Winter Soldier Reflections

Ed Note: This post is a re-edit of a piece that first appeared in our VetSpeak.org on-line magazine commemorative, IVAW Winter Soldier 2008 - Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations. With just minor tweaks, it was still appropriate as a precursor for this weeks upcoming Winter Soldier Southwest event.WH

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These are the times that try men’s souls…

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By
Willie Hager

www.VetSpeak.org

xx“The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country, but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776.

Those words penned by Thomas Paine in 1776 were referencing the Continental Army huddled together at Valley Forge, freezing and severely tested in battle. They had many wounded, were short on food, and critically short on military supplies. However, they were not short on spirit or in heart. These first Winter Soldiers – the rag-tag Continental Army of patriots who marched up from General Washington’s Valley Forge winter bivouac – sent the best trained and equipped army in the world at that time scurrying back to England.

An observation: It ‘don’t’ have to be cold for there to be Winter Soldiers.

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Ever since Valley Forge, Winter Soldiers have met the challenges of our nation’s greatest moments of distress and peril. Like I said; It ‘don’t’ have to be cold for there to be Winter Soldiers. Their greatest stands have occurred in all climes; Boston Common, the Battle of New Orleans, the Alamo, Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg, San Juan Hill, the sands of Iwo Jima, the Battle of the Bulge, the Frozen Chosin, and the Hanoi Hilton.

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The spirit of the Winter Soldier – fueled by true patriotism; love of one’s country and its political ideals – transcends popular political party or special interest group thinking and political operatives’ rhetoric and spin, with ideals that are grounded in the American Constitution, the Bill of Rights and in our inherited principles. It is the soul and an unshakable sense of duty to one’s nation that makes one a Winter Soldier; the soul to stand and fight in face of withering fire; to patriotically march up into history, unafraid, principles unscathed, no matter how overwhelming the odds.

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In 1971 in Detroit, at the Winter Soldier Investigation (WSI), the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) produced yet another band of patriots who, this time, marched off the battlefields of Vietnam and into history. Speaking truth to power, Vietnam Veterans testified about the tactics of “pacifying” the Vietnamese people at a sit-rep designed to inform the American people of the Truth about what was being done in Vietnam in their name.

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The VVAW WSI testimony was not leftist political rhetoric and spin coming from the mouths of communists and “wannabes”, as those of the swift boat 527 ilk would have you believe. This testimony was the real deal. It was given by Winter Soldiers barely come of age (average age in Vietnam was 19 years old)…those “doin’ the doin’s” as they say here in the South; young men barely grown, with “thousand yard stares,” addressing often blindly patriotic parents with words few wanted to hear, for fear of the burden of responsibility it may bring.

And once again in history, here we are. For those of us who lived through Vietnam, soldier and citizen alike; it is Déjà vu.

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Well, now a new generation of Winter Soldiers is marching up from battle to bring the Truth about their war to the American People; those of the Iraq Veterans Against The War (IVAW). The latest group of Winter Soldiers will come from the shadows at Pasadena City College, on Saturday, May 9, 2009, at an event entitled:

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Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan – Eyewitness Accounts of The Occupation.

This event is planned to start at 1:00 pm on May 9, 2009 at Building R room 122 @ Pasadena City College.
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These Combat Veterans and in-country logistical support personnel will testify about the impact of America’s boots-on-the-ground involvement in Iraq & Afghanistan. Involvement that arose as the result of the Bush administrations’ lies about the presence of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) in Iraq and their alleged “ready availability” to terrorists worldwide. IVAW has accepted this mission in spite of mounting personal perils and sacrifice, in the same spirit of patriotism that inspired the testifiers at VVAW’s WSI, in 1971, and at Winter Soldier I&A, at Silver Spring.

These troops are the true Winter Soldiers and American patriots who will soon have their patriotism, motivation, war record and military service questioned publicly by self-described patriots who accuse them of not “supporting the troops” because they are profoundly moved to testify to the Truth that they have lived, in the name of America.

