined how they would feel if someone invaded their country, if perhaps they might not just fight back.  I wondered if they ever thought about their use of the word ‘enemy’ and the word ‘insurgent.’  I wondered if the Marine I had just spoken to had perhaps operated one of the prisons where more than forty thousand Iraqi men had been detained, questioned and tortured.  I wondered about if they had any idea what they were doing in Iraq, or if they ever wondered about it. I wondered if they felt in any sense responsible for creating the conditions for a bloody civil war in which more than eight hundred thousand people have died.  I tried to ask as many people as I could whether or not they think their terms of service helped or hurt the people of Iraq, whether they think life in Iraq will be better in the near future.

Educators watch "Tower" training. Public domain photo.

My questions, which were never clearly answered by the Marines I talked to, were basically about one idea — whether those who are often times the face of the United States to the rest of the world, have any opinion about what they are doing.  This is essentially the contradiction I was there to explore.  It is my own curiosity that leads me to another question: what if the members of our armed forces had a choice on where to serve and how to serve?  What would this do to the foreign policy objectives of our culture?  I wonder about this.  It would seem to be a complete breakdown of the authoritarian aspect of military culture to even consider a question like this.

The Marines present themselves as heroes and the mythology of heroism is ingrained into political, economic and social culture in the United States.  Heroism in Marine culture means unquestioning obedience to the President and to the people of the United States as represented through their elected leaders and the choices they make.  This is the reinforcing social mechanism that pushes collective action on a national level. On the smaller basis of Marine units clearly the mechanism is group psychology and group bonding.  The Marines fight for each other more than anything else.

So my question to the Marines is about the issue of collective action and individuality.  If it is in the interest of the Marines to serve the collective interests of the United States of America, then what if a Marine was given a choice about how to serve their country, rather than trained to resist asking individual questions.  The nature of patriarchal culture and group identity seems to necessitate the repression of the individual moral choice, but it is my contention that this is exactly where the critical element of decision and individual freedom must be investigated.  The freedom to train men to kill and then actually to put them to work killing is a decision our society seems to accept as a function of nationalism, but how that function is played out, I think, is largely unexamined.

I wonder how it would be if men were allowed to decide where to serve and how to serve. I wonder if the moral authority and function of war would dramatically change under those circumstances.  My own personal belief is that if men and the few women who serve were allowed and even encouraged to not just be soldiers but also to be moral agents and then given that freedom then we would see a dramatic transformation of the function of military culture.  This was really my course of investigation and questioning once I arrived at Parris Island and toured.  It had not been my course of inquiry before I arrived.  I had tried to come with an open mind, but the overtly militaristic and authoritarian nature of life on a Marine base moved me in that direction of thinking, especially after asking a few questions and being told they weren’t relevant.

Educating teachers, coaches, counselors on Marine Corps careers

Most of the people on our workshop training session were teachers.  There were a total of ninety-five people traveling with the Marines during our three-day session.  This included eighty-eight teachers and seven journalists.  The journalists were from Chattanooga, Morristown, Nashville, and Meridian Mississippi.  I was told that most of the press had turned down the offer to attend the workshop or not responded. I was also told that the Marines were interested in inviting people who had diverse opinions or information about the Marines, especially journalists, with the intention of educating them about life on a Marine base.

I personally did not have any particular opinion about the Marines, one way or another.  To me they are, and still remain, lumped into the general category of military, but over time I did actually remember some generally negative reports about the Marines in the press in recent history.  I remembered the situation in Okinawa, Japan which has led to the closing of that military base, in part due to the repeated rapes of Japanese women at the hands of Marines off base which has infuriated that community and turned it against a US military presence there.

The days passed rather uneventfully at the Educator’s Workshop.  Every morning we got up at five and had breakfast at the hotel, then the teachers lined up outside in their formations. A Drill Sergeant ordered them to march or do particular activities such as turn left or turn right and then they got on the bus.  I personally had no interest in these activities and did not participate in most of it.  I had been under the impression that I was there to observe, but for the Marines their workshop is really intended as a kind of “imagine if you were a recruit” experience.

