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TechnoratiIraq Vet Plans to Return His Medals in Protest
MADISON, Wis. - An Iraq war veteran said Tuesday he is returning his military medals in what anti-war groups are calling a rare and powerful protest.
Josh Gaines, 27, plans to mail the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and National Defense Service Medal to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He said he will do so during a protest scheduled for Wednesday in Madison.
"I'm going to give those back because I truly feel that I did not defend my nation and I did not help with the Global War on Terrorism," said Gaines, who lives in Madison. "If anything, this conflict has bred more terrorism in the Middle East."
Gaines served a yearlong tour in Iraq between 2004 and 2005 with the U.S. Army Reserve. He spent his time guarding two military bases and issuing ammunition to soldiers but never fired a weapon, he said.
The experience convinced him the war was a mistake and that a steady withdrawal of troops was the right course of action, Gaines said.
"To be quite honest, I felt like we wasted taxpayers' money," he said. "The mission just didn't seem correct and right for that time."
Jonathan Dedering, a Students for a Democratic Society activist who is helping organize Wednesday's protest, said it's extremely rare for Iraq veterans to return their medals. The tactic was a more common form of protest among Vietnam veterans.
"To many Americans this will be a very big deal," Dedering said in an e-mail message.
A member of Iraq Veterans Against the War agreed.
"I don't know any soldiers who have served in Iraq and have returned their medals," said Sholom Keller, who served in the U.S. Army in Iraq and has decided to hang on to his medals. "I personally am not into theatrical displays, but I would say that this individual's actions are commendable."
President Bush created the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal in 2003 to honor those who served after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The Department of Defense reauthorized the National Defense Service Medal for the same purpose in 2002.
Keller said most veterans of Iraq have earned at least one of those medals.
Gaines said he is returning the medals awarded when he left active duty in 2005 to Rumsfeld because he is "the man responsible for my tour." He said he would likely send them to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where Rumsfeld was recently hired to be a visiting fellow.
Rumsfeld resigned from the Defense Department last year, and many people have blamed him for mismanaging the war. The Pentagon referred a request for comment to the Army public affairs office, which did not immediately return a phone message.
Keith O'Donnell, a spokesman for the Army's Human Resources Command in St. Louis, confirmed Gaines' service in Iraq and said he was discharged last year.
Gaines said he was given an "other than honorable" discharge after failing a drug test. He said he started smoking marijuana after he returned from Iraq to help him eat and sleep after he had trouble doing either for months.
O'Donnell said he could not comment on the reason for Gaines' discharge.
Ryan Hill, 29, who served with Gaines in Iraq, said Gaines was always challenging Army superiors and "he kept us cracking up."
"He did his job and did his best and was a team player and all that but that's the thing that makes him stand out," he said.
As for Gaines' decision to return his medals, Hill said: "I'm proud of him for doing that. I feel the same way about my medals."
© 2007 The Associated Press
25 Comments so far
Show AllCheck out this interview with Josh Gaines
http://aparadiseinthisworld.blogspot.com/2007/09/if-i-was-iraqi-citizen-id-probably-want.html
His unit was targeted for discrimination, and denied vehicle armor, by the military because they were paired with a Puerto Rican unit.
this guy, and the 4,000 plus who have defected, are the real heroes. i commend them all.
Paschn: Wow. Do you remember when the scales fell from your eyes?
Richard: Fantastic idea. Could we make mandatory enlistment of politicians children a go as well?
Permit me to add one related thought: Why not increase the minimum age for enlistment to 21? Throughout our country, the prevalent minimum age for purposes of holding a young person to a contract of purchase is 21. But where the young person is entering into a contract irrevocably requiring him to risk his own death or to kill another person at any time lawfully ordered to do so by any superior officer, our country deems this young person fully mature at 18. This seems to me both illogical and morally wrong. True, a predictable effect of raising the minimum age of enlistment would be to reduce the size of our volunteer armed forces, and therefore in turn reduce our Government's capacity to conduct multiple "force projection" actions all over the world. But if "starving the beast of Government" is good for geopolitical ends, why isn't it good for our young people? I hope you folks will give my "minimum age" proposal some serious thought.