Forget the rhetoric of “pride” and blind “patriotism” – think for yourself, hear what your Combat Veterans have to say, take personal responsibility where responsibility is needed, and make things right…for the Veterans, and for America. That is truly supporting the troops. That is a patriotic first step in recapturing our flag and our Constitution...one we can all take at no cost, but with major gain. A patriotic act that is contrary to the swiftboating of the honor and service of those who have fought in foreign lands in our name.

There is nothing more American than our own Winter Soldiers speaking truth to power in the face of grave personal sacrifice and peril.

Today’s IVAW Winter Soldiers will not be there alone, though. The Old School Winter Soldiers of VVAW will be there with them, back to back. The VVAW

Together Then…
Together Again…

www.VetSpeak.org

A Marine Mom's take on flagged draped coffins...

Flagged Draped Coffins
by

Tina Richards

US flagged draped coffins

our children inside

Iraqi flagged draped coffins

their children inside,
Afghani flagged draped coffins
their children inside


As I hold a lily to place on our children’s coffin,
my heart is torn.
So many Marines I have broken bread with,
Thanksgiving dinner,
Christmas dinner
I remember their eyes with so much innocence
Their families spread far and wide
For that day,
we became their family
I became their mom
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These children who returned home in flagged draped coffins.
Not knowing what war and occupation would bring them
Conflicted
I mourn for what should not have been,what should not be
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Trusting their government not to lie
Not to send them into harm’s way,
unless it was absolutely necessary
I see their innocent faces each time I see a flagged draped coffin,
I go to lay a lily upon them
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But then I hesitate
I hear my son’s words
“Mother,” he told me with a tear stained face,
Innocence no longer there
“I thought what we were doing was right,“
“I was told we were going to liberate the Iraqi people.”
“I trusted our leaders.”
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“Baghdad,”“We set it free,”
“We set it free by shelling them with our artillery.”
“As we began to secure the city,to safeguard the innocent civilians,”
“I saw three children playing,”
“I thought, ‘Yes that is why we are here.’”
“I saw a girl, maybe ten or eleven,
just the age of my sister,
playing with her younger brother and sister”
“Twirling something in the air.”
“Pink and Purple streamers she twirled it by.”
“Her brother and sister laughing.”
“Laughing at the pretty toy,”
“Delivered by the US military. “
“I realized at that moment,
it was a bomblet from our artillery.”
“Unexploded ordinances.”
“Cluster bombs.”
“In the moment I went to run,”
“to scream,”“to shout, “No, No’”
……it detonated.
“In an instant,half her face and arm gone.”
“Her brother and sister lay dead before her”
He said, “At that moment, I knew all I had been told was a lie”
“You cannot liberate or bring democracy with a howitzer,” he cried.
That thought would haunt him for years,
as he would bring a gun to his mouth
and call me to say he didn’t deserve to live.
Not live with the guilt of all the children killed
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I think of that little girl,
Her brother
Her sister
I am so overwhelmed with sorrow and shame.
That our soldiers and Marines so trusting,
so patriotic,
have been so misled
I brought my sons up to be Patriots
The occupations are not patriotic,
There is no honor
It is genocide.
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As I lay the lily on the Iraqi coffin,
I make a vow
We must stop the killing of all these innocents,
perpetuated by the war profiteers,
military industrial complex,
our government
No more “patriots” will I raise

www.VetSpeak.org

ROBIN LONG'S BIRTHDAY - 5/2/2009

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Editors Note: This alert came in by e-mail, from a friend. It is from one of the folks who visits Robin in the MCAS Miramar Brig, on a regular basis; my friend Dawn, an MFSO activist from Orange County, Ca., who I met when I was in California for the VVAW West Coast Tour, and who escorted me into the Miramar Brig for a visit with Robin, while we were all in San Diego. Best of Birthday Wishes for you, Robin, from the VetSpeak family...we're thinkin' of you, Brother; you are not alone, in this fight.WH

Cover message:

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PLEASE pass on and let us flood him with some good birthday cards! Thank you to all.