The main function of the workshop is to impress upon the teachers what life is like for a Marine so that when recruiters come back to their high schools to recruit more students, they will have a first hand experience and will be more likely to speak positively about the Marines and think about them when giving advice to high school students.  That is the purpose of the workshop, but to me it felt like a timeshare presentation that went on for three days, where we are constantly being sold the product of the Marines.

Apparently trying to impress us, one day the drill instructor told us that the Marines are like sheepdogs.  He said that the people who are not in the military are the sheep and the enemies of the people are the wolves and the Marines are the sheepdogs that protect the sheep.  In another instance we were brought into an airplane hanger and shown the holy grail of the Marines, the airplanes

Entering onto the airbase seems to be the equivalent of going to the Western Wall or entering the Dome on the Rock.  Everyone on the bus was beaming with patriotism and clean cut Marines were everywhere to greet us and show us their machinery.  We were brought into a lecture room and presented with service members who proudly told us how much money each one of them was receiving for re-enlisting.

I honestly don’t know why the Marines invited me.  They didn’t like most of my questions. When I was on the airbase part of Parris Island I asked the Marines if they believed their airplanes were being used responsibly and ethically in Iraq and Afghanistan and did they ever think about what it felt like to be on the other end of one of their machines.  I asked them about the ethics of using weapons against people who don’t have a similar technology to defend themselves.

Visit, view, but don’t ask the hard questions…

Apparently I didn’t understand the function of this experience when I agreed to go.  I was imagining that they actually wanted me to ask questions and think about what I was seeing, but in reality this was simply a public relations effort on the part of the Marines to get high school teachers, guidance counselors, principals and administrators to let Marine recruiters onto their campus.

If they are already on the campus, then this is simply their way of rewarding the teachers, by giving them a taxpayer funded trip with all expenses paid.  As for the other journalists on the delegation, they didn’t ask many questions of substance, at least not at the question and answer sessions I attended.  Apparently they got it also. 

“The point of  workshop is to get participants to think more like the Marines do, which means don’t ask questions, follow orders, get along, do as the group does, and keep your personal feelings to yourself on any subject, but always be professional and put on a good face. “

U.S. Military: A $700 Billion dollar business
I have seen America’s public image go down the tubes, but really times couldn’t be better for the military.  They are currently receiving over $700 billion dollars a year in taxpayer funding.  In a time of hard economic choices one of the questions I asked was did they feel like it was necessary to spend so much money on the military when students around the country are facing tuition increases of as much as two hundred percent and public school mandates go without funding.  I asked this in front of both the military and educators gathered at a question and answer session and was told once again that my question was not relevant.

The Marines have a complex relationship with the public.  On television they are portrayed as America’s finest fighting force.  In the Middle East they are seen as an occupying foreign power.  In the U.S. South they are seen as a way out of poverty and racism.  Family members who have a loved one in the Marines are proud beyond approach, but I have also spoken with women who have told me that the Marines have the worst reputation among the service members for domestic violence and alcohol abuse, during and after their terms of service.

This report is not intended as an indictment of Marine culture.  The Marines are clearly what they are, and as long as we continue to give them money they will continue to be what they will be.  What interests me as a journalist is not so much their own attitude toward themselves or toward their terms of service, but rather the construction of that identity.

As a former political candidate, clearly I am not a friend of the Marines.  I will certainly support the right of veterans to receive the benefits they are entitled to, but beyond that my goals as a political candidate have clearly been in scaling down military funding, closing US bases overseas and reducing the scope of the American military.  I do not think we can afford to continue spending so much money on our military culture and I do not think the world can afford our continued expenditures.  We have military bases or personnel in over one hundred and twenty nations and the debt we have accumulated as a result of military spending eclipses our GDP and accounts for a significant portion of the national deficit.

