Dear chuck ,
The 4th of July is a mixed experience for veterans. While it is often looked at as a day to honor us, we often can be found indoors while civilians are out enjoying the fireworks. In his blogpost below, our friend, Ryan Harvey, reflects on his own experience of this year's 4th of July celebration. Ryan is a musician and an organizer with the Civilian Soldier Alliance, IVAW's main organizing partner in our GI and Veterans Bill of Rights Campaign. He is based in Baltimore, Maryland.
Is it About Independence, Or Explosions?
Thoughts and Analysis on July 4th at 1:16 AM
by Ryan Harvey, Civilian Soldier Alliance
I sat on the stone wall that lines Druid Lake tonight and watched Baltimore destroyed by bombs. I watched tracers light up the sky, followed by the deep pulse of distant explosions.
I watched huge clouds of smoke rise from downtown, escaping from the flaming buildings. I saw explosions as far as Dundalk, Curtis Bay, and Morgan State. I saw light emerging from deep in the West Side, illuminating the trees that line the park.
I saw the Belvedere Hotel hit by a series of missiles, a huge flame bursting out the East wall. I remembered when the bartender there took me and a friend on the roof to see the best 360 degree view I'd ever seen of the city. I wondered if he would survive the attack.
Then a huge bomb fell into the apartment building at Howard and 28th, sending a large cloud of smoke into the air. I could only imagine the horrors inside as elderly residents tried to escape the flames. I watched cars crossing the 29th St. bridge fired on by helicopters that then continued on their way into Remington. I watched mortar fire land in the houses of Reservoir Hill that face the park, and heard the sounds of gunfire from the streets behind them.
It was a total nightmare, something I never wanted to experience. Thankfully, it was mostly in my head. It was the Fourth of July, and celebratory explosions were popping off all over the city.
But I wasn't celebrating, I was mourning. The fireworks reminded me not of 1776 or 1812, but of 2003, when I watched an almost identical scene on the TV news. I thought not of British Redcoats, but of U.S. Soldiers and Marines. I was watching a re-run of Shock And Awe, the massive bombing campaign the U.S. unleashed on Baghdad on March 19th, 2003.
I texted a friend, a former National Guardsman who participated in the initial invasion of Iraq. I told him I was thinking of Baghdad, watching the city light up, and I asked how he was. He said he was "in hiding," not interested in being taken back to that place again, at least, not this year.
I thought how many friends of mine, Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who have joined the ranks of the anti-war movement, were in hiding too, taking pills to calm their shattered nerves, reasoning with their shame and anger at the roles they played in occupying these countries.
I thought of my childhood friend Austin Koth, who deployed to Baghdad in 2006 with an Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit. I imagined which exploding firework might best match the sound of the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) that took his life two weeks before he would have come home. Then I heard it.
I thought about the millions of Iraqi and Afghan citizens whose lives have been turned upside down by the "Global War on Terror". I felt so sad and sorry to the Iraqi people for the actions of my government, a government that wouldn't budge no matter how unpopular the invasion was or how many people voiced opposition to it.
I wondered how I could explain that to those who lost limbs when our bombs came crashing into their neighborhoods because one of their neighbors may or may not have posed a threat to U.S. forces. I thought about the brave people who picked up weapons to defend their communities from the invasion of my government.
I thought "what if Baltimore was really being bombed right now?" I wondered what I would actually feel like, what it means to watch your home, the home of so many friends and family, crumble under the bombs of a foreign government. I wondered what I would do and what my friends would do. Would I go out into the chaos to look for survivors? Would I stay far away hoping to save my own life? Would I fight? Would I organize others to fight with me?
These thoughts paralyzed me for an hour as I sat and stared out into the city. I was among families having cookouts, all the while a simulation of a major bombing campaign lit up my city's skyline.
All I could think of was Baghdad.
It is amazing that we celebrate our Independence Day in such a way. A total glorification of war. A sensory overload of violence. After all, our fireworks are meant to imitate the "bombs bursting in air" which helped win the Independence War against Britain.
I wonder how many take time on this day to consider the Independence movement that led to the creation of the United States. I wonder if they think about other Independence movements, from India to Algeria to Mozambique, that fought similar struggles against colonialism.
I wonder if any note the parallels between British policy in colonial America and U.S. policy in Iraq. After all, it was the British who set the stage for our presence when they invaded and occupied Iraq in 1921.