My respects to this young veteran for speaking out against this abominable war. As to commentators who generalize about volunteers for military service, you simply don't know what you're talking about. My three uncles volunteered for service in World War I, my brother volunteered for service in World War II, I volunteered for service in the Korean War, and my nephew volunteered for service in the Vietnam War. Each of us had his own reasons for enlisting, and none of us fit within the stereotypes you would establish for us. In any event, I hope other Iraq War veterans and active-duty personnel will be inspired by this young man's example. I would add that our society would be better served if the minimum age for enlistment in the military were raised to 21. It seems to me both incongruous and wrong that a person legally presumed to be to immature to bind himself to an agreement to buy a car, should be deemed fully competent to assume the responsibility of killing or being killed by other human beings. Further, I suspect that if our Government had to depend upon a volunteer army which excluded teenagers, our Government's world-wide "force projection" adventures would have to be drastically reduced. I guess that's what Neocons would call "starving the beast."
Thomas and Paul: When I was much younger, and much more foolish, I too wanted to join up. I told my parents of my desire. My mother said no. My father absolutely forbid me. It was twenty years later that he finally told me why he refused to sign my enlistment papers.
You see, he was a twelve year old boy, piloting a yacht into the hell of the Dunkirk boatlift, the evacuation of Allied forces from France early in WWII. He came under fire from Nazi machinegunners as he pulled half of a man, still alive though missing every thing from the stomach down, out of the surf. He helped recover many soldiers that day. Not all of them lived to see England.
I can tell you why I nearly joined the military back in '87. I grew up working-class, my father and uncles all served, and affording college was a long-shot. It's just that simple. I nearly joined ROTC myself, getting as far as "assemble at 08:00 for uniform and boot fitting". Decided to try working my way through college instead.
I saw President Ahmadinejad in several venues and President Morales on the Daily show. Both are more articulate and sensible than the crazy chimp in the not so White House.They are also better educated than the chimp by far.
"I wish it were that simple. I went to Saudi Arabia because I didn't want to be called a chicken liberal or some such bullshit. I've been called a traitor anyway by "fine upstanding patriots". Now I really regret my participation in the Iraq crime, I feel guilty about a lot.
My daughter served in Afghanistan. One of my son's is now in army basic training. He's not a psycho, as far as I know. He's like I was. He thinks he's such a loser that the army is his only chance. There are tens of thousands like him, and me."
Thomas,
My hat's off to you, man. It took guts to lay it out there like you did.
No, it's not simple - people join the military for many reasons. Some join out of a sense of duty and patriotism. However, as you now see, the military and those who support it jerk people's emotions around so that they don't know which way is up or what is real. Look at the ads and commercials the military puts out and see the pitches for travel, adventure, money, training, excitement, and yes, patriotism. Just the sorts of things young people respond to.
Josh Gaines has guts and integrity, as do you, Thomas. My hat's off to anyone who bucks the system and lays it on the line. Some do it in a large way, others in a private way, but laying it on the line is something that is now called for. The Perfect Storm is brewing and time for steeping is over. There is no one right way to turn this train around - we each have to do it the best way we know how.
Godspeed.
This soldier's protest will probably not be aired on network TV, where it will do the most good. Rummy will just throw the mail in the trash. Unless there is some way to force public acknowledgment of receipt, it will be just as invisible as my pathetic protest of putting "Impeach!" labels on my outgoing mail.
MAXHEMUST
thankyou for that link. i haven't heard any of the speeches you mentioned yet, but shouldn't they be heard by ALL people? not just anti-war ?
Thomas: I offer my appologies. It is unfortunate that your son has been manipulated into the first group.