We are not in good standing around the world and are clearly seen as one of the major contributors to global instability and insecurity, and it is these very service personnel who we are sending into harms way in countries we shouldn’t be in who are seen as the living, breathing expression of US foreign policy.

Marine culture is wrapped up in mythology, but the reality of life on a military base is mostly boredom and tedium punctuated with exceptional moments of violent expression.  The point of boot camp is to wear people out, run them down and break their spirits.   This is how ordinary human beings are turned into trained killers.  The point of all of this training above all else is to be a skilled killer.  Whether it is killing by dropping bombs or shooting machine guns or rocket launchers or killing with your bare hands, the point of the military is to train someone to kill when ordered to do so and at the same time to avoid being killed.  This is the entire point of the training. As an outsider, the military to me looks like another cult.  There is a clearly defined hierarchy and the individual is instructed and trained to give up all of their freedoms, but most especially their independent judgment in exchange for the group mind.

From their perspective I don’t think that the military generally sees it that way, and I don’t think the Marines I spoke to saw their life that way.  They would say that they are doing a job, they are serving their country, they are protecting our freedom and they are making America strong.  They view their training camp as character building and feel a special brotherhood having served as Marines.  They take pride in maintaining the appearance of professionalism, military courtesy and respect for authority, pride in citizenship and service to country.

They are weak on the issue of integrating women into their culture and terrible in terms of integrating gays and lesbians service into their culture.  Every time I asked a question about gay and lesbian issues I always received some variation of the same answer.  No one engaged in homophobic dialogue but they did avoid any real consideration of the issue in almost every way.  To their credit, the military is good on issues of race, even better than the southern Alabama educators I traveled with, who were hopelessly divided on issues of race and seemingly unable to see the problems that racially segregated school districts creates in terms of quality education.

The military was also good on issues of class.  Clearly most people who join the military continue to see the Marines as a good choice for moving out of a working class or lower class background into a middle class and more highly educated level of society.  There is no doubt that the military offers this and uses it as a strong selling point when talking to potential new recruits.

“… my questions constantly refuted or gone unanswered…”

After three days of traveling around on buses going from one place to another, having my questions constantly refuted or gone unanswered, waking up at five every day and experiencing the incredibly boring monotony of life on a military base I was ready to go home.  The Marines did not like me and the teachers did not like me either.  When I arrived I was generally curious and open minded about the experience, but I think I lost interest after about the second day.  I was tired of having a Marine shadow me everywhere I went to keep me occupied.  I understand that they were actually trying to have someone around to answer my questions, but it was also clear that I was cutting into some of their public relations activities and I hadn’t understood what the purpose was of this workshop and what my role was as a journalist.

I was expecting to be able to freely travel around a military base and observe aspects of Marine culture and ask lots of questions.  Instead I was presented with a group of high school teachers who were given quasi-military outfits and taught how to fire guns.

My impression is that the Marines are a cult and their function is to train men to kill.  I do agree with them that it is the responsibility of the elected representatives to determine how the military is utilized, but I think it is really a two-way street.  As the military culture has grown in terms of funding and institutional support, at a certain point I think it becomes a policy objective in its own right within the halls of power in Washington D.C., regardless of foreign policy objectives.

Ultimately it is our responsibility to decide how to use the resources we have.  If we decide that the best option for poor people in the rural South is to send them into the military because we have not adequately funded our school systems, then this will continue to be the result.  If we don’t examine where our tax dollars go and the relationships that defense contractors have with our elected representatives, then we will always continue to experience the same process.  Our military is always ready to go to war, they are ready to fight and if need be to die for each other.  I just wonder if we are ready for that responsibility, ever.

