This blog has been bouncing around in my head for two weeks. (This has taken me 3 months to post) The Winter Soldier event finally happened at at The University of Massachusetts at Amherst on Oct 1. This event was conceived and carried out by the local chapter of Iraq Vets Against the War IVAW. I became involved through a friend who was a member of Vets for Peace.
The term ‘Winter Soldier’ is a spin on the opening of a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1776: “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.”
The original Winter Soldier event was held Jan. of 1971 in Detroit. For three days Viet Nam vets testified about the war crimes they committed or saw committed. The press did not cover the event, but a film was made and a transcript was entered into the Congressional Record, which led to Senate hearings on the war.
The IVAW Winter Soldier was held in the Student Union and about 100 people attended, mainly students. Four different Iraq area vets gave testimony about their military experiences in and out of Iraq. One of the themes that emerged for me was that most of the vets had “a job” to do. When I talk about my experiences in Viet Nam I explain that I worked the swing shift from 3 pm to midnight, six days a week. The idea that as a soldier they had a job to do was a constant theme. I realized that doing your job will not be enough to win a war of occupation. The occupied are fighting for their lives, families, and country. Soldiers who are “dong their job” can not win.
After the testimony by four Iraq War vets a group was lead by a group of Buddhist monks to a mock grave yard.
The grave yard listed the names of American soldiers and Iraqi children killed in the war. Chanting and silent prayer helped us focus on the sorrow of the war.
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