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Courage to Resist. 9:23 min. November 11, 2007
Nathan Burden joined the U.S. Army right out of high school. Soon after he was in, he learned that his recruiter had propositioned his mother. Troubled by what he viewed as a personal betrayal and a betrayal of his family, Nathan went to his commanding officer with the information. The commanding officer did not act, and the recruiter was promoted.
Nathan began to feel that being ignored and disrespected and used was an all too common experience of GIs, and at the same time, began to question why the U.S. was sending GIs to Iraq. After seven months in the military, Nathan went AWOL. In this interview, he speaks about his disillusionment with the Army.
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Courage to Resist. 11:27 min. November 11, 2007
When Brad McCall joined the Army, he was enthusiastic about becoming a soldier and doing what he could to serve his country. After basic training, Brad was sent to Ft. Carson, Colorado, where GIs just back from Iraq told stories of violence against civilians that made him literally sick to his stomach. At that point, he began to rethink his decision to join the military as well as to look more critically at the ways the U.S. government has justified the war and occupation.
Brad determined that he was a conscientious objector and that he could never participate in the kind of violence he was hearing about. He applied for conscientious objector status and was denied. So he chose to go AWOL and make his way to Canada, where like other GI resisters in that country, he is awaiting a decision about his application for refugee status.
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Courage to Resist. 24:37 min. November 1, 2007
Like many young people who join the Army, Ryan Johnson was seeking a way out of low-paying, dead-end jobs, as well as a chance to serve his country and receive money for college. Once in the military, Ryan began hearing heard many stories from GIs returning from Iraq and began to examine more critically what the U.S. is doing there.
During training, Ryan experienced a serious injury to his back but was told by the Army to wait until he got to Iraq to have it treated. That medical neglect, along with his growing opposition to the war, led Ryan to the decision to go AWOL shortly before his unit deployed. He eventually made his way to Canada where he met up with other GI resisters. Today he lives with his wife Jennifer in Nelson, British Columbia, where he works with Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resister Support Campaign while he awaits a decision on his application for refugee status.
This was our first audio interview. The technical quality is a little rough.
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