And the Iraqi resistance that arose after U.S. Administrator of Iraq Paul Bremer set drastic and far-reaching economic decrees in 2004 isn't that different from events in our own history. American Patriots fought back after similar changes were initiated by the British in the 1760s and 70s. They rioted against the Stamp Act and dumped Tea in the Boston Harbor to protest British economic policies.
Then they picked up guns.
But political history aside, a deeper question remains; why the glorification of war? Is it to remind ourselves of the glory of victory, to remember those who suffered and died to free the United States from Britain? Is it to turn war into a celebration, to be enjoyed from afar, knowing we will probably never see it?
I tend to believe the latter, that the fireworks celebration is not about Independence, it's about explosions. It's about war. It's a yearly mass-experience that reminds us that we live in a culture of violence and that we are safe enough from war that we can celebrate it from a detached position. But it's not a conspiracy by some branch of government or some multinational fireworks company, it's a cultural practice, an unwritten consensus.
If we took time to consider the real impacts that war and mass violence have across the world, I don't think we would be able to stomach all the hot dogs. I think we would start to feel the weight of so many lives that were taken early by the crippling shards of shrapnel bursting out of bombs and missiles dropped by our military around the world.
And if we all considered what we would do if we were on the receiving end of such an assault, if we saw the bombing of Baltimore the way i did tonight, maybe we would feel the common humanity that binds us to those in Iraq, Afghanistan, and countless other countries that live the results of our government's aggressive foreign policy.
Perhaps then we could start celebrating Independence Day in a way that honors, educates about, or supports those fighting similar battles today, even if they are against our own government's policies.
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5966/t/8922/tellafriend.jsp?tel...
Is it About Independence, Or Explosions?
Thoughts and Analysis on July 4th at 1:16 AM
by Ryan Harvey, Civilian Soldier Alliance
I sat on the stone wall that lines Druid Lake tonight and watched Baltimore destroyed by bombs. I watched tracers light up the sky, followed by the deep pulse of distant explosions.
I watched huge clouds of smoke rise from downtown, escaping from the flaming buildings. I saw explosions as far as Dundalk, Curtis Bay, and Morgan State. I saw light emerging from deep in the West Side, illuminating the trees that line the park.
I saw the Belvedere Hotel hit by a series of missiles, a huge flame bursting out the East wall. I remembered when the bartender there took me and a friend on the roof to see the best 360 degree view I'd ever seen of the city. I wondered if he would survive the attack.
Then a huge bomb fell into the apartment building at Howard and 28th, sending a large cloud of smoke into the air. I could only imagine the horrors inside as elderly residents tried to escape the flames. I watched cars crossing the 29th St. bridge fired on by helicopters that then continued on their way into Remington. I watched mortar fire land in the houses of Reservoir Hill that face the park, and heard the sounds of gunfire from the streets behind them.
It was a total nightmare, something I never wanted to experience. Thankfully, it was mostly in my head. It was the Fourth of July, and celebratory explosions were popping off all over the city.
But I wasn't celebrating, I was mourning. The fireworks reminded me not of 1776 or 1812, but of 2003, when I watched an almost identical scene on the TV news. I thought not of British Redcoats, but of U.S. Soldiers and Marines. I was watching a re-run of Shock And Awe, the massive bombing campaign the U.S. unleashed on Baghdad on March 19th, 2003.
I texted a friend, a former National Guardsman who participated in the initial invasion of Iraq. I told him I was thinking of Baghdad, watching the city light up, and I asked how he was. He said he was "in hiding," not interested in being taken back to that place again, at least, not this year.
I thought how many friends of mine, Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who have joined the ranks of the anti-war movement, were in hiding too, taking pills to calm their shattered nerves, reasoning with their shame and anger at the roles they played in occupying these countries.
I thought of my childhood friend Austin Koth, who deployed to Baghdad in 2006 with an Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit. I imagined which exploding firework might best match the sound of the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) that took his life two weeks before he would have come home. Then I heard it.
I thought about the millions of Iraqi and Afghan citizens whose lives have been turned upside down by the "Global War on Terror". I felt so sad and sorry to the Iraqi people for the actions of my government, a government that wouldn't budge no matter how unpopular the invasion was or how many people voiced opposition to it.
