A thought from Debra Sweet:
In the fall of 1969, I crammed into a room with other students to hear an anti-war journalist speak about Vietnam. I had already protested to stop that war, and I “knew” it was bad. But hearing someone who had been in Vietnam covering the Tet Offensive was decisive in making me a firm opponent of that war and many other U.S. wars since.
Do people change their views by talking with others? Does it do any good to tell war stories?
Only if you’re telling truth in a time when lies are the currency. After speaking in hundreds of schools, to many thousands of students over 16 years, we have evidence that we affect how they see the U.S. military.
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Last month, We Are Not Your Soldiers presented in many classes and groups of students at a middle school, high schools and colleges in NYC, colleges in other states, and grad students in France. We’re sharing some responses of teachers and students with you:
From a professor at a community college in NYC where Joe Urgo and Shaniyat Turani-Chowdhury spoke with three classes:
“Thank you to We Are Not Your Soldiers. It was such a privilege to have you, Joe and Shaniyat come to our school this semester. I know the students got a lot out of the experience. For some, I expect it will be one of the most meaningful moments of their semester.
Joe, I know that a lot of my students really appreciated your frank storytelling about your time in the military, and your critical discussion of the actual motivations behind so many of the U.S. military interventions of the past 50 years. We all valued your direct style and your insistence that we consider the moral questions underlying U.S. wars.
Shaniyat, many said that they’d previously had no idea about what was actually happening in places like Iraq and Afghanistan during the years of U.S. military intervention and this sparked more conversations in which the facts could be divulged and considered. One student said she was sobered by your depiction of U.S. soldiers as expendable, as pawns in a global game of power and empire-making. This resonated for a lot of students, who I suspect had not previously thought critically about the military and its ubiquitous recruitment apparatus.”
From a NC community college student after a presentation by John Burns:
When we were told that a veteran was visiting our class, I didn’t expect the presentation that we got. I expected it to be some light ‘join today’ war glorifying BS (not to discredit the professor’s taste in guest speakers). Instead, we got the authentic, real stuff. I appreciated it. War is evil, the military is evil, I hate it all, and I’m glad there was no sugarcoating.
And from a grad student in France speaking to Lyle Rubin’s presentation:
“You mentioned the harshness of the training within the Marines and the methods that made you more ‘malleable’ and obedient in the field, to the point where you could confront ethical dilemmas without necessarily questioning them. Beyond that, were you specifically prepared for these ethical dilemmas before deployment?”
Since 2008, We Are Not Your Soldiers, a project of World Can’t Wait, has brought veterans into classrooms to share stories of why they enlisted, what they experienced in the U.S. military and the effects on their lives. The speakers expose imperial wars to youth who are largely unaware of the crimes being carried out throughout the world in their names.
Your generous donation will help as we get more requests from educators than ever.
