News & Commentary from Veteran Writers/Activists
"The experience we have of our lives from within, the story we tell ourselves about ourselves in order to account for what we are doing, is thus a lie -- the truth lies rather outside, in what we do." Slavoj Zizek Soldiers and veterans from Iraq, Afghanistan and other wars are killing themselves, according to Sixty Minutes, at a rate of 22-a-day. For any fair-minded person whose mind is not locked into a dehumanized … [Read more...]
Backyard Productions presents COMMEMORATE THIS! A short comedy on history and the Vietnam War (To watch the film, click on the title above) In 2008, Congress created a 13-year, $5-million-per-year propaganda project to clean up the image of the Vietnam War. It's called The Vietnam War Commemoration Project and it focuses on issues of individual honor and bravery. It avoids the controversial historical and moral issues … [Read more...]
I was chatting with the host at a house party recently who was telling me of his family link to the Acadian town of Van Buren on Maine’s border with Canada. I was immediately reminded of an article I’d been assigned to write years ago by Down East Magazine, a slick vehicle for boosting Maine’s touristic image. Down East had excerpted a chapter from my back roads guide to Maine, and the enthusiastic editor whose … [Read more...]
Over the past decade or so, it’s become quite the fashion, when people learn that I once served in the Marines, to say to me, “Thank you for your service.” I’m sure they mean well, but I wish they would take just a moment to reflect on what they are saying. I went halfway around the world to a place called Vietnam, where I killed, maimed, brutalized and made miserable a people who had never done me or my … [Read more...]
Editor’s note: These remarks were given November 12th by Dr. Nancy Wolff at the annual Veterans Day ceremony put on by the Vietnam Veterans of America inmate chapter inside Graterford State Prison near Philadelphia. Dr. Wolff was the ceremony’s Special Guest Speaker. Also attending and speaking were Pennsylvania State Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery and former US Navy Vice Admiral and Congressman Joe … [Read more...]
There can be no peace without healing. That conviction was the focus of Veterans For Peace during the years David Cline was its president. It inspired the VFP objective, “seek justice for veterans and victims of war.” This was the height of the Iraq War, and soldiers and marines were returning from Iraq deeply wounded in spirit. Jimmy Massey was one of them. Remember Jimmy? Marine recruiter cum VFP peacenik? It was … [Read more...]
"...the most unjust war ever waged by a stronger … [Read More...]
I have listed below more … [Read More...]
"The experience we have of our lives from within, … [Read More...]
Backyard Productions presents COMMEMORATE … [Read More...]
