Chippenham & Beyond

IVAW members testify before Congress

Gerald reads a statement from Ron Kovic

On March 15th, the Washington Post reported the DOD response to IVAW's Winter Soldier testimony: A Defense Department spokesman said he had not seen the allegations raised yesterday but added that such incidents are not representative of U.S. conduct. "When isolated allegations of misconduct have been reported, commanders have conducted comprehensive investigations to determine the facts and held individuals accountable when appropriate," Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros said. Kelly Dougherty, IVAW's Executive Director responds in this statement.

Jeff Engelhart was in the 1st Infantry Division and served in Baquba, Iraq. He has been a member of the GI resistance for several years now and remembers how lonely it was in the early days of the Iraq-era GI resistance. Jeff read whatever he could to research why we were in Iraq and why US foreign policy is what it is. Jeff created the blog "Fight to Survive" in Iraq, writing about his experiences and what he thought was wrong. He was told to cease and desist, but did not. Back home, he joined Iraq Veterans Against the War and has found it to be the best therapy he could find.

Army veteran Ronn Cantu had just finished a four-year contract on September 11, 2001. Feeling he had missed a real chance to serve his country, he reenlisted in 2003, anxious to go to war. As he waited impatiently to be shipped out he feared he had again missed his chance when Bush declared "mission accomplished" in May 2003--and once again when Saddam Hussein was captured in December of that year. But finally serving in Iraq (2004-05 and 2006-08), Ronn became increasingly skeptical and frustrated, realizing that the U.S. was there under false pretenses and "the only thing we were fighting for was to live one more day." Between tours he became active with IFAW. When a reporter phoned him in Iraq, his commanding officer at first forbade him to talk to the media, but soon rescinded that order, admitting "it is in fact your right." Ronn wants his active duty brothers and sisters to know that they do have a First Amendment right to dissent and still serve honorably.

Garett Reppenhagen served with Jeff Engelhart in Iraq and co-authored the blog "Fight to Survive". Garett points out that through their entire GI resistance process, they stayed within the boundaries of UCMJ and were granted honorable discharges. Garett was the first active-duty member of IVAW. Seventy-five percent of the veterans of this war are still in the military; they are career soldiers. That is what makes anti-war organizing difficult in the military. Yes, they oppose the war, but they also want to remain in the military. The military?s family atmosphere, the safe environment of a military base for raising children, the school benefits, the health care, and the bonuses all make GIs reluctant to risk their position. But Garett says soldiers can use their First Amendment rights to speak out without getting in trouble, and IVAW stands ready to help them learn how. IVAW is asking soldiers and veterans to join a fight to make America better, says Garett.

Iraq veteran Camilo Mejia (chair of the IVAW board of directors) describes the long history of resistance in the military and salutes those who continue to speak out about their experience. ?We live today in times of universal deceit,? he says, ?but throughout the past four days, we have witnessed firsthand accounts that challenge that universal deceit? We have become a dangerous group of people, not because of our military training, but because we have dared to challenge the official story.?

Phil Aliff is on the IVAW board of directors. He was a 10th Mountain Division soldier from 2004 until 2008. Phil sends a message to his fellow active duty members: WE are the ones who can end war. There is a new anti-war movement in the United States and we have to make sure that all GIs feel welcome and a part of it.

Introduction to the panel

Joyce and Kevin Lucey, parents of Jeffrey Lucey, who committed suicide after returning, describe the last months of his life and his unsuccessful efforts to get help from the Veterans Administration. Jeffrey was a Marine convoy driver stationed in Iraq for five months at the start of the war. After he came back, he told his girlfriend he had done immoral things. ?I?ve seen and done enough horrible things to last a lifetime,? he said to her. Jeffrey told his sister he was a murderer. He wore the dog tags of two Iraqi soldiers for whose death he felt responsible. He wore the tags to honor the two. Shortly before he killed himself, Jeffrey asked his father to take him in his lap and rock him, and his father did. After he died, his parents found a note that read, ?I am truly embarrassed of the man I became and I hope you can try to remember me only as a child when I was happy, proud, and enjoyed life.? He was 23. Eugene Martin is a staffer for the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents many Veterans Administration employees. He says the uncertainty of funding undermines the efforts of VA staff to help veterans. Each year, he says, Congress fails to appropriate money on time, and instead passes continuing resolutions with funds for a month or two, which makes planning and filling vacancies very hard. What?s more, funds intended for medical treatment are sometimes diverted to other uses. Tod Ensign, director of Citizen Soldier and author of America?s Military Today, cites a March 6 Army report that the rate of mental illness and PTSD among soldiers in their third or fourth Iraq tours is one in three.

Zollie Goodman was promised that he and his family would have medical coverage when he joined the Navy. But when his pregnant wife started bleeding and thought she was miscarrying, the base hospital refused to send an ambulance, and refused to treat her when she arrived in a friend?s car because it was almost closing time. She lost the baby. After Goodman was discharged, when he asked for treatment for PTSD, he was offered an appointment in three months. When he found out that the law guarantees no more than a 30-day wait, he was given one 30 days later, at which a doctor prescribed three drugs and said there was no way to tell which might work. His own research revealed that all three are associated with suicidal thoughts. Now, Goodman has a 15-minute therapy appointment every 30 days. When he arrives, he finds 15 Vietnam Vets waiting with him, all with the same 8 am appointment.

During his tour of duty in Iraq in 2003, Marine Corps reservist Eric Estenzo suffered a non-combat-related back injury. The thorough and prompt treatment Estenzo received back at Camp Pendleton in California lived up to his trust in the VA health care system. After his honorable discharge in 2005, Estenzo had no reason to believe that the system wouldn?t continue to take care of him. As his injury lingered, however, Estenzo faced repeated brush-offs, bureaucratic hurdles, and redundant paperwork. The adjustment to civilian life was also proving to be unexpectedly challenging. Estenzo?s savings dried up as meaningful employment eluded him and he suffered a nervous breakdown. Before too long, he found himself bordering on homelessness on the streets of Los Angeles. Thanks to support from fellow veterans, Estenzo is back on his feet but still struggles with a system that has undermined his faith in the U.S. military.