"Warriors for Peace Project" (by Jon Orlando)

Coming from a military family, Jared Hood enthusiastically joined the military in 2000. Four years later he made the conscious decision to go AWOL, stating â€œI can no longer serve a government that can justify an occupation.â€* He was angered and felt betrayed by the lies of his government and a citizenry that was all too willing to accept them. â€œBeing in the army forced me to wake up to the lie I had been living my whole life and the lies I had been fed by my family, society and government and I was outright disgusted. I still am.â€*

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:34:34 +0000

Coming from a military family, Jared Hood enthusiastically joined the military in 2000. Four years later he made the conscious decision to go AWOL, stating â€œI can no longer serve a government that can justify an occupation.â€* He was angered and felt betrayed by the lies of his government and a citizenry that was all too willing to accept them. â€œBeing in the army forced me to wake up to the lie I had been living my whole life and the lies I had been fed by my family, society and government and I was outright disgusted. I still am.â€*
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Encouraged by the original teachings of Jesus Christ, Logan Laturi is committed to the belief that love wins. â€œItâ€™s about love. Itâ€™s the most difficult task we can undertake but itâ€™s the most necessary. Weâ€™ve tried hatred, weâ€™ve tried force and coercion. Now we need to try love.â€* When he began to question his involvement in war and violence in general, Logan consoled often in his girlfriend at the timeâ€™s father, also a Christian man. â€œHe kept coming back to the statement â€˜love wins.â€™â€* It made sense to Logan and it became his mantra in the largest transformation of his life. Before his second deployment, Logan filed for Conscientious Objector status but was denied. He was later discharged.

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:31:13 +0000

Encouraged by the original teachings of Jesus Christ, Logan Laturi is committed to the belief that love wins. â€œItâ€™s about love. Itâ€™s the most difficult task we can undertake but itâ€™s the most necessary. Weâ€™ve tried hatred, weâ€™ve tried force and coercion. Now we need to try love.â€* When he began to question his involvement in war and violence in general, Logan consoled often in his girlfriend at the timeâ€™s father, also a Christian man. â€œHe kept coming back to the statement â€˜love wins.â€™â€* It made sense to Logan and it became his mantra in the largest transformation of his life. Before his second deployment, Logan filed for Conscientious Objector status but was denied. He was later discharged.
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Jeremy was a mortuary technician in Iraq and was repsonsible for dealing with hundreds of his fallen comrades. He is photographed infront of a wall of photographs of fallen soldiers, near his home in Chicago. This is from a portrait series I am doing on Iraq War veterans who are resisting the war.

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:12:16 +0000

Jeremy was a mortuary technician in Iraq and was repsonsible for dealing with hundreds of his fallen comrades. He is photographed infront of a wall of photographs of fallen soldiers, near his home in Chicago. This is from a portrait series I am doing on Iraq War veterans who are resisting the war.
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This is part of a portrait series I am working on of Iraq war veterans who are resisting the war. It is an attempt to understand who these individuals are and how and why they have commited themselves to working to end a war they were once a part of.

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:13:18 +0000

This is part of a portrait series I am working on of Iraq war veterans who are resisting the war. It is an attempt to understand who these individuals are and how and why they have commited themselves to working to end a war they were once a part of.
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Garett Reppenhagen was one of the first outspoken critics of the Iraq War while still serving in Iraq as a calvary sniper. He was a co-founder of the blog "fight to survive" and was photographed at an antiwar rally in Denver. This is from a portrait series I am doing on Iraq War veterans who are resisting the war.

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:13:59 +0000

Garett Reppenhagen was one of the first outspoken critics of the Iraq War while still serving in Iraq as a calvary sniper. He was a co-founder of the blog "fight to survive" and was photographed at an antiwar rally in Denver. This is from a portrait series I am doing on Iraq War veterans who are resisting the war.
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Domingo Rosas served in Iraq as a sergeant from April 2003 to 2004 as a guard in a detention center. Some of the images of abuse and torture he witnessed â€œseared themselves into my minds eye and I canâ€™t forget them, I wonâ€™t forget them.â€* He is haunted by those images and the memories of the friend he lost in Iraq. He speaks out against the war out of necessity and has found a form of therapy in working with the other members of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:31:35 +0000

Domingo Rosas served in Iraq as a sergeant from April 2003 to 2004 as a guard in a detention center. Some of the images of abuse and torture he witnessed â€œseared themselves into my minds eye and I canâ€™t forget them, I wonâ€™t forget them.â€* He is haunted by those images and the memories of the friend he lost in Iraq. He speaks out against the war out of necessity and has found a form of therapy in working with the other members of Iraq Veterans Against the War.
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At age twelve, Mark Wilkerson was witness to a violent invasion of his home in which his mother and her current boyfriend were beaten. Ten years later Mark came face to face with that injustice and inhumanity while doing house raids in Iraq, only this time he was the aggressor. It was then he decided he could no longer be an instrument for abuse and terror. When he returned from Iraq he filed for Conscientious Objector status. After being denied and with redeployment eminent, Mark went Absent Without Leave for a year and half, during which time he began to speak out against war. On August 31, 2006, Mark turned himself in to military police and was eventually sentenced to 7 months in a military prison.

