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Veterans speak out
Soldiers returning from Iraq visited UMD Wednesday to share thoughts on the current War and situation in the Middle East
BY LISA KUNKEL
STATESMAN STAFF WRITER
ISSUE: 78/20
ALEXANDER SUSUKI / STATESMAN
Iraq War Veterans Brandon Day (left) and Daniel Fanning (right) fielded questions from the audience Wednesday about their experiences overseas.
Iraq war veterans took the stage last night speaking out about their beliefs and oppositions of the U.S. involvement in the war. Amongst the veterans, was Brandon Day, an engineering student at the University of Minnesota. Approximately 50 people gathered in UMD Life Science 175 to hear what the veterans had to say in the event titled “Iraq Veterans Speak Out,” which was hosted by UMD Students for Peace. In the audience were over 10 veterans, who too were not shy to share their stories and views of the war in Iraq.
The Northland Anti-war Coalition (NAWC) and Iraq Veterans Against the War, were also sponsors of the event. “The NWAC just tries to reach as many people as we can with information about how the war is impacting the country,” said Carl Sack of the NWAC. “The longer we’re over there, the more destruction we cause. It’s a huge impact on American life but it’s even a bigger impact on Iraqi life.” The veterans’ purpose was to reach out to other veterans in hopes that they too will choose to educate the public. Along with UMD, the College of St. Scholastica and the University of Wisconsin-Superior were also visited by the veterans.
Day, who served two years in Iraq, joined for a reason that, he said, is common amongst many soldeirs.
“I joined after Sept. 11 out of patriotism and a sense of duty,” Day said. “One of the things I noticed was that we did a lot of walking around and even when people would ask for help, we couldn’t offer it. That’s when I asked myself, ‘why are we here?’” Day, along with the other speakers, shared emotional stories of their war memories. Day recalled the moment he questioned his reason for being in Iraq, when a fellow soldier, who he went to basic training with, was killed in an attack.
“It was me that pulled that body out of the truck,” Day said. “That’s when it started to crystallize to me, to start looking at the legitimacy of this war … what are we here for?” From the moment Day returned from home from serving, he made a decision to voice his opinions about it. “When I got back, I was so angry I thought my head was going to explode,” he said. “I’m going to keep speaking out against this war. I just think it’s wrong.”
Daniel Fanning, former transportation specialist with the Wisconsin Army National Guard and Wes Davey, retiree of a 28-year career in the U.S. Army, were also guest speakers. “I signed up after Sept. 11 thinking we were going to go after real enemy,” Fanning said. However, Fanning soon realized that those intentions weren’t what he had imagined and began speaking out against the war already while over seas. “They haven’t been able to shut me up since,” Fanning said. Fanning also made it clear that, like most situations, people have mixed opinions.
Audience member, Jared Hinks, who too spent time overseas, felt that the negatives of the war were not the only thing that should be discussed. He believed there are also positive things happening that the media doesn’t portray. Fanning and Day, however, said they never once witnessed the positives. “I’d be hard-pressed to think of anything we did that was positive while we were there,” Day said. “It was a chance to do good and it was a good we didn’t do.” Fanning said he didn’t feel obligated to mention anything positive because it’s not what he believes. “I don’t feel the sense of obligation to lie,” he said. “I didn’t see a lot of progress. I saw a country that was better off when we got there than when we left.”
Hinks agreed that he didn’t witness any positives first-hand either. However, he felt the positive things were still happing, just by higher authorities, and that those things needed to be displayed as well. During the nearly two-hour presentation, audience members were asked to read the names of Minnesota soldiers killed while serving. Davey, who is also the co-founder of the Minnesota chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War, felt that being a “hard-ass” war veteran, which is often expected of him, wasn’t always possible when hearing these names and recalling those lives lost.
“I’ve cried with the families … I’ve cried with the widows … and I don’t want to hear anymore names,” he said.
UMD sophomore Nichole Wentzlaff, was passionate about her reasons for attending the event. “I’ve got a bunch of friends from high school in the military,” she said. “I worry for their safety and for the lives of the Iraqis. I think we’ve been really discredited by our president’s actions and involvement in Iraq.”
Wentzlaff is also the co-founder of UMD Students for Peace, which consists of twelve active members who participate in protests and other various events to speak out about their oppositions on the war.
Lisa Kunkel is at
kunke032@d.umn.edu
