Stuck in Vermont 69: Winter Soldier, Iraq & Afghanistan

2/28/08: In 1776, Thomas Paine wrote: "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."

In 1971, a group of veterans came forward to share their horrific tales of the Vietnam War in an event called Winter Soldier (there is also a documentary film of the testimonies).

March 13-16, Iraq Veterans Against the War will be holding another event, Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan to put on record the testimonies of over 100 vets and civilians.

On February 28th, four local Vermont veterans gave testimony at UVM's The Davis Center. Drew Cameron, Adrienne Kinne, Matt Howard and Jon Michael Turner told their tales to a somber crowd of about 200 students and community members.

The testimony of Jon Michael included mentions of mosque bombings, planting of weapons, violent house raids and the murder of innocents. Jon Michael was stationed in Ramadi and you can even catch a glimpse of him shooting and smoking in a CNN news piece.

Jon Michael collected a massive amount of photos and video that act as a visual aid throughout his testimony. Additionally, I thank him for letting me use it in this video.

As of March, these testimonies will be permanently etched on record to inform future generations and ensure that the dead will never be forgotten.

This video is dedicated to the memories of Shane Swanberg and Richard Z James. Two young men who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Featured:
http://ivaw.org/

Music: Swale, "Soft Fireworks," Verdigris
http://www.swalesong.com/

Ryan Harvey's "Search and Avoid" off the Line in the Sand compilation which benefits the Iraq Veterans Against the War
http://cdbaby.com/cd/lineinthesand

Location: UVM's Davis Center, Burlington VT

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• winter
• soldier
• iraq
• afghanistan
• veterans
• drew
• cameron
• matt
• howard
• adrienne
• kinne
• jon
• turner
• seven
• days
• stuck
• vermont

[AramLecis]

Powerful stuff. Your vlogs have come a long way, Eva. Keep up the good work.

I miss the precocious children at the end though.

[StuckinVermont]

Thanks Aram, one precocious guitar playing kid, coming up next week! :P

[usapaddy]

war for those who have gone is the absolute absurdity, it is not normal , we are trained to do the job, and save your buddies from harm, unfortunately the mental fallout is excruciating i hope all can find some sort of peace or at least an open door to get the mental help the sorely need to continue on in life. Semper Fi

[MikaelMN]

Thank you all for having the courage to tell the truth. I hope you all find peace and the love of your families and friends - old and new - to bring you back home 100%. You are true heroes - both for going and for coming back to tell the truth. God bless you all.

Mikael

impeachforpeace dot org

[bobman717]

69 lol

[rangers11000]

@IncoherentGodDotCom

and what empire would that be

[ArmyRanger10]

Ok lets pull out now and waste the lives and sacrifices of everyone that went there. If you liberals were the same back in wwII we would be speaking German. Ok Osama bombs the WTC and you think we should just let him get away with it? Someone punches you in the face and your not going to do anything about it? Think....

[IncoherentGodDotCom]

The notion that Iraq is all flowers and daisies thanks to Uncle Sam is so idiotic I'm not even going to bother analyzing it to death.

And as for our freedoms, this war has engendered the rise of powerful private armies who have no oversight, huge corporate corruption and influence, the destruction of civil liberties under the guise of "anti-terror" legislation and not so secret programs. The GWOT in general is like freedom destroying acid.

[abelbroughton]

It is interesting that you would say this war is "highly corrosive to freedom". May I ask who's? Is it corrosive to the freedom of the Iraqi people who are now allowed to vote for their leaders and participate in a free society? Is it corrosive to your freedom because it seeks to stop terrorist activity before it has the chance to affect you? Close your mouth and open your eyes. It takes more than just a couple of cliche statements to make a point worth listening to.

[IncoherentGodDotCom]

Fighting for freedom and war are two different things. This war in particular is itself highly corrosive to freedom and is clear, plain, and simple case of war for empire.

[radioman2029]

War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feelings which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. — John Stuart Mill

[radioman2029]

"To be born free is an accident. To live free is a privilege. To die free is a responsibility"

[mobb70]

I served an an MP in afghanistan, and can tell you firsthand that those people up there are either paid actors, or are bums doing this for some extra cash and have no HONOR. This is exactly one of the reasons why I would never move back to vermont. Way too many people up there who are out of touch on the way the world actually works and naiveness.