Rules of Engagement 1 - Jason Hurd part 02

Jason Hurd, a self-described Tennessee mountain man, spent ten years in the Army and National Guard. He enlisted after high school, though his father, a Marine in WWII, objected. Hurd says of his father, "He was one of the most war-mongering, gun-loving people you could ever meet," but he didn't want his son to enlist because he knew firsthand the psychological toll war takes on its warriors. Hurd spent his year in Iraq in central Baghdad as a medic, sometimes doing meet-and- greets with the local population, but he didn't escape the shooting and bombardment of civilian targets, which he describes in his testimony. He tells of an incident that took place while he was guarding a checkpoint. Car bombs were an ever-present danger, he says, so when a car kept approaching, despite his escalating signals to stop, he raised his gun and was about to fire at the driver. Suddenly, a man appeared and got the car to turn around. An old woman, highly-respected in the community, emerged. "I am a peaceful person," Hurd says, "but I drew down on an 80-year-old woman who could not see me." He attests to the harassment and disruption of Iraqi lives that he says happens - and continues to haunt him - daily.
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