Chad Salamon

I had joined the Army Reserves in 1997 at the age of 17, and switched to the Ohio Army National Guard a few years later. Even before I was deployed I was already disgusted with the lies and fake patriotism behind the Iraq War buildup, and the fact that anyone who didn't toe the line was seen as a traitor. That was not the America that I had signed up to defend. I was deployed to Iraq around 2004-2005. Originally we went to Fr Drum for training - upstate New York in February to train for the desert. From there we went to Kuwait and then convoyed into Iraq. We served at what was then called Victory Base (a name so ironic that I'm pretty sure it is changed now) near Baghdad International Airport and we made regular trips to the Green Zone. Everything I saw confirmed the idea that this was a war of choice, and it was a very bad choice indeed. My wife at the time had already been involved with MFSO (Military Families Speak Out) and I supported that while I was deployed. I then became involved with IVAW after I had returned.