05.25.12 05.25.12 >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! memorial day special. honor the dead, stop the moors. that was the cry from a group of veterans on the streets of chicago. >> today i have with me my global war on terror metal, operation iraqi freedom medal, national defence metal. these once upon a time made me feel good about what i was doing, that i was doing the right thing.

i came back to reality and i do not want these anymore. >> scores of veterans hurled their medals toward the gate of the nato summit in chicago. and we hear from the victims of war on the battlefield abroad and at home. >> he was not killed in an accident. he was killed because of failed mental health care at an army base. >> all that and more, coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. today, we bring you in memorial day special, honor the dead, and he'll the wounded, stop the wars. that was the demand of veterans who gathered in chicago may 20 that the side of the nato summit. the veterans of the iraq and afghanistan wars, as well as women from afghans for peace, led a peace march of thousand of people to the summit gates.

iraq veterans against the war held a ceremony where more than 40 veterans hurled their war medals toward the gates of the nato summit. >> no nato, no war. we do not work for you know more. we do not kill for you know more. >> at this time, veterans of the boards will walk up on stage. they will tell us why they chose to return their medals to nato. i urge you to honor them by listening to their stories. nowhere else will you hear so many that thought these wars, from the journey of fighting the war is too demanding peace. some of those killed in a sense. some of us continue these wars from home. some of us watched our friends die. some of us are not here because we took our own lives.

we did not get the care promised to us by our government. all of us watched failed policies turn into bloodshed. listen to us, hear us, and think, was any of this worth it? >> no. >> do these medals thank us for a job well done? to the mast lies, corruption, and the abuse of young men and women who swore to defend their country? we care of this mask. hear us. >> i served in the marine corps. in january 2002, i deployed in support of operation enduring freedom. i want to tell the folks behind us, in these enclosed walls where they build more policies based on lies and fear, we no longer stand for their lives, their failed policies, and they're on just wars.

bring the troops home and and more now. they can have these back. >> i served in the army national guard for 12 years. all have to say is this is not something i'm proud of. >> i am from ohio. i served in the air force from 2000 to 22008. the military is where i learned what integrity meant. i believe i serve with integrity. at this point in my life, if i want to continue to live with integrity, i must get rid of these. >> my name is greg miller. i am a veteran of the united states industry. in an attempt to fill the void where their consciences to be once they indoctrinate it out of you, but that did not work on

me, so i am here to return my medals because they are both lies. >> my name is jerry, i am from new york city. i served in the army from 2005 through 2009. i fought in iraq. i am giving back my global war on terrorism service medal because i realize that it was just nothing but an idea made by a bunch of politicians, money hungry politicians who will do nothing and have a complete disregard for human life and will do everything in their power to just make more money. now, if it is just an idea, then it was just an idea that's part two more than i had to fight in, and i do not want any part of it anymore. i'd choose human life over war, militarism, and imperialism. >> i am an iraq war veteran.

i am turning in these medals today for the people of afghanistan, iraq, pakistan, and all victims of occupation run the world, and also, for all of the service members and veterans, you are not alone. >> my name is christopher made. i left the army as a conscientious objector. we were told that these medals presented democracy and justice , hope and change for the world. these medals represent a failure on behalf of the leaders of nato to accurately represent the will of their own people. they represent a failure on the leaders of nato to do what is right by the disenfranchised people of this world.

instead of helping them, they take advantage of them, and they are making things worse. i will not be a part of that anymore. these medals do not mean anything to me, and they can have them back. >> my name is ty. thank you all for coming out. i am releasing this medal because love is the most powerful force we can employ as human beings on this planet. we cannot love holding weapons. >> i was a sergeant in iraq in 2003. what i saw their crushed me. i do not want to have to suffer this again and i do not want our children to suffer this again. so i am giving these bac. >> i was a sergeant in the army, did two tours in iraq. no amount of medals, ribbons,

and fliers could mask the amount of suffering. we want our human rights, our rights to heal. >> i graduated high school in 2002. how well the of enlisting in the coast guard. four years in active duty. i started to feel guilty because my friends were going on multiple deployments and i was doing things as an 18-year-old, led by men 10 years older than getting in trouble for the same thing that the secret service agents just did. i see people in the water floating, asking why there are leaving. i go into the national guard and sign up for a one-year contract.