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:28:15 +0000

At age twelve, Mark Wilkerson was witness to a violent invasion of his home in which his mother and her current boyfriend were beaten. Ten years later Mark came face to face with that injustice and inhumanity while doing house raids in Iraq, only this time he was the aggressor. It was then he decided he could no longer be an instrument for abuse and terror. When he returned from Iraq he filed for Conscientious Objector status. After being denied and with redeployment eminent, Mark went Absent Without Leave for a year and half, during which time he began to speak out against war. On August 31, 2006, Mark turned himself in to military police and was eventually sentenced to 7 months in a military prison.
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â€œNo one is being liberated.â€* William Stewart-Stark deployed to the Anbar Province of Iraq as a medic in 2004 in full support of the war. He soon began to wonder though, why he was even there and what they were really fighting for. â€œWe knew we werenâ€™t fighting Al- Qaeda, we were fighting civilians who were fighting back and were just perpetuating the violence.â€* Still, William wanted to believe he and his fellow soldiers were part of a just cause. The longer he spent in Iraq the more holes he began to see in what the media had been telling him before he deployed. While deployed though, he had very little time or energy to really process what he was a part of and it wasnâ€™t until he was back in the U.S. that he began to put the war into historical, political, and economic context. Then he was sure that it must be stopped. William now heads up an organization on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence, Kansas that is made up of students and veterans who are working to end the wars. William Stewart-Stark, Iraq War Veteran from Lawrence, KS.

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:28:35 +0000

â€œNo one is being liberated.â€* William Stewart-Stark deployed to the Anbar Province of Iraq as a medic in 2004 in full support of the war. He soon began to wonder though, why he was even there and what they were really fighting for. â€œWe knew we werenâ€™t fighting Al- Qaeda, we were fighting civilians who were fighting back and were just perpetuating the violence.â€* Still, William wanted to believe he and his fellow soldiers were part of a just cause. The longer he spent in Iraq the more holes he began to see in what the media had been telling him before he deployed. While deployed though, he had very little time or energy to really process what he was a part of and it wasnâ€™t until he was back in the U.S. that he began to put the war into historical, political, and economic context. Then he was sure that it must be stopped. William now heads up an organization on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence, Kansas that is made up of students and veterans who are working to end the wars. William Stewart-Stark, Iraq War Veteran from Lawrence, KS.
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Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:15:45 +0000

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I started realizing that as I was yelling these obscenities and threatening to hurt these people, that I didnÕt want to hurt them. That all my commands for them to stop were just pleas for them to stop that I was really just begging them to stop because I didnÕt want to hurt anybodyÉ.. I brought my rifle up to aim and put my finger on the trigger and took the slack out of the trigger. I was getting ready to fire and they came halting to stop. I saw the little red dot on the little girls forehead and I realized I was aiming a rifle at a little girl and I saw her crying. I didnÕt want to do anything but freeze it all and hold her and tell her it would be okÉ.. Shortly after that my friend Heredia diedÉ the way everyone reacted, everyone just went on like it was another dayÉ no one really batted an eyeÉ it all just messed with me a lotÉ.We have to realize that PTSD is a symptom of an attack of conscience and my conscience is telling me something is wrong. I donÕt need to take a bunch of pills to silence my conscience. I need to take steps to listen to it. I need to take steps to end this war and take steps to make sure no one suffers like I did or does what I did.Ó Brian Hannah, Iraq War Veteran from San Marcos, TX.