Editor’s Note: If you were interested in this article you will likely be interested in a previous article published on Clarksville Online. ASVAB: Backdoor military recruitment in the guise of “career testing”

Jessica Emerson

Author Jessica Emerson  is the winner of the “Most Heroic” Kiwanis “Interview a Veteran” essay contest. We are pleased to present her essay.

Randy Allen Emerson was born on March 8, 1965 in Barre, Vermont, and entered the U.S. Army on March 7, 1984.  He spent his first two years stationed in Illesheim, Germany, and then was transferred to the 101st Airborne Division at Ft. Campbell, KY with the 3/327 Infantry unit.

One of his most prized accomplishments was becoming a “Ranger”.  He was Department of the Army selected for recruiting duty where he served in Monroe, Michigan, for three years.  He then attended the Special Forces selection course at Ft. Bragg, NC, and then onto completing the qualification (Q) course where he became a Green Beret Engineer.  He was destined to be part of the Middle East conflicts as he had become fluent in modern Arabic, and also Persian Farcy languages.  Ft. Campbell is designated to the Middle East, so he was then transferred back to Kentucky. Sgt. Emerson began his SF career with the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) on a Special Operations Team (SOT – 586) which is what he refers to as “blowing up stuff” and “kicking in doors to clear buildings”.  Being an adrenaline junky, he said that it was a “rush” building up to the “hit”.  He went onto become the Team Leader of 586, and then transferred to a Mountain Climbing Team.  Only then did he question his sanity when he was hanging over a 14,000 foot mountain with only a rope underneath him.  At this time he had been a soldier for seventeen years and did not think he would ever see “action”.  An infantry soldier always thinks about whether he will have what it takes if the time comes.

On 9/11, he was serving on the Bravo Team (support) and was one of the first teams to touch down in Uzbekistan and then into Afghanistan.  Sgt. Emerson described his worst experience while at the Battle of Qala I Jangi.  The Taliban had taken over an old British fort near the town of Mazar-e-Sharif.  During the takeover, a CIA agent, Mike Spann, was killed and laid in a courtyard for three days during the battle before his body could be recovered.  A-teams were positioned on top of the fort while the Taliban escaped running through the fields surrounding the fort.  Air strikes were called in to drop jdamms (smart bombs), but the Air Force misinterpreted their coordinates. The bombs hit the fort where the A-Teams were located wounding six of his fellow soldier’s.  Sgt. Emerson’s B-team drove to the fort in pick-up trucks to help evacuate the wounded via helicopters, and recover Mike Spann’s body.  One of the soldier’s Sgt. Emerson carried out on his back was Major Syverson, who after recovering at Walter Reed deployed into Iraq and was killed by an enemy rocket in Balad.

Once the wounded was evacuated, Sgt. Emerson’s team continued the fight for two more days directing fire from special ops aviation air platforms.  All the Taliban were killed except for 80 who were then taken as prisoners. The American Taliban, John Walker, Jr., hid three stories under the fort, captured during this conflict, and returned to the United States to be tried for treason. While investigating the fort after the fight, Sgt. Emerson’s team found several outbuildings were completely filled (floor to ceiling) with ammunitions. He realized then how blessed he and his team were to come out of this conflict alive.

Sgt. Emerson remembers many great military experiences including traveling to foreign countries, scuba diving, mountain climbing, and blowing stuff up.  But, it wasn’t until after the fight at Mazar-e-Sharif that he knew it was one of the best experiences that he would ever know.  The people in Afghanistan were prisoners in their own homes.  It wasn’t until the Taliban had been killed and captured, that the people came out of their homes and “took to the streets”.  There was music blasting through the town, the children were dancing and playing, and the women were not wearing burka’s.  The people were grateful that the United States was there, and Sgt. Emerson was proud that he could be part of giving them the freedom (at least temporarily) that they deserved.

After two tours in Iraq, he retired after twenty-one years of service ending on April 1, 2005 with numerous awards including the Bronze Star with Valor earned while evacuating his wounded “brothers”.  Sgt. Emerson retired with the rank of Master Sergeant.

