Listening to the Stories- Warriors for Peace update from Austin

Date: March 05, 2009 at 11:20:22
From: Jon Orlando via VFP, []
Subject: Listening to the Stories- Warriors for Peace update from Austin

URL: http://jonorlandophoto.com/?page_id=17

image caption: Bryan Hannah, an Iraq war veteran and member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, remembers the life a fellow soldier and friend at a memorial on Fort Hood, in central Texas. © Jon Orlando

WARRIORS FOR PEACE - REPORTING FROM AUSTIN

“ I raised my rifle… and I took the slack out of the trigger. I was getting ready to fire and their car came to a halting stop. The back window was down and I saw the little red dot was on a little girl’s forehead, and I realized I was aiming a rifle at a little girl. And I saw her crying. I didn’t want to do anything but to freeze everything so I could just get out and hold her and tell her everything would be OK.” Bryan Hannah- Iraq War Veteran.

I’m currently in Austin, Texas working on my Warriors for Peace series documenting the transformation of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who are now opposed to war. Over the last several days as I attended the Winter Soldier event in Austin and interviewed a half dozen or so veterans one on one, I’ve heard far too many stories like the one above, several that didn’t end till after the trigger was pulled.
Last night I was talking with Rooster Romriel, who served in Sadr City and Baghdad. He made a comment that really struck me, he said “some would say war is hell. I disagree. You have a certain amount of control over whether or not you wind up in hell. The people of Iraq had no choice. The best word I can use to describe war is…inhumane. It’s the opposite of everything we are supposed to be.” I would agree. It seems many of the veterans I’m working with are fighting for their own humanity, or maybe I should say the right to embrace their humanity, as much as they are for an end to the wars. Midst war, a military machine, and a society all to willing to ignore the effects of war (all three the epitome of inhumane) they have had the courage to choose a different path.
My emotions continue to shift from sad, to angry, to inspired as I continue to listen to stories of destruction, apathy, and transformation. Tomorrow I head to Houston to work with a couple veterans over there, one who was serving at Guantanamo Bay when the first detainees arrived. From there it’s on to Savannah, Georgia where I’ll be attending the Iraq Veterans Against the War regional conference and working with as many veterans as I can from the southeast.

Jon Orlando
Jon Orlando Photography
www.jonorlandophoto.com
303-827-5434

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