I wondered how I could explain that to those who lost limbs when our bombs came crashing into their neighborhoods because one of their neighbors may or may not have posed a threat to U.S. forces. I thought about the brave people who picked up weapons to defend their communities from the invasion of my government.
I thought "what if Baltimore was really being bombed right now?" I wondered what I would actually feel like, what it means to watch your home, the home of so many friends and family, crumble under the bombs of a foreign government. I wondered what I would do and what my friends would do. Would I go out into the chaos to look for survivors? Would I stay far away hoping to save my own life? Would I fight? Would I organize others to fight with me?
These thoughts paralyzed me for an hour as I sat and stared out into the city. I was among families having cookouts, all the while a simulation of a major bombing campaign lit up my city's skyline.
All I could think of was Baghdad.
It is amazing that we celebrate our Independence Day in such a way. A total glorification of war. A sensory overload of violence. After all, our fireworks are meant to imitate the "bombs bursting in air" which helped win the Independence War against Britain.
I wonder how many take time on this day to consider the Independence movement that led to the creation of the United States. I wonder if they think about other Independence movements, from India to Algeria to Mozambique, that fought similar struggles against colonialism.
I wonder if any note the parallels between British policy in colonial America and U.S. policy in Iraq. After all, it was the British who set the stage for our presence when they invaded and occupied Iraq in 1921.
And the Iraqi resistance that arose after U.S. Administrator of Iraq Paul Bremer set drastic and far-reaching economic decrees in 2004 isn't that different from events in our own history. American Patriots fought back after similar changes were initiated by the British in the 1760s and 70s. They rioted against the Stamp Act and dumped Tea in the Boston Harbor to protest British economic policies.
Then they picked up guns.
But political history aside, a deeper question remains; why the glorification of war? Is it to remind ourselves of the glory of victory, to remember those who suffered and died to free the United States from Britain? Is it to turn war into a celebration, to be enjoyed from afar, knowing we will probably never see it?
I tend to believe the latter, that the fireworks celebration is not about Independence, it's about explosions. It's about war. It's a yearly mass-experience that reminds us that we live in a culture of violence and that we are safe enough from war that we can celebrate it from a detached position. But it's not a conspiracy by some branch of government or some multinational fireworks company, it's a cultural practice, an unwritten consensus.
If we took time to consider the real impacts that war and mass violence have across the world, I don't think we would be able to stomach all the hot dogs. I think we would start to feel the weight of so many lives that were taken early by the crippling shards of shrapnel bursting out of bombs and missiles dropped by our military around the world.
And if we all considered what we would do if we were on the receiving end of such an assault, if we saw the bombing of Baltimore the way i did tonight, maybe we would feel the common humanity that binds us to those in Iraq, Afghanistan, and countless other countries that live the results of our government's aggressive foreign policy.
Perhaps then we could start celebrating Independence Day in a way that honors, educates about, or supports those fighting similar battles today, even if they are against our own government's policies.
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5966/t/8922/tellafriend.jsp?tel...
Comment
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Comment by Percy on July 7, 2010 at 11:38pm
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Yes, but Christ taught us that we have free will, we are not to sit on our duffs and expect God to fix everything. We have an obligation to do what is right. Christ threw the Money changers out of the temple. He also said turn in your cloak for a sword and when done defending yourselves turn your sword in for plowshares. So I don't believe he would condone sitting on our duffs and waiting and doing nothing to stop what evil is being done to this creation of His that He gave us dominion over and we are not exercising our responsibilities He gave us to care for it all.
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Comment by fireguy on July 7, 2010 at 11:28pm
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No country can worship Molack and kill its own children, oppress the poor, pervert justice, etc. etc. etc. and expect not to be judged by a righteous God.
Surviving is not the issue, you will live forever, the issue is where do you stand as an individual before Almighty God who has provided a way (Faith in Jesus Christ) for your own sins to be expunged and the power of death and hell to be rendered impotent?
It is not too late, yet but it may be someday soon.
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No we are not doing all we could do because most are still in denial and will stay that way until its just too damn late. I console myself with the thought that maybe that is ok. If we have lost so much of our integrity and gotten so desensitized to the horrors we are visiting on our soldiers, on other nations and their peoples, then we deserve what we are about to get and believe me, its coming soon. The gulf is only the beginning. You have to try and imagine what killing off 6 billion people looks like. You can't imagine it.
