Debra Sweet | June 22, 2022
In May and June, the school year winds down in high schools and colleges and We Are Not Your Solidiers made our final visits for the spring semester. Lyle Rubin addressed a NYC college ethics class. Rosa del Duca spent a full day with classes at a large NYC high school, our third visit and third speaker to present to those classes this semester. Rosa had been in the National Guard and told of her struggle to get out as a conscientious objector. One student sent her a note later saying, “I read your book and found it fascinating. Everything you said was very informative, especially for someone looking to join the National Guard.” We finished with John Burns speaking to a class of recent immigrants in a Washington state high school.
For the second time, we were invited to be interviewed on Memorial Day on the “Through the Looking Glass” show on the Roxbury NY radio/on-line station WIOX. Dennison Joyce, the host of the show, knew us from when he was a NYC high school teacher and had We Are Not Your Soldiers visit his classes over a few years. Listen to the interview of Joe Urgo (a repeat guest on the show) and John Burns (who had presented to Dennison’s classes several times).
When asked what Memorial Day means to them, Joe answered, “There are wars going on right now where Americans have no idea what the U.S. military is actually doing… all over the world. Memorial Day is a day when we have to go up against the propaganda and lies about what the history of this country is all about.” John pointed out, “It’s a somber reminder of friends that I’ve lost. It’s usually a hard day for me… I’m 36 years old and I’ve never known a day without war. That’s what Memorial Day means to me.”
