Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 3 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds   

My Son, Back from Iraq, Lives on Tower on National Mall

By Mary Hanna  Posted by David Swanson (about the submitter)       (Page 1 of 1 pages)   No comments
Follow Me on Twitter     Message David Swanson

remarks at press conference on August 31, 2007, in Charlottesville, Va.

[photos, audio, video, media coverage: http://afterdowningstreet.org/maryhanna ]

It's been said that people fear public speaking more than death. I can definitely attest to that. I'm extremely nervous and inexperienced with this, so please bear with me.

My son, Evan Knappenberger, is a former Albemarle High School student and a veteran of the Iraq War. As I speak these words, he is sitting in a makeshift guard tower on the Mall in Washington DC, protesting the US military's stop-loss policy, which is the involuntary extension of soldier's active duty enlistment time.

When he joined the Army in 2003, Evan had high aspirations for serving his country and bringing comfort to the Iraqi people who had suffered under the rule of Saddam Hussein. He was looking forward to lending his talent and intellect to the fight against terrorism. My husband and I also had hopes that Army service would equip Evan with skills and experience that would serve him well in life, and money to undertake his college career.

What Evan found in the Army and in Iraq was very different from what he expected – especially with regard to how the military honors its promises. He had been promised a career as an intelligence analyst and ended up spending 97 consecutive days exposed on a guard tower and countless hours of other dangerous work for which he had not been trained .

In April of this year, Evan got out of the service. Deeply troubled by what he had experienced there, and distressed by what his friends in the Army were still enduring, he cast about for some way to move his life forward. Evan joked that his first Tower Guard protest, in Bellingham Washington in June, was as much self-help therapy as a political protest; but in bringing attention to this shameful practice, an involuntary conscription that sends honorable men and women back into harm's way again and again, sometimes long past the end of their contracted enlistment – Evan is doing everything in his power to bring relief to the people with whom he served.

I am proud of my son and what he is doing.

I was raised, and in turn raised my children, to believe that we have a moral obligation to stand up for what we believe is right. And to be a voice for those who are unable to speak for themselves. This is exactly what Evan is doing with his Towerguard vigil against stop loss.

The Pentagon justifies all sorts of things by claiming this is a volunteer Army - you hear that all the time. But if soldiers' tours can be involunarily extended, it is NOT a volunteer Army. My son came home from Iraq alive. There are almost 4,000 mothers who cannot say that, and some of their sons and daughters dies serving on an involuntary basis.

In 2003, the same year Evan joined the Army, we moved into this quiet, old fashioned neighborhood. On a warm summer evening, it's easy to come home, settle into our suburban comforts, and forget about the young Americans sacrificing so much, half a world away in Iraq. But Evan has not forgotten those people, and I cannot honorably do so either. I call on all my neighbors and friends to add their voices to my voice – and to Evan's.

Rate It | View Ratings

David Swanson Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

David Swanson is the author of "When the World Outlawed War," "War Is A Lie" and "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union." He blogs at http://davidswanson.org and http://warisacrime.org and works for the online (more...)
 
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact EditorContact Editor
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Obama's Open Forum Opens Possibilities

Public Forum Planned on Vermont Proposal to Arrest Bush and Cheney

Feith Dares Obama to Enforce the Law

Did Bush Sr. Kill Kennedy and Frame Nixon?

Can You Hold These 12 Guns? Don't Shoot Any Palestinians. Wink. Wink.

Eleven Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Military

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend