March saw We Are Not Your Soldiers visiting a lot of schools, one in Philadelphia and the rest in various boroughs of New York City.

Lyle Rubin spoke remotely with four Philly high school classes that have been researching different career paths whose teacher wanted them to have more information about the military than they would receive from a recruiter or military sources. He shared his story of how he came to enlist after 9/11, what happened in boot camp and an incident in Afghanistan which was a life-changing experience for him.

Also remotely, Miles Megaciph presented to four classes in an alternative Brooklyn high school that have been studying U.S. history from the Civil War on. Miles performed one or two of his songs, including “Promise“ which tells of his decision to join the Marines and some of the things he witnessed.

John Burns was here in 4 bouroughs of New York City for a week and, along with his dog Zero, made in-person visits to four educational institutions. We went to City University campuses in two boroughs speaking with a total of four classes. We also went to public high schools in two different boroughs, presenting to a total of 11 classes. High school students viewed a short clip from “Unmanned” while college students watched either the full film or “Collateral Murder.” They talked about the films after which John made his presentation and answered their questions.

As one of the college students wrote in our evaluation form, “The video was quite disturbing and sad also. Yes, it did change my views on the military because I had wanted to be a part of it all. I thought it had been about bravery and serving our country but in good ways.”

These presentations are made without any fee charged to the schools. If you would like to arrange a visit to your school, please contact us at wearenotyoursoldiers@worldcantwait.net or call us at 646-807-3259. If you are not an educator yourself, please pass on this information to friends who are. We have openings still available in April and May.

Your donations help to make We Are Not Your Soldiers possible by providing a stipend and travel costs to speakers as well as funds for materials.