What is a family anyways? Is a family only defined by bloodlines whose only purpose is to spend birthdays and holidays with? What happens when your family won't support you anymore because you speak out against an illegal war, something they haven't begun to comprehend. Yes, I have a family. I have a mother and father to spend holidays with, just so long as i don't mention Iraq Veterans Against the War. Then that family begins to look and sound like two strangers with a distant grasp on reality. This was hard for me to understand. It was hard because these people have never, in the 24 years they've known me, seen me fight for something so much. They have seen how depressed I have been serving in this glorified version of a fraternity known as the Army. They have seen how much I despise attending training where the only commonality is a shared feeling of misery and racial dehumanization. But now they have seen the passion and love I have for IVAW. A group of incredibly brave veterans who, like me, risked a lot, if not everything, by speaking out against this unjust and unconstitutional war. My family still doesn't understand. But I do and that's all that matters. Because the reality is that most people fear what they don't understand, and mothers and fathers are not exempt from this reality. I have met a new family recently at the Midwest strategy retreat. A family that does not fear what they don't understand. A family that stands up to it, looks it in the eye and fights to make a difference. And to this family I would like to say thank you, regardless of whether or not our fight ends the war in Iraq and brings back our brothers and sisters, the bonds I share with all of you will live in my heart forever.