they sent me to new mexico for one month and then to vermont, and then after that i was an infantryman. then i spent six months driving a truck in iraq playing god after two weeks of infantry training. fortunately, we were redeployed early. since then, i have used the g.i. bill to study political science. one of the first brands i made is palestinian. i spent the summer in the west bank. for the first time, i've learned what it feels like to be on the receiving end when i was teargassed in a little village south of ramallah. i apologize. my favorite poet says affirm life. that is exactly what we have to do. the only metal i will keep is the humanitarian service medal when i was in new orleans. >> i was in the u.s. navy, i am

a gi resistor. i received an honorable discharge. i am on a roll and all of the gi resistors that refuse to fight an unjust war is honorable. this is for all of the gi resisters of unjust mores. >> my name is mark. how i just want to say thank you for being understanding, inviting, and wonderful, even these guys in black and blue. good conduct medal. >> i am dick crawford. i went to iraq and afghanistan. when they gave these may metals, i knew they were meaningless. i only regret not speaking up on how silly the more was sooner. i am giving these up. free bradley manning. >> my name is jason heard. i spent 10 years in the army as a combat medic.

i deployed to baghdad in 2004. i am here to return my global war on terrorism service medal in solidarity with people of iraq and afghanistan. i am deeply sorry for the destruction we have caused in those countries and around the world. i am proud to stand on this stage with my fellow veterans and afghan sisters. i am giving them back. >> my name is chris. i was part of the invasion of iraq in 2003. out of love and respect for the iraqi people and the people of the afghanistan, i will return these representations of hate and destruction back where they came from. >> my name is taken. i was in the air force. i'd join the military so i could go to college because it is the working class that fights the

ruling class' wars, but i'm not fighting for improve islam -- imperialism any more. this is for all of the people that are under attack from the fbi. >> my name is raymond. i am here to return my medals. nato, the usa government, and israel need to be held accountable for the genocide, torture, and drone attacks. i am returning my medals. they can have them. >> i am a two time iraq combat veteran. i am dedicating these to the children of iraq and afghanistan who millar have fathers and mothers. >> i was a nuclear biological chemical specialist for a war that did not have any weapons of mass destruction. i deserted.

i am one of 40,000 people that left the united states armed forces, because this is a lie. >> i am from wisconsin. i was a foreign observer in the u.s. army for just under five years. i deployed to sadr city, iraq in 2005. i am giving back my medals for the children of iraq and afghanistan. maybe able to forgive us for what we did to them, may we begin to heal, and may we live in peace from here until eternity. >> i am from atlanta of. the reason i am throwing my medals back is because we are the global 99%, and we refuse to be silent. from egypt, back here to chicago. >> my name is michael thurmond. i was a conscientious objector

from the united states air force. i am returning my global war on terrorism metal and my military calling on behalf of private first class bradley manning. who sacrificed everything to show us the truth about these wars. >> i am from columbus, ohio. i now reside in the beautiful city of chicago, illinois. today is not quite as beautiful because nato is here. i am here to return my medals because i cannot stand in solidarity with my brothers and sisters of iraq and afghanistan as long as i wear them. >> my name is sabrina. i deployoyed under nato orders o cause a vote in 1999. i also mother of an 11-year-old. for over 10 years of his life i have been waging war.

the only five i want to participate in is to make sure that my son and his generation never has to fight in another war. >> i served in the u.s. army in 2004. i am returning my medal today because under the guise of freedom and democracy, i stole the freedom away from the iraqi people. we are on the right side of history. >> i served in the u.s. marine corps from 2001 through 2006, iraq twice. i am turning in my campaign service medal and a global war on terror service and expeditionary medal or all of my brothers and sisters suffering from traumatic brain injury, ptsd, and sexual problems. >> my name is brian. i am from kentucky. i am a former sergeant of the

u.s. army. proud member of iraq veterans against the war. i am taking all of these off. i encourage you. >> i have not been to convince of anything over the last seven years except for the fact that i am hurting. i have three daughters. i am convinced, looking across this crowd of people, that my daughters will have peace. >> my name is jack. i am an iraq war veteran from milwaukee, wisconsin. i am giving back my medals today because i feel like i was duped into an illegal war that was sold to me on the guys that i would be liberating the iraqi people, but instead of liberating the people, i was the burning their oil fields.

