I was a paratrooper for two years in the 82nd Airborne in Ft. Bragg, NC before I reenlisted for an assignment in Hawaii with the 25th Infantry Division. I was on Oahu for one year and two days before I deployed to Iraq in January 2004. In Iraq, served with Josh Dawson, another IVAW member, in the 1/14 Infantry as the country’s Quick Reaction Force (QRF). We never were at a Forward Operating Base (FOB) for more than a month or so for the duration of our 14 month deployment. We redeployed from theater in February 2005 after spending the elections in Mosul, an area that was especially volatile during the historic event.

After my deployment, I began to take religion seriously, but did not trust the civil religion the current administration seemed to promote. I found the religion of the Bible to be rooted in much more humble, confident foundations. I came to find what I was being told by pro-war Christians was not based in a contextual understanding (interpreting the whole of the message) of the Bible, but in a selectively literal (pick and choose) understanding. When Christ said to love our enemies, He did not have in mind killing them.

I consider it my patriotic duty to help bring about another way of doing life, another American Dream, one that is not a nightmare to the least of us in the global community. I am for justice and stability in Iraq, and that is not possible as long as we enforce democracy at the end of a rifle.