Last night we ate at Madeleine’s on the Commons with a group of Amina and David’s friends, including a guy who’s a veteran of the war in Afghanistan and a member of IVAW, Iraq Veterans Against The War. He’s involved in the planning for their March 2008 event, Winter Soldier, where a group of veterans will testify in Washington about the war crimes in Iraq.
We talked about this, and also about his training (he was part of an airborne unit) which involved, among other things, training to jump out of a plane with other medics, find a Humvee loaded with medical supplies (which had also been dropped out of a plane) turn it upright, and drive it around looking for injuries sustained by other soldiers who ALSO jumped out of planes.
I asked him why soldiers jump out of planes, which is something I’ve never completely understood. His answer was that if you can land a force from any point in a country, defense no longer becomes about defending borders, but about defending every square inch of territory – forcing nations to spread out their armed forces in their own defense.
Practically speaking, he thinks this technique doesn’t work very well, and never has in practice – you land and are usually separated from your unit, confused, and often injured, and its successful results during WWII had more to do with the Germans being overwhelmed by the surprise of it – but that the continued existence of airborne units is a really strong recruiting pull for the Army. People like the myth and the bravado of jumping out of planes.
(He didn’t actually jump out of planes in the war in Afghanistan, only in training.)
We talked about how we could help out Winter Soldier, and he said that a big part of it was just getting the word out and helping to publicize their efforts. In that spirit, here’s the statement from their website:
In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine’s famous admonishing of the “summer soldier” who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming “a few bad apples” instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation’s capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars.
Here’s the statement of support for Winter Soldier, and more on how to get involved.
Dara Weinberg 