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:16:27 +0000

I started realizing that as I was yelling these obscenities and threatening to hurt these people, that I didnÕt want to hurt them. That all my commands for them to stop were just pleas for them to stop that I was really just begging them to stop because I didnÕt want to hurt anybodyÉ.. I brought my rifle up to aim and put my finger on the trigger and took the slack out of the trigger. I was getting ready to fire and they came halting to stop. I saw the little red dot on the little girls forehead and I realized I was aiming a rifle at a little girl and I saw her crying. I didnÕt want to do anything but freeze it all and hold her and tell her it would be okÉ.. Shortly after that my friend Heredia diedÉ the way everyone reacted, everyone just went on like it was another dayÉ no one really batted an eyeÉ it all just messed with me a lotÉ.We have to realize that PTSD is a symptom of an attack of conscience and my conscience is telling me something is wrong. I donÕt need to take a bunch of pills to silence my conscience. I need to take steps to listen to it. I need to take steps to end this war and take steps to make sure no one suffers like I did or does what I did.Ó Brian Hannah, Iraq War Veteran from San Marcos, TX.
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Bobby Whittenberg joined the marines in March of 03â€™ just after the Iraq conflict started. â€œ I grew up in small towns that were largely conservative Christian and that is what you were expected to do. I truly believed we were going to be liberating the people of Iraq and keeping the people here safe and I saw on T.V, fathers leaving their children, husbands leaving their wives, mothers leaving their kids and I thought that maybe if I went I could keep someone else from having to.â€* After being shot on a security convoy in Iraq though, his nationalism began to turn to anger and later compassion. At first â€œI was angry at the people of Iraq but than, I realized they had nothing to do with it. They were just trying to live their lives the same way I was and my anger needed to be directed not towards them but at the people that put us all in this terrible situation, that get to sit back in their ivory tower and watch it all play out like a video game.â€* Bobby Whittenberg, Iraq War Veteran from Austin, TX.

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:28:57 +0000

Bobby Whittenberg joined the marines in March of 03â€™ just after the Iraq conflict started. â€œ I grew up in small towns that were largely conservative Christian and that is what you were expected to do. I truly believed we were going to be liberating the people of Iraq and keeping the people here safe and I saw on T.V, fathers leaving their children, husbands leaving their wives, mothers leaving their kids and I thought that maybe if I went I could keep someone else from having to.â€* After being shot on a security convoy in Iraq though, his nationalism began to turn to anger and later compassion. At first â€œI was angry at the people of Iraq but than, I realized they had nothing to do with it. They were just trying to live their lives the same way I was and my anger needed to be directed not towards them but at the people that put us all in this terrible situation, that get to sit back in their ivory tower and watch it all play out like a video game.â€* Bobby Whittenberg, Iraq War Veteran from Austin, TX.
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Brandon Neely served as a gaurd at Guantanamo Bay. He has since come forward to testify about the abuse and torture that took place there.

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:29:44 +0000

Brandon Neely served as a gaurd at Guantanamo Bay. He has since come forward to testify about the abuse and torture that took place there.
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Maggie Martin deployed once to Kuwait and twice to Iraq. She was a part of the initial invasion in 2003. â€œI think about the kids I met in the market that were 10, 11, 12 years old that are now 14,15, 16 year old young men who have had an occupation in their country their whole adolescence and I wonder what it must be like for them having their whole childhood destroyed by this war and the occupation and Iâ€™m sure all the happy little kids that were there in 2003 that were getting candy from us and standing on the side of the road, are probably now a large part of the Iraqi resistance and I donâ€™t blame them.â€* Maggie Martin, Iraq War Veteran from Savannah, GA

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:32:12 +0000

Maggie Martin deployed once to Kuwait and twice to Iraq. She was a part of the initial invasion in 2003. â€œI think about the kids I met in the market that were 10, 11, 12 years old that are now 14,15, 16 year old young men who have had an occupation in their country their whole adolescence and I wonder what it must be like for them having their whole childhood destroyed by this war and the occupation and Iâ€™m sure all the happy little kids that were there in 2003 that were getting candy from us and standing on the side of the road, are probably now a large part of the Iraqi resistance and I donâ€™t blame them.â€* Maggie Martin, Iraq War Veteran from Savannah, GA
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â€œThe common theme through all the stuff that we were doing, everywhere we went the Iraqis always told me that we shouldnâ€™t be there, that their lives were better before we got there and that now there lives were ruined because we were thereâ€¦. On top of seeing things I didnâ€™t agree with I was finding out I was completely lied toâ€¦ The military teaches you to dehumanize people; you canâ€™t pull a trigger on someone you feel equal with, you just canâ€™t. Being in Iraq though, I actually learned to see the Iraqis as equals.â€* Jason Hurd, Iraq War Veteran from Kingsport, TN

