For Iraq veterans: our gratitude is a poor substitute for taking the time to understand
Charles Anderson served in Iraq, but he doesn’t want to be thanked.
I did nothing in Iraq I consider honorable. I was a scared kid riding into a battle I didn’t understand. Our convoys streamed past thousands of starving children and people needing medical attention. Our tanks fired into villages and we battled among civilian populations that had committed no crime aside from being born in Iraq. There was no honor in this, only destruction and suffering saddled on a people that had already suffered more in the preceding fourteen years than most Americans suffer in a lifetime.
The above excerpt is from Anderson’s post on Huffpo. One way to understand what’s happening on the ground, according to Anderson, is to go see the newly released movie, “The Ground Truth.” Here’s how the filmakers describe the film:
The filmmaker’s subjects are patriotic young Americans - ordinary men and women who heeded the call for military service in Iraq - as they experience recruitment and training, combat, homecoming, and the struggle to reintegrate with families and communities.