-- liberating their oilfields. >> i served in the military for almost eight years as a sergeant. i am returning this medal today because it is time to restore america's honor and renounce this war on terror. >> i am from the mountains in arkansas. i am a three-tour veteran of the afghan war, paratrooper and sgt. i have one ward for this global war on terrorism decoration, and that is shame. >> my name is scott olsen. with me today are my global war on terror metal, operation iraqi freedom medal, national defence metal, and a real good conduct medal. once upon a time, these may me feel good and when i was doing, that i was doing the right

thing, but i came back to reality. i do not want these anymore. >> my name is joshua and i'm from chicago. i am here to tell you, i blame myself first. i should have done my homework, realized allies before i participated in them. this symbolic act of throwing away my medals is for all those people out there wondering why we are doing it. do your homework. >> i am from auburn, alabama. i am here to say that war is a racket. >> my name is tom dennis. i served in the army. i have ptsd. i am returning my navy and marine corps achievement medal because they were given to me because of dedication and setting an example. i was a hard worker because i'm very my ptsd and overworked

myself in the military. i am throwing this back and invoking my right to appeal. >> my name is michael. i was in the navy from 1998 to 2006. i am returning my medals today because i want to live by my consciousness, not being a prisoner of it. >> i participated in the invasion of iraq and afghanistan. i was wrong to assign myself of for that. i apologize to the iraqi and afghan people for destroying your countries. >> my name is joshua shepherd, i spent six years in the navy. these are not mine. they never were. they are instruments of control from this government. i will not continue to trade my humanity for faults heroism. >> my name is broca mcintosh. i was in the army national guard and served in afghanistan from

november 2008 until august 2009. two months ago, i visited the monument at ground zero for the first time with two afghans. a tragic monument. i am going to toss this medal today for the 33,000 civilians had died in afghanistan that will not have a monument built for them. this is for the afghan youth peace volunteers. >> my name is john anderson. i did two deployments in iraq. all of this destruction was not necessary. now we will bring it to an end. they know that the world is possible. we are unstoppable. we are unstoppable. >> i am an army veteran. i spent a good amount of time in iraq and afghanistan. i want everyone to look around,

look next to you, i'm talking about the police officers, everyone out here. there are thousands of people out here for something important. we are having a conversation for the first time in a long time. for many of us, for the first time. i want to say, all of us, in some way or another, are trying to serve this great land we are in, but it is only great because of what we do in it. sometimes we make mistakes. the way we change that, we admit our mistakes and take responsibility for our mistakes, and we change and we become better, together. i am global -- returning my global war on terrorism medal because i do not fight wars on adjectives. >> i served with the united states marine corps. first inform most, this is for the people of iraq and afghanistan. second of all, this is for our

real forefathers. i am talking about the student nonviolent coordinating committee, the black panthers, the civil rights movement, unions, i'm talking about our socialist brothers and sisters, our communist brothers and sisters, our anarchist presence sisters, and our ecology brothers and sisters. that is to our real for fathers are. and last week, and most importantly, our enemies are not 7,000 miles from home. they sit in board rooms, they are ceo's, they are bankers, hedge fund managers. they do not live 7,000 miles from home. our enemies are right here and we look at them every day. they are not the men and women standing on this police line. they are the military and billion years to control this planet. we have had enough of this. they can take their medals back. >> i am here on behalf of six

good americans who really wanted to be here but they could not be. when they came to the u.s. border, they would be immediately arrested. the crime they would be arrested for would be refusing to continue to participate in the crimes against people of iraq and afghanistan. these good americans, who are exiled now from this country, who deserve amnesty, private christian car of the marine corps, a timber vera, are made, refused to redeploy into iraq. corbeling jerry brock, u.s. marine corps. reviewed three deployment to iraq. specialist tim duncan. combat infantry badge, paratrooper. refuse to redeploy to afghanistan. sgt corey glass. army. refused redeployment to iraq. sergeant chris bessie, a

