U.S. Marine from Vermont Tosses Medals, Calls for End of War

[garybeck]

U.S. Marine From Vermont Tosses His Medals,
Calls for End to War in Iraq

Video: Jon Turner, Iraq Veteran from Burlington Vermont ripps off his badges and medals and speaks out at the Winter Soldier hearings

"At one point, this was OK. But reality has shown that it is not ... I am sorry for the hate and destruction I have inflicted on innocent people ... The reason I am doing this is ... until people hear what is going on with the war, it will continue to happen and people will continue to die."

As citizens of this country we have a civic duty to know what is going on in Iraq. Our tax dollars are paying for it and we have a right and duty to know. Who better to tell us the truth, than the brave soldiers on the ground who risk their lives.

When I watched Jon tear the medals off his shirt, I got a chill up my spine. Ever since I watched this video yesterday (and now a few others on Winter Soldier), I really can't stop thinking about it. Here we are talking about Rev Wright? Something is NOT Wright about THAT.

--snip--

Jon Michael Turner, a U.S. Marine from Burlington Vermont saw that something was wrong. He saw that we are not "bringing freedom" to Iraq; we are killing innocent people - families and children. He knows first hand. In a heroic act of patriotism, he decided to tell the American people what is really going on in Iraq. He hopes that when people realize what is really going on there, we will do what is necessary to end this war, as soon as possible.

Jon's story is not watered down or filtered by the media. It's the plain truth. And many other soldiers are lining up to tell their similar stories of atrocities and why the war must end. "Winter Soldier" was a forum set up for these soldiers and veterans to speak the truth to America.

You'd think that if a group of soldiers who have served their country and risked their lives had a forum such as this, it would make the headlines, or at least get some exposure in the media. It is the media's duty to inform the public, so we can make informed choices, for example when we vote. The circumstances in Iraq, where our children are being sent to fight and die, is something we all need to know about. But not surprisingly, the corporate controlled media ignored Winter Soldier completely. Not a single major news network or newspaper has even mentioned it. This is a slap in the face to the soldiers who deserve to have a voice and be heard.

Even the Burlington Free Press has failed to mention the hometown soldier's comments and actions.

In regards to the upcoming election which could have a profound affect on the direction we take in Iraq, the media chooses to focus on irrelevant side issues and rarely bring up the war at all. Shame on the media for not doing its job.

I believe what Jon said is true. The people need to know what is really going on, in order to make informed decisions and take appropriate actions. If we get the watered down version of the story from the media, we're bound to sit complacently and just hope it ends soon. But when I watched his video and heard his story, and I realized what is really happening there, I am more motivated than ever to do something about it.

Once again, it's up to the people to "be the media" and help brave patriots like Jon Turner have a voice. Please share this video with others. Please go to the Winter Soldier website and view some of the other soldiers' speeches. To comment or "blog" about this video, please do so on the YouTube page here. If we all do a little to help spread the word, the message will get out and the American people - both Democrats and Republicans, will demand an end to the war.

Full article and 9-minute video here:
http://www.solarbus.org/articles/080402-turner.shtml

[barbtries]

1. i spent that weekend in front of my computer

streaming the hearings, with tears streaming down my cheeks. Every adult in this country should witness the testimony of the winter soldiers.

[democrank]

2. Bless you, Jon Turner

and bless all the others.
~PEACE~

[Peace Patriot]

3. Kudos and laurel wreaths to Jon Turner and the Winter Soldier organizers!

There is a kind of courage that is higher, and more difficult, than physical courage--and that is moral courage in the face of wrongdoing, especially your own wrongdoing.

That is what the Winter Soldier event is all about--moral courage, truth-telling. So hard, so very hard, when you have participated in a wrong. So much easier just to wave the flag and go along, and try to forget, and bury the corrosion of your soul. It takes tremendous moral courage to overcome that self-protective reluctance. This is the highest form of courage, as well as patriotism.

But I do feel the need to point out, once again, that 56% of the American people opposed this war from the beginning--Feb. '03, just before the invasion (NYT poll; other polls, 54-55%). 56% is a significant majority. It would be a landslide in a presidential election (and believe me, it was). That big majority has now grown to a whopping, epochal anti-war majority of 70%, and still the American people cannot get their will enforced. We vote--as in '06--and somehow produce a Congress that is the OPPOSITE of the American people, 60% to 70% FOR the war, and which ESCALATED the war and larded Bush/Cheney will billions MORE of our non-existent tax dollars to kill more Iraqis.

Something wrong here. Something very, very wrong. And it is not the war profiteering corporate news monopolies. They are merely the scribes of war. They write the plausible narratives for stolen elections.

In that same pre-war period--indeed, in the same month as the Iraq War Resolution (IWR), Oct. '02--the Anthrax Congress also passed the so-called "Help America Vote Act" (HAVA), a $3.9 billion electronic voting boondoggle, by which electronic voting machines were fast-tracked, all over the country, run on 'TRADE SECRET,' PROPRIETARY programming code, owned and controlled by rightwing Bushite corporations, with virtually no audit/recount controls. I believe the two things are related. The IWR guaranteed unjust war; HAVA provided the means to shove that unjust war down the throats of the American people.

Every anti-war event NEEDS TO INCLUDE THIS INFORMATION. The majority of the American people are not warmongers, are not uninformed, are not 'sheeple,' are not stupid, are not lazy, and are certainly not, and never have been, 'sieg heiling' Bush's war. They have opposed it, never more than now. They have been deliberately and systemically DISENFRANCHISED. And the "trade secret" vote counting is still in place!

[garybeck]

5. I agree, the e-voting issue is crucial

if we could just restore our democracy, we could do something about this. when we lose our right to vote, or just the confidence that they are counted properly, we're in big trouble.

I'm not sure 2006 is completely relevant... I do think the Dems have made some effort to stop the war since 2006 and it is presidential vetoes and the lack of a supermajority in the Senate that has stood in the way. I think if the Dems had 60 votes in the Senate, and/or the presidency right now, the troops would be on their way home.

[riverdeep]

4. Shades of 'Nam.

It's the only honorable thing to do, now.

[garybeck]

6. An evening kick for Jon.

13 recs and only four comments. we need a kick.