My point was, that no killing is good, but napalm is not comparable to sticks and stones either in the evil horrors it visits way beyong the initial use of it, or to the horrors it visits on the planet and all animal and plant life. That is not the case with sticks and stones and now probably around 7/11 we will see something, the likes of which the world has never seen before from our advanced technology and its going to blow your mind, IF YOU SURVIVE IT. We are too late if we don't do something pretty damn soon.
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I know Chuck, every Viet Nam vet I have ever known wanted to go back because it is a beautiful place. I know a one who works for a wind generation company in Europe who has gone back and loved it.
Which is worse coming back from fighting an illegal war in Viet Nam in the name of FREEDOM and getting ripped into by the people who were protesting the war and the DRAFT? Or, coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan and being called heros for fighting illegal wars in the name of FREEDOM? I don't know but I have an idea that the second scenario is more hurtful for our nation. What do you think Chuck? You were there and I wasn't. Only by the grace of God that I was born a few years after you were and the DRAFT ended before I turned 18.
Percy that is kind of a strange question don't you think. How many used jet fighters before the Americans, Russians and Chinese used Viet Nam as a test ground for the military industrial complex? How many had airplanes and machine guns before the Japanese invaded to try to get rubber for their war effort. How many used arrows against rock throwers? What is your point that America's sin is greater because we had better technology?
Answer:
None because they did not have them. I am sure that all wars are fought with the most advanced technology available to the ones doing the fighting. In fact most technology that we use, in civilian life, came about because someone was looking for a better way to kill someone else, or to limit the chances or their own guys getting killed.
I was not making an argument that it was ok for us to invade Viet Nam just adding a litte historical prespective that we were not the first.
All nations are populated by people who are full of sin and we all are going to keep getting increasingly worse untill Christ comes back.
Reality sucks.
Are we are all doing what we can to stop the maddness?
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Ok, Fireguy, how many of those invaders that they fought used napalm???? Just wondering?
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Comment by CHUCK W. on July 7, 2010 at 10:00pm
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aH, BUT LIKE I SAID IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY
WITH BEAUTIFUPEOPLE.
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Viet Nam was a beautiful country before we arrived? Not trying to start an argument Chuck but Viet Nam was involved in many wars for centuries before Americans got there to screw it up, Indochina/Viet Nam what ever you call it got raped by the Indians 1471,French 1858, Japanese 1930's Chinese 1950's-present, Thai's, Americans, 1960's -70's and before that they fought each other.
No excuse for colonialism on our part but the place has a long history of war just like Afghanistan as an example. It all sucks.
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PRIDE OR NOT VETS RETURNED INDIVIDUALLY TO A HOSTILE WORLD
WHO LABELED THEM BABY KILLERS, DRUGIES ETC. MANY WENT TO WAR WITH
THE LOVE OF COUNTRY, MOM AND APPLE PIE IN THEIR HEARTS, BUT THEY RETURNED FILLED WITH ANGER, RAGE, REMORSE, DISGUST AND SURVIVOR GUILT.
THE STIGMA OF BEING A NAM VET IN THIS COUNTRY PROBABLY IS THE CAUSE OF MORE SUICIDES AMONG NAM VETS THEN COMBAT DEATHS.
VIET NAM WAS A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY WITH BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE, TILL WE ARRIVED!
AS IN IRAQ AND AFGANISTAN, {MANY OTHER COUNTRIES AS WELL} WE UTTERLY DESTROYED NOT ONLY THE PEOPLE , BUT THE LAND AND EVERY LIVING PLANT AND ANIMAL.
THEN WE WE'RE LABELED 'LOSERS' FOR "LOSING" AMERICA'S FIRST WAR.
WAR MAY BE HELL, BUT LIVING IN THE AFTERMATH IS FAR WORSE.
FRIGGIN POLITICIANS!~
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http://vaticproject.blogspot.com/2010/07/thoughts-of-war-veterans-o...
Please visit the above link since I posted this offering on the blog, but I added a vatic note to it about Chuck Wilson who never says much about himself. Please visit and see the vatic note and what we think of him over there. Thanks.
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Nothing wrong with a little "Shock and Awe" now and then. I had a great time with my family watching fireworks the other night. But I get the message too. Thanks.
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