paratrooper. refused the redeployment of afghanistan. i have their awards in my pocket and i am throwing them back mad as hell p.m. i served in illinois are regard in 2002 through 2006. this medal is for anthony weiner. he died last year. -- anthony weiner. -- wagoner. this medal is for the one-third of the women who are sexually assaulted by their peers. we say we stand up for our sisters and afghanistan, but cannot even stand up for them here. this medal here is because i'm sorry, to all of you. i'm sorry.

>> i was part of the invasion of iraq in 2003 and afghanistan 2011. believe me, i was a soldier. i was squared away. i really believe in this mission. i learned the army values. loyalty, to be, respect, helpless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage. after my experience, i realized there is no integrity. integrity, do what is legally and morally in love right, and we failed. there is no honor in these wars. they are just saying is. >> and veterans of the mores of iraq, afghanistan, and vietnam hurling their war medals toward the gates of the nato summit in chicago. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and

peace report. as we bring you this memorial day special, honor the dead, she'll the wounded, stop the wars. [♪] [♪] >> worldwide rebel songs by tom

morello. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we return to the stage outside of the nato summit in chicago where scores of veterans gathered to protest nato's wars. >> we will begin our ceremony with a folding of the flag. this american flag flew over nato military operations in bosnia, cosimo, afghanistan, iraq, and libya. this flag represents 50% as of nato's founding and is responsible for intimidation, beginning with the escalation of the cold war. this flag represents the ongoing

suffering and pain caused by nato wars and occupations carried out by u.s. and nato forces against oppressed people of the world. this flag flew over afghanistan standing as a constant reminder to the afghan people and they were being occupied by a foreign imperial power. this flag flew over libya and came by the way of drones, bombs, bullets, and grenades. this flag is tripped over the coffins of thousands of americans killed in combat and thousands more who have committed suicide after returning home from service. currently, 18 veterans commit suicide each day. we retire this flag and give it to those who often suffer silently in wars, at home and abroad. military families and those who

lost something who can never be given back. mary mourn the loss of her son has to thousands of parents in the country. >> after she was presented with the american flag, i spoke with mary kirkland, mother of derek. deering join the army in 2007 since it was not earning enough money. during his second deployment to iraq, he attempted suicide for the first time. mary describes what happened next. >> he was on his second deployment in iraq, probably at the six-month mark. i do not know exactly what caused it, but he ended up with a shotgun in his mouth in iraq. one of his buddies stopped him. and they got him help while he was there, transferred him to the hospital in germany, where

he stayed for about a week and half. they sent him back to his four -- home base of fort lewis. he came back on a monday after two failed suicide attempts in a three-week period, kept him overnight in the hospital for one night, there at the army hospital at fort lewis. he met with the psychiatrist the next day who deemed into the low to moderate risk for suicide. his only restriction was that he was not to be around any weapons and cleared him to go into the barracks room by himself, of which i found out after talking to the veterans, was illegal. he tried to kill himself again

on thursday night. he got back on the 15th, killed himself on the 19th. on the thursday, on the 18th, he had bought some rum, was drinking with the medication that he just gave them -- him, anti-depressants, sleep medicines, and then he cut himself. he had bloodstains all over his room. it was not successful, so he got up friday morning and bandaged himself. one of the things that he wrote before he hung himself was, i feel invisible.

i feel like i'm transparent. nobody walked into the room on friday to see the blood stains. derrick did not hang himself -- the last time they saw him was friday night at 10:00. they found him saturday morning. if anybody would have walked in the room on that friday -- leadership was not even checking up on him. his mother got woken up at 6:30 and i was told that my son was dead. he got back on monday. i let my guard down. i thought he was safe.

the army called it a miscommunication, that is why my son is dead. >> when did he in last? >> january 2007. >> and why did he in this? >> he had a wife and child. he was a coke at ihop. he did not make enough money, he went to an army recruiter who promised him benefits and all of this. he just wanted to support his family. >> what were those two taurus like in iraq? >> the first one lasted for 15 months. that is when they changed it. they had to stay there for 15 months. before he went, always laughing,

always a jokester. when he got back in june, the sparkle was not in his eyes anymore. he liked to skateboard, played guitar. >> did you want him to go into the military? >> at that point in time i agree with it. my daughter and my other younger son had joined. their father was an army. their grandfather was in the army and navy. my father was in the navy, two brothers in the navy. we thought it was an honorable thing to go into the military. >> what happened when he went for his second tour of duty.