You're hereby encouraged to pass this around:
Don't miss the high spirited and inspired talks from the last couple of days at the UN General Assembly in NY this week, where the monstrous empire of greed and violence, is fearlessly denounced!
Nicaragua - Daniel Ortega
Iran - Ahmadinejad -
Cuba -
Bolivia - Evo Morales
Equador-
http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/
------
The speeches made by representatives of the above nations should be heard by all people in the anti-war movement.
Cudos to the kid! Now, the balance of you drones need to engrain into the heads of your spawn that it's common for the elite and their toady's to manipulate us common folk into killing for 'em. Teach them, raise them with enough courage and character to stand up for what they believe is right, not what is "popular". Was it "right" to slaughter 600,000 philipinos for the sugar companies? murder Union miners and their families in Colorado,...Virginia? False flag us into Vietnam? Desert Storm? It's so obvious that one could ALMOST laugh. They bleed our coffers dry by "privatizing", (a very old Republican trick disguised in the "we hate big government" mantra so successfully used against the more aggressive portion of we fools), use US to kill each other,...then they move their corporate offices to the elite stronghold, (Dubai) to gather and laugh at our pedestrian beliefs like "patriotism" and how easily we're manipulated into murdering one another for a flag, (of whatever country) to make them even MORE disgustingly wealthy. You see, the elite aren't bothered by flags or patriotism. That and all things associated with it are for the "masses", we "common" folk. We're tolerated because they need our spawn to fight the NEXT war on terror, communism,..etc. A nation of sheep, led by a cartel of whores, controlled by Israel/big business. Welcome, to the REAL Evil Empire.
Uncle Sam loves us all. This is a volunteer army, a career choice.
I wish it were that simple. I went to Saudi Arabia because I didn't want to be called a chicken liberal or some such bullshit. I've been called a traitor anyway by "fine upstanding patriots". Now I really regret my participation in the Iraq crime, I feel guilty about a lot.
My daughter served in Afghanistan. One of my son's is now in army basic training. He's not a psycho, as far as I know. He's like I was. He thinks he's such a loser that the army is his only chance. There are tens of thousands like him, and me.
andersdl, easy for you to say. Not everyone "lives in the information age" the way you do. Not everyone has a computer and an internet access. Not everyone has the advantages that you have.
Wonder how long it will be before he has an 'accident'?
Josh is a true patriot. He has learned the truth about his country and isn't afraid to speak up. We need more people like Josh.
Hoa binh
The Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal is the American version of the Iron Cross.
Those who join the military these days seem to fall into two categories:
The first are poor, badly educated mostly minorites who are duped with promises of easy posting and colledge educations.
The second are bored, usually well off anglos who have a military fetish and barely repressed psychopathological rage, who look forward to causing pain and suffering.
Hey US Military personnel, wake up ! Perhaps the people who got drafted prior to 1968, or people who were in the miltary prior to the Iraq invasion have an excuse that they were caught off guard. There is, however, no excuse for those of you who have joined since 2003.
You live in the INFORMATION AGE where the facts are readily available to everybody from many sources. The facts confirm that the Bush Regime is attempting to control the world, is rapidly turning the US into a third world nation, and rapidly running the US military in to the ground. Unless YOU military personnel push back en masse, you are contributing to the Regime's destructive behavior.
A suggestion for Josh Gaines. Stand in front of the Whitehouse, in full view of the permanent network TV cameras, and use a handheld propane torch to melt the medals into slag. Then drop the slag on the ground, grind it under his heel and walk away...
That's the kind of patriotism that means something. Here is a young man who did his duty, potentially sacrificing his own life for the good of others, or so he was told. Then, he had the strength to take his love of his country one step further in being willing to go on the record against an administration that has used his blood, sweat, and no-doubt tears to institute its own reign of terror here and abroad, by making the United States and all countries who support us in any major way bigger targets than ever before.
Speaking truth to power is the sign of a true patriot. I would lay my life on the line in a heartbeat for men like this, who can learn from even the most desperate situations.
Peace be unto him.