Sgt. Emerson left for Afghanistan when I was 9 years old.  I am now soon to be eighteen and it makes me proud that my father served our country with honor.  He continues to return to Iraq to help our soldiers from a civilian standpoint, but still is serving our country today and forever.  God Bless America.

The 1st, 2nd and 3rd BCTs have been on a 15-month deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 101st CAB has been on a 12-month deployment to Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom.

FreeThinker founder Debbie Boen created this striking Obama signs for the Nov. 4 election.

As I was driving to the Icehouse café on Tuesday night, NPR (National Public Radio) said something about declaring Obama and I didn’t get what had happened.  I walked into the cafe and everyone was watching the big screen TV.  There was a screaming crowd on the TV set.  The scream of happiness from the TV crowd of thousands didn’t stop and seemed to shake the earth.  I swear I could feel the vibration of it come from the earth into my body.  Miranda Herrick ran up to me and said, “Did you hear what just happened?  Obama is declared a winner!  Why are we NOT screaming?  Why are we NOT screaming?”  and with that we both started screaming and again and again.

Hugs.  Screaming.  Jumping up and down.  Tears.  Stacy Smith Segovia took a picture of me being excited.  I realized that this was personal history:  me feeling truly excited.

Gikuyu and I talked.  I forgot how to feel exhilaration, I said.  It’s so unfamiliar.  Brandt Hardin sat down with tears in his eyes.  Each of them had a respect for me and the work I had been doing for several years.  Miranda had given me the place to hold the first meeting of the Freethinkers (for peace and civil liberties).  Gikuyu and Brandt put together the Tour of Wurdz and used it to give people their voices of dissent.  Brandt’s political art show Tuesday night at the Icehouse was made on the pages of the tiny Bill of Rights that I had given him.  (do go see it!)

Last night seemed like a first time I had dared to feel.  For the last four to six years my life has been riding on a horrible dread that I had to push down in order to function.  The happiness I felt had been forced.  I hadn’t been all the way HERE.  Finding humor had to be rediscovered.  Finding the good in things had become a destiny for personal health and for the health of the community.  Being a part of Clarksville Online had become a most valuable and commendable asset to our community in that line.

Maybe instead of getting all worked up, I should have chosen to be “dumb and happy,” as my father-in-law likes to say.  But when those planes flew into the towers my husband and I thought, “Oh no.  What is he (Bush) going to use this to do?”

When my daughter got married, I was happy for her but secretly hoping that she would not bring children into this future.  When we celebrated holidays, it was a forced happiness for me.  I can’t say everything was phony because some of my richest experiences were about the dissention we were able to cause and the celebrations we had despite oppression.  I’m going to say that the bad things this country has been doing is yet to be exposed.  The stuff we already know is nothing compared to what is hidden.  We were lucky to have had the torture and such exposed.  It always interests me how bad it had gotten and how many still did nothing and how many still supported it.  How low does it have to get to really shock some into action?

Candlelight Vigil at the Eternal Flame

Knowledge is power although we each had to struggle with our own feelings of dread related to it and how much action we could take in the face of that dread.  Most of us are bound to not go down being stupid.  The events the Freethinkers did run, vigils and protests, had a double purpose of dissension and also of moving our bodies.  Taking one step, one honk, one appearance to a function that puts motion into the body again.  Move.  Despite.  Opposition.  We made ourselves find a forced feeling of safety when we felt threatened to shut up.  It was too much like the Nazi’s and I think you know that.  Having our neighbors threaten us.  Having our neighbors dehumanize us for disagreeing.  Having no media.

Our country had taken a wrong path at the crossroads.  Like someone who chooses crime as a path, if you go down the wrong path too long it can become impossible to turn back.  You get caught, get thrown in jail.  Your bad record gets created and the hole gets deeper and harder to climb out of.  This wrong path could have been continued but instead we, as a country, chose to turn around and go back.  Go back to the crossroads and chose a different path.  A path of decency instead of war and bullying.  Maybe it was necessary to experience the wrong path for awhile.  How many thousands died because of it.  It was a scary wrong path.  Like the other wrong paths we try not to think about:  the genocides of Native Americans, of women during the witch trials, the Jews, the Crusades and so many more.

So thanks to America for not being happy in lower states of fear and bullyness.  You demand better.  Several of the folks who got the tally at different Clarksville voting precincts found that Obama lost to McCain by only a few votes.  I’m sure he did really well in Nashville.  That is success!

Last night I was very happy to be with others who saw Michael Moore in Nashville just before the election of 2004.  We’ve all had this core feeling of dissent since that event.  The Michael Moore fireball really woke me up to what action is possible.  After the election of 2004 several of us put together the Clarksville Freethinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties.  I gave workshops on understanding apathy and moving through the emotions up to positive anger.  I bought mini Bill of Rights books to hand out.  Mary Alice and I started a newsletter.  We held meetings at the library.  Held weekly vigils in public square about the war for a year.  Joined in MoveOn efforts.  Several people wrote letters to the editor of the Leaf (Chronicle).  Joined Gathering to Save our Democracy in their attempts to get verifiable elections in Tenn.  Went to Democrat meetings.  Went to war protests in Nashville. Went to civil rights meetings.  Made signs.  Made art.  Sat at the parks with statistics of the war signs.  Turned our backs on the Bush motorcade when it passed through Kentucky.  Did this when the Democrat Party and most of the country acted frozen.

Some of the many others who inspired me were:

• My grandfather and the one time I heard him tell a friend how Hitler destroyed his opposition.  Grandpa loved this country more than anyone I know and he showed me that I still had the power and necessity to do something now, before it’s too late.
  

  Boen lights a candle at the Eternal Flame

• Bernie Ellis and Gathering to Save our Democracy for speaking the truth and doing something about election fraud.  By the next major election, Tennessee will have verifiable voting machines.
• Cindy Sheehan, a warrior just like us, who was determined to bring Bush down and did it when she broke through the main stream media wall.
• Chris Lugo who put together and reported on peaceful dissention to the war.
• Christine Pieysk who turned a breeze into a flurry of powerful action and words.
• Bill Larson who created ClarksvilleOnLine; what a gift to our city and to our voices!
• Civil Liberty leaders Terry and Wanda McMoore.
• Turner McCullough.  David Shelton.  Blayne Clement and Kim.  Tom Payne.  Beth and Faith Robinson.  Jill Eichhorn.
• Sarah of Boulder.  David Boen.  Randall Boen.  Alma Sanford.  Miyo and Jordi Kachi.  Nancy and Daren.  Gerry Gilman (go, go, go!).  Deborah Bowles.  Kitty.  Beverly.  Barry, Ted and Hannah Kitterman.  Tracy Diven.  Leslie Pierce. Gregg Schlanger (creator of the Eternal Flame monument, “Pillar of Clouds, Pillar of Fire”).
• MoveOn.org who united this country.
• The web which did the real reporting. So many others!

Others who inspired life:  Annette Cunningham, UU Clarksville, APSU, ARTZ and Gabriele and Bob Wardeiner, Tom Thayer and John McDonald of the Roxy Regional Theatre, Downtown Artist’s Co-op, NYC, Silke’s, The Looking Glass, Tandoor, Suva and Jack Bastin.

I feel like I have awoke from a nightmare.  Am I all the way awake yet?  Will I remember just how bad it got?  Will I learn?

Before the next step I feel the need to really, really celebrate.

This is not an ending but a (difficult) climbing out of the hole and creating a new beginning.  Time to put on a different pair of shoes.

Again I thank Clarksville Online for being 3 steps ahead in that game.

Thanks to you for being on (this mailing list).  In connection there is definite power.