Skip to main content

ATTENTION: This site is no longer active but remains as an archive.

Iraq Veterans Against the War has become About Face: Veterans Against the War. About Face can be found at aboutfaceveterans.org

Iraq Veterans Against the War

Join IVAW

Donate to IVAW

  • About
    • Founding of IVAW
    • Mission, Values, and Vision
    • War in Afghanistan
    • Why We Are against the Wars
    • Resolutions
    • IVAW Timeline
    • Board of Directors
    • Advisory Committee
    • Staff
  • Events
  • Campaigns
    • Operation Recovery
    • Winter Soldier
      • Breakdown of the Military
      • Civilian Testimony
      • Corporate Pillaging
      • Cost of War at Home
      • Crisis in Veterans Healthcare
      • Future of GI Resistance
      • Gender and Sexuality
      • Legacy of GI Resistance
      • Racism and War
      • Response to DoD
      • Rules of Engagement
      • Press Coverage
      • Press Releases
    • Right to Heal
  • Members
  • Resources
    • AWOL
    • Active Duty
    • Conscientious Objector
    • Depleted Uranium
    • History of Resistance
    • IRR Reactivation
    • Lariam
    • PTSD
    • Profiles of Resisters
    • Resources for Veterans
    • Stop Loss
    • Women's Resources
    • Mesothelioma
  • Press
  • Contact
    • Press
    • Speaker Request

Howard Zinn shall be missed

published by IVAW Admin on 03/27/10 7:06pm
Posted to: 
Staff

A few days ago I was staying at the home of my friend (and now IVAW ED) Jose Vasquez. We often rehash our many years in IVAW, telling our "war stories" and wondering where we shall be tomorrow. Therefore it would be no surprise to any who know us that in the days after one of our heros died we rehashed our first speaking event with Howard Zinn a few years ago.

It was the launch of Anthony Arnove's "Iraq the Logic of Withdrawal" a play on words to Howard's seminal "Vietnam the Logic of Withdrawal." That day a younger and thinner Geoff Millard sat next to a Jose Vasquez with a bit fuller head of hair in total awe of our hero while he gave a brilliant lecture. We sat just happy to be listening to him but to be speaking on the same panel... wow.

Howard talked about the work of IVAW and the ways it would contribute to ending the war but we were too young, I think, to fully understand what this meant. Looking back I was dumbstruck but he was again right, it is our deeds as a collective that will end these wars. The soldiers who have burdened the horrors of these wars with only our families to share in the pain, must now take the stands needed to end them.

You Can't be neutral on a moving train. What this means for us is that any order to deploy must not be seen as a mere order to board a plane but instead an illegal order to participate in an illegal war.

To me the lesson of Howard's life is greater than "A" people's history but our history. We must write our history in the deeds that we chose every day. Members of IVAW have made history and will continue to shape the course of human history but doing it is not enough. We must also record what we do. We must challenge the militarism of our society and never let the right re-write our war as they have with Vietnam.

Howard you shall be missed my friend, my hero. May your life live on in the deeds of many generations to come.

Aaron Hughes's picture

Veterans Call President Out of Touch

Veterans Call President Out of Touch President Obama’s State of the Union Address last night praised the service of men and women in uniform, and promised veterans the treatment they need. But the speech showed the...
Jose Vasquez's picture

Meet Kyle Wesolowski, Conscientious Objector

Published on Sunday, January 23, 2011 by CommonDreams.org Meet Kyle Wesolowski, Conscientious Objector Resisting the War at its Core by Austin McCann "The whole idea of compassion is based on a...
Jose Vasquez's picture

Protests at Fort Campbell Over Deployment of Wounded Soldier

(By Ryan Harvey, Civilian Soldier Alliance) Civilian-Soldier Alliance organizers and members of Iraq Veterans Against the War are busy at Fort Campbell, Kentucky right now supporting Jeff Hanks, a soldier who is...

AWOL soldier ordered to finish tour in Afghanistan

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A Kentucky soldier who went AWOL after he said the military wasn't treating his mental health issues has been ordered to deploy to finish his tour in Afghanistan. Spc. Jeff Hanks, who turned...

1991 - 2011: 20 Years of War on Iraq

January 15, 2011 marks the 20th year since the United States began to bomb Iraq. Since then millions of Iraqi people have been militarily occupied, injured, starved, killed, tortured, and imprisoned. Millions more have...

Evolver Spores: Wars and Peace

Wed, January 19-- As we reflect on the past decade, it is impossible to ignore a common theme: war. Recent figures place the total casualties of the United States’ military engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan at nearly...

Pages

  • « First
  • ‹ Prev
  • …
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • Next ›
  • Last »

Supporter Newsletter!

Donations

Make a single donation or become an IVAW sustainer by making your donation a recurring one. Please consider making your generous gift right now.
Donate Online Today!

Speaker Request

Please be advised that we get many speaker requests, but regret that we are sometimes unable to fill them.
Speaker Request

Joining IVAW

Iraq Veterans Against the War is open to Active Duty, National Guard and Reservists who have served since 09/11/2001.
Join IVAW

Navigation

  • About
  • Events
  • Campaigns
  • Committees
  • Chapters
  • Members
  • Resources
  • Contact