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:32:34 +0000

â€œThe common theme through all the stuff that we were doing, everywhere we went the Iraqis always told me that we shouldnâ€™t be there, that their lives were better before we got there and that now there lives were ruined because we were thereâ€¦. On top of seeing things I didnâ€™t agree with I was finding out I was completely lied toâ€¦ The military teaches you to dehumanize people; you canâ€™t pull a trigger on someone you feel equal with, you just canâ€™t. Being in Iraq though, I actually learned to see the Iraqis as equals.â€* Jason Hurd, Iraq War Veteran from Kingsport, TN
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After three months in Iraq, the vehicle Zach was traveling in was blown up by an improvised explosive device. He was sent back to the states for several months to recover his injuries and then voluntarily redeployed to Iraq for the remainder of his tour. â€œI went back thinking that maybe we were going to do some good. But it continued, day in day, countless pointless missionsâ€¦ It was a lost cause, we went over, we participated in things we probably shouldnâ€™t have participated in, we made choices weâ€™ll have to live with forever and then we get on a plane and come back here and nothing is ever said about itâ€¦â€* Zack Choate, Iraq War Veteran from Atlanta GA

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:33:11 +0000

After three months in Iraq, the vehicle Zach was traveling in was blown up by an improvised explosive device. He was sent back to the states for several months to recover his injuries and then voluntarily redeployed to Iraq for the remainder of his tour. â€œI went back thinking that maybe we were going to do some good. But it continued, day in day, countless pointless missionsâ€¦ It was a lost cause, we went over, we participated in things we probably shouldnâ€™t have participated in, we made choices weâ€™ll have to live with forever and then we get on a plane and come back here and nothing is ever said about itâ€¦â€* Zack Choate, Iraq War Veteran from Atlanta GA
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You are not my Enemy my brother my sister but I have done something wrong and perhaps I am now yours. I went to your home I went inside soiled your rug and bullied your children. You are not my enemy my father my mother. I drove on you threw garbage into your window burned your garden and spit in your water. You are not my enemy my grandmother my grandfather. I built walls between us. Rubble made sound sand scattered plastic bags all around rifles and checkpoints bright lights into your eyes. No, you are not my enemy my partner my friend. We were betrayed. You are not my enemy my child my self. Our blood is the same. You are not my enemy my memories and rage. Re-making sense now together. You are not my enemy you never were. You are a part of me as I am with you. You are not my enemy we will stay true. You are not my enemy we will change this with you. Drew Cameron, Iraq War Veteran, Burlington, VT.

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:26:06 +0000

You are not my Enemy my brother my sister but I have done something wrong and perhaps I am now yours. I went to your home I went inside soiled your rug and bullied your children. You are not my enemy my father my mother. I drove on you threw garbage into your window burned your garden and spit in your water. You are not my enemy my grandmother my grandfather. I built walls between us. Rubble made sound sand scattered plastic bags all around rifles and checkpoints bright lights into your eyes. No, you are not my enemy my partner my friend. We were betrayed. You are not my enemy my child my self. Our blood is the same. You are not my enemy my memories and rage. Re-making sense now together. You are not my enemy you never were. You are a part of me as I am with you. You are not my enemy we will stay true. You are not my enemy we will change this with you. Drew Cameron, Iraq War Veteran, Burlington, VT.
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Liam Madden was a "good Marine" who graduated the top of his class. However, the Iraq war, which he served in as a sergeant from 2004 to 2005, prompted his serach for explanations for who wielded power in this world and why it appeared so decietful and brutal. He became dedicated to speaking out and spent three years as a peace activist, including time as the chair of Iraq Veterans Against the War's board of directors, co-founder of Appeal for Redress, and appearing on countless media outlets including CNN, Keith Olberman, and 60 Minutes. Liam now believes peace comes from within. " I am left with the conviction that the infinite, all encompassing energy of love is the only reality and all else is an illusion derived from the insane belief that we are seperate from each other." Liam Madden, Iraq War Veteran, Boston, MA

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:19:50 +0000

Liam Madden was a "good Marine" who graduated the top of his class. However, the Iraq war, which he served in as a sergeant from 2004 to 2005, prompted his serach for explanations for who wielded power in this world and why it appeared so decietful and brutal. He became dedicated to speaking out and spent three years as a peace activist, including time as the chair of Iraq Veterans Against the War's board of directors, co-founder of Appeal for Redress, and appearing on countless media outlets including CNN, Keith Olberman, and 60 Minutes. Liam now believes peace comes from within. " I am left with the conviction that the infinite, all encompassing energy of love is the only reality and all else is an illusion derived from the insane belief that we are seperate from each other." Liam Madden, Iraq War Veteran, Boston, MA
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Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:20:12 +0000

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