We Are Not Your Soldiers presenter Joy Damiani reflects here on a day spent visiting four classes in a NYC high school in April. That was the first school visit of four for that month. We’ll soon be following this email up with a report on and videos of other visits last month.
“How do veterans become homeless?” is a question that should not have to be asked in a healthy society. When addressed to me by a teenager in a school in the heart of Manhattan, it spoke volumes of the world students are about to inherit. Not only are they witnessing and experiencing horrors in every direction, but they’ve got frighteningly little information about what the future is going to hold for them, and even less about the military.
They don’t know that even if you “volunteer,” the military is a job one does not simply quit – hearing that caused one student to turn to the teacher and tell him they’d decided against enlisting. They don’t know that military members are government property, or that every first enlistment contract is an eight-year contract. A couple of students asked about the possibility of a draft – which could affect nearly all of them – as they had no idea what to expect. Many had questions about the average day in the life of a soldier, or my “best” and “worst” experiences on active duty. Most of the students were actively engaged in the discussion and had more questions than there was time to answer. It clearly demonstrated for me the gravity of this work, and the deep need for it in our communities.
Having been part of the military’s propaganda machine, I know how thoroughly enmeshed it is in every aspect of our society. Since I got out of the Army in 2008, I’ve watched it become more sophisticated, more convincing, and harder than ever to counteract. I’m so grateful for everyone taking the time to help educate these kids and give them a chance to walk into the future with their eyes wide open.
These are some of the comments received on our evaluation forms following this school visit.
- I liked how raw and real she was. I was aware of some of the things said. My views did change in terms of how morally right/wrong the things that are done in the military.
- Really nice to keep it light hearted. The session was informative.
- I like how she was honest.
- They did a great job.
Help fund this all volunteer mission of telling students the truth about deployment in the U.S. military: