From Pride to Shame: Vets Return Their Medals

[LongTomH]

From Truth-out: From Pride to Shame: Vets Return Their Medals

The transition from pride to shame was a common theme among the more than forty veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who publicly hurled their medals in the direction of the NATO summit in Chicago on Sunday as part of a reconciliation ceremony. One by one, they explained their decision, many describing themselves as remaining proud to have served with what they considered courage, integrity and selflessness until a sense of unease about the missions' aims and tactics set in, making them now regard their participation in the wars as reprehensible, dishonorable and cause for remorse.

Greg Miller, an infantryman who served in Iraq in 2009, said, "The military hands out cheap tokens like this to soldiers, to service members, in an attempt to fill the void where their conscience used to be before they indoctrinate it out of you. But that didn't work on me."

Christopher May, a Mohawk on his head and tattoos on his arm, said, "I left the army as a conscientious objector. We were told that these medals represented democracy and justice and hope and change for the world ... These medals don't mean anything to me and they can have them back."