Peace, Dawn

Original E-mail:

From: A Marine Mom

Sent: Sunday, April 26, 2009 12:50 PM

Subject: Robin's Birthday May 2nd!!!!

If you could find some time this week (soon) I wanted to let everyone know it is Robin's birthday this week! I am almost sure he will be 24. (does anyone remember being 24??)

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Robin Long, PO Box 452136, San Diego CA 92145-2136 I know this would be a great pick me up for him.

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Thanks to all!!!

Dawn

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www.VetSpeak.org

Homeland Security Secretary Napalotino Apologizes to Veterans

Ed Note: During the debate on this topic over the last three or four days, one thing became crystal clear; Veterans on both the left and the right, and as exemplified in Ms Napolitano's apology, veterans' organizations as well, disagreed on the importance of this story. We of course thought it was very important, that's why we posted the above article. We, and the many others who responded with outrage must have hit an exposed nerve with the administration. The apology that we, and others called for, particularly the American Legion, came via CNN from Secretary Napolitano, herself. If the Veterans had remained silent, and there was no need for any apology, as some have suggested, I am sure that the Secretary would have remained silent on the subject. This is a good start on the road to Change, for Veterans.

Good move on her part, and appreciated, and respectfully accepted by those of us who called for it, originally. Sometimes the squeaky wheel get's oiled. The sad note is, that General Shisenki, Secretary of the Dept of Veterans Affairs, still maintains his silence on this matter...as well as on the recent documented reports of records shredding at Regional VA offices, and the infections with HIV and Hepatitis of Veterans at VA hospitals and VAOPCs in Miami, Fl; Memphis, Tenn; and in Georgia, as well. A fact that we cannot, and will not overlook in the months to come, here at VetSpeak.org.

Apology by Secretary Napolitano:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/16/napolitano.apology/?iref=mpstoryview

During the furor, many who wrote in said that this was nothing new, that this treatment of Veterans had been going on as long as anyone remembered. Of course, that's no excuse, as far as we are concerned, but it would seem to be borne out by this poem of Rudyard Kipling's, from the 19th century British colonial era. (Submitted by Dave Collins, VVAW, Texas Hill Country)WH

Tommy
Rudyard Kipling

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!

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www.VetSpeak.org

Homeland Security Terrorist Alert re Sec. Napolatino

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090415/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/homeland_security_extremists
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090415/ap_on_go_co/homeland_security_extremist
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-ap-homeland-security-extremists,0,7513128.story
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http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/04/homeland_security_rightwing_ex.html xx

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Deja Vu: Veterans As Terrorist Threats re FBI COINTEL program, Circa 1971-1973

Deja Vu = Nothing New

by

Willie Hager

www.VetSpeak.org
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The more I see of Change!, the more things look the same, to me. New Boss, same as the Old Boss? Well, I don't know about the Boss being the same, but his team sure hasn't changed much, especially about perceiving Veterans as terrorist threats, it doesn't appear.

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I have referenced deja vu in many articles and pieces that have been published here at VetSpeak.org, and in/on other venues. My use is always with reference to the fact that the government's thinking about, and treatment of Veterans hasn't been about the Veterans' care, but about their political containment, and pacification...often drug induced with psychotropic pharmaceuticals, sometimes locked down. But always, to guard the governments political turf, and the VA budget from pragmatic analysis of critical issues regarding Veterans' care and claims, and is suspiciously similar to the Nixon enemies list, which counted Vietnam Veterans as a grouping to be feared.

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Of course, another example would be the, already forgotten, recent Walter Reed Hospital scandals. I reported, on these pages in March of 2007, that the Walter Reed flap was a repeat of an expose' that was done in Life magazine, May of 1970. Yet when the recent scandal broke, the government acted as though it was all just one big, ooops; ain't 'bout nuthin' but a thing. They said it just required some minor adjustments to the current Walter Reed delivery paradigm, to bring it in line with the peculiarities of Iraq's special type of warfare. As you can see by clicking on the above links, we have revealed on these very pages, with copious documentation, that nothing was further than the truth.

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Where is our Advocate General, VA Dept. Secretary Shinseki, while his cabinet co-appointee, Janet Napolitano was disrespecting America's combat Veterans? Napolitano would have you believe that Veterans are the problem, rather than the trauma of having participated in morally and politically corrupt, and illegally initiated military operations, under the guise of patriotism; The assessment also said that "returning military veterans who have difficulties assimilating back into their home communities could be susceptible to extremist recruiters or might engage in lone acts of violence"...the report is signed by Janet Napolitano, Secretary, Dept. of Homeland Security.

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Yo, Shinseki! Does Napalotino outrank you in the political inner circle? You're a Veteran. Does Napalatino think you might be a terrorist threat? Are you afraid to speak up for the Veterans who have earned your after combat attention and care? The media told us you were one of the guys, after all. Where is the Obamanator on all of this? A few days ago, he was schmoozin' the troops in Iraq...now they are described as terrorist threats by one of his cabinet members, and he is silent. Was he just pandering to the troops in Iraq? Is there no-one in the Obama administration who will speak up for us? Will the Democratic leadership stupidly abandon that privilege to the right wing-nuts and "spokespersons" of conservatism?

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This is not a conservative or a liberal issue...this is a Veterans issue. This is a ramping up by the administration (or some lackeys, thereof) for the purpose of curtailing dissent regarding Iraq and Afghanistan. Dissent by those who now fight there, and who have fought there over the past six years. Just as they (the government) did with Vietnam Veterans Against The War, when the VVAW dared to oppose Nixon and his thugs (domestic enemies) re Vietnam (foreign enemies), FBI VVAW Files . This is political correctness, and political repression, at it's very worst.

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The right wing would have you believe that they are the Veterans' champions on this issue. Don't be fooled, again. They are simply exploiting a major political blunder by the politically correct Democrats, who are looking for a diversion from the fact that Obama has upped the ante in Afghanistan, what with the escalation of US forces there, much to their dismay. The Democrats are simply ignorant of, or uncaring of, objective truth. The left wing would like to have Veterans to blame for their political failures, just as would the right. New Bosses, same as the Old Bosses, in this regard. Every political party loves a whipping boy.

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This is also a screen for the fact that the government is operating on false premise mental health paradigms, regarding their after action mental health care; identifying the "...return of military veterans having trouble 'reintegrating into their communities'...'', as the causal factor for concern for Americans regarding terrorists, rather than as the result of the lack of proper treatment for the problem, to include proper diagnosis and treatment models. Fact is; they are treating what they call PTSD as a chronic clinical psychosis, rather than an adjustment anxiety disorder, Is Iraq like Vietnam? PTSD and the Readjustment Blues . A mistake they have been making since Post Vietnam Syndrome was re-named, and redesigned, in DSM-III, in 1980.

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It was Robert Jay Lifton and the Veterans of VVAW, themselves, who first identified this problem, naming it Post Vietnam Syndrome. It was a problem that was manifesting itself in self-destructive, and anti-social behavior among returning Vietnam Veterans, alienated by the political corruption and/or apparent ineptness of their leadership, morally conflicted, and then rejected by their countrymen, upon their return to "The World", from Vietnam. Does Shenseki know about all of this? If so, why haven't we heard from him, about it?

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These are not terrorists, Mr President, Madam Secretary, and still a General Shinseki; they are Winter Soldiers.

(Photo: Answer Coalition)

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I, for one, anxiously await y'all's response, or not, to this ignorant indignity that has been suffered on the honorable members of the US armed forces currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to all combat Veterans who have honorably served their country. Either way, we ain't forgettin' it. Fats in the fire, folks, time for some Truth. We'll act accordingly, and patriotically, and in the true spirit of the Winter Soldier...as patriots, not as terrorists...like always.

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Semper Fi...

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www.VetSpeak.org

(poster courtesy www.vawatchdog.org)