This is a report from World Can’t Wait organizer Liz Ladzins, speaking about her recent experience on the We Are Not Your Soldiers Tour

I was very excited and honored to co-present at a local high school last Friday with Anthony an Iraq War Veteran. We spoke with a group of about 10 seniors in their service learning class for 50 minutes. The discussion started with our current military situation: the hundreds of billions spent on both the Iraq and Afghanistan war, the millions of dead and displaced civilians overseas, and the planned increased spending of 708B and troop surge of 30,000 human lives under the Obama Administration.The majority of students did know about the troop surge. They listed “something we want”, oil and Al Queda as reasons for the war. One student shared that he had already enlisted in the US Navy, following his family tradition. Although he was initially opposed to partaking in the discussion, he eventually did open up and share some of his own families stories. He explained how his brother stationed on the Kuwait border often has difficulty talking about the war. I found it challenging to discuss the harsh realities of military life knowing someone in the room was already signed up. I felt bad putting all these issues in his lap knowing that there was no way for him to change his mind or turn back. Another student explained how a recruiter had approached him because he was wearing US Army clothes as fashion.He told the recruiter he didn’t want to join the the army because people die. When Anthony asked how many of us knew someone who had been shot everyone raised their hands. Anthony explained that the death witnessed in these wars was like that pain, except about twenty times more severe. He showed a short movie with graphic and though-provoking pictures from his tours of duty. He discussed the brutal realities of war and the trauma both physical and mental many soldiers face as a result. Students had several questions for him about his mind state upon return. We discussed some of the high rates of suicide and PTSD in the military.

I challenged the class to imagine what it might be like to live through as raid similar to the one that happened late December in Kunar province Afghanistan, where 8 boys agre 11-17 were shot by either US or Coalition Forces in the middle of the night. Student largely choose the emotion hate as one they would feel if they witnessed that situation. They discussed how hate builds up on top of hate and just makes things worse. We also discussed how it would feel to the soldier who commited or witnessed those killings.

In preparation for next week we asked the class if they would draw, write a poem or a letter around the topic we had discussed.Since Anthony cannot attend he read a powerful poem for inspiration entitled “Old Jed’s A Millionaire” a piercing critisism of the Bush family and the war.

It seems important to look into the US Navy and their role in the wars. The enlisted student said his family had encouraged him to go that route (rather than the Marines) and another approached us afterward saying her friend was interested in the Navy because it was safer. We looked at a map of the Middle East together and I showed her the Persian Gulf and discussed the situation with Iran and Yemen as possible areas where the Navy may also face conflict. Some further data on the Navy’s role would be helpful for future presentations.

The class was very insightful and I look forward to building with then in the future. It is so important that we continue to protect these youth and others from the grip of our military. Students like these are especially vulnerable with college often out of their reach and few other options available. They can easily become part of the 2/3 of the enlisted military who come from poverty.

If you are an educator and want to invite us to your class contact us at chicago@worldcantwait.org. Our chapter could really use some financial help for xerox copies, bandanas, supplies for upcoming protests and maybe even funds to send some students to larger, national protests. If this workshop and ones like it seem important, please go to www.chicagoworldcantwait.org to make a donation or email us.

Love and Respect,

Liz Chicago World Can’t Wait!