The special match for We Are Not Your Soldiers is still on — as of today, contributions up to $400 will be doubled! Help us reach our goal (we only need $4000 more) so that we can go full steam ahead this fall, in this fraught time, reaching more students than ever with deep thoughtful discussion.
We Are Not Your Soldiers May presentations concluded our spring semester of 2025 with visits to four schools, all in NYC and all public institutions of education, speaking with a total of 11 classes.
In this video clip from Lyle Rubin’s May talk, he speaks about how dehumanization is drilled during Marine boot camp.
Among the comments we received from students on the evaluation forms were these two:
- I liked that Lyle was very relatable and gave real life experiences that spoke of his time in the military. I was very aware of what Lyle was talking about. I served in the Navy for over four years and resonated with the events he spoke about.
- I liked how raw the information was; it felt different receiving a first-person account in contrast to reading an article about it or watching a movie.
You can read a transcript of excerpts from the presentation of Miguel Gabriel Vazquez in “My Mexican Heart.” Here are statements on two of the thank you notes received from the high school students:
- Thank you for not being afraid of being vulnerable when talking about such traumatic experiences in order to truly educate us on morality.
- Thank you for showing us what we aren’t told. It was very eye-opening for us