>> in between getting home, he came home on leave. i did not know what i know now about posttraumatic stress disorder, the symptoms, but looking back -- conversation like, i am murderer. i told him, no, you're in a war. there is a difference from being in war and just going up onto the streets and killing somebody. that is a murderer. he had trouble sleeping, was drinking. >> was he drinking a lot before he enlisted? >> he drank, but not overly. party-type drinking, hanging at with his friends.

of course, you have to realize i only got to spend about three days with him while he was home on leave. like i said, i missed it. i should have asked more questions or -- i do not know. that is the question that i have been asking to veteran that i encountered. wh can i do to help you? >> when did you start asking the questions after derrick died? what brought you here to this summit? >> on march 27, 2010 is when we buried derek. he is buried at marion national cemetery, about 50 miles from

indianapolis. as we were leaving, i stopped at a gas station and i got a newspaper to see if they had written anything. they had a picture with the patriots guard and then underneath it said that the department of defense said that there was killed in action and that the family had declined to comment. that was two lies right there. derrick was not killed in an accident. he was killed because of failed mental health care at an army base in fort lewis. from day one i would have commented.

he was still legally married. at first, they tried to tell me that i was not the next of kin. you need to get permission from his wife or hire an attorney. to be honest, there were a few drunken nights where i made phone calls and i started to get some paperwork but it just started with flies -- lies. i ask them, 1 dekalb to get some paperwork, i ask them, did the department of defense -- they said that derrick was killed in action. they said, it was probably a mistake from the newspaper or

they did not want to embarrass the family. i am not a saint. the military failed to give my son proper mental health treatment. they have not even treated our vietnam veterans. now we're in the next generation. i am here today to cause i do not want my grandchildren, after i'm dead and gone, to have to march through the streets of chicago. >> do you have a message for president obama and for the nato generals here at the summit? >> actually, i have seen a lot of t-shirts. honor the dead, he'll the wounded, stop the wars. >> mary kirkland, the mother of

derek. he committed suicide in fort lewis, washington in 2010 after two tours of duty in iraq. back on the protest staged outside at the nato summit, scott olsen declared -- >> my name is scott olsen. i have with me today my global war on terror medal, operation iraqi freedom medal, national defence medal, and marine could conduct medal. at one time, and these may me feel good, i was doing the right thing, but i came back to reality. i do not want these anymore. >> like the riot police flanking the stage, scott olsen also wore a helmet. he is recovering from a fractured skull after being shot in the head with a beanbag projectile. he was shot at an occupied open event last fall where he was

protesting. >> my name is scott olsen. i came here to chicago to return my medals to nato. and to be there for my other brothers and sisters who are going through the same thing as i did, and returning those metals, i think, was a big step for all of us to take. it is something that we all had to do together. >> what medals did you return? >> the global war on terror medal, operation iraqi freedom medal, national defence medal, and marine good conduct medal. >> that is a lot of medals. you served two tours. when did you invest and when did you go to iraq? >> i am officially after graduating high school in 2005.

in 2006, i went to iraq for my first time and we were set into stage for the surge. then again in 2008. >> what was your experience like? >> my experience in iraq -- it was not right. i thought we were over there doing good things, helping these people have democracy, a functional country. at the same time, protecting our country. every day i spent over there, i found that that was not necessarily the case. i did not see us doing any good work. we were not doing anything that we said we would do. instead, we killed hundreds of thousands of civilians. we tore their nation a parked. >> when you came back after the second time, what did you decide to do? >> i decided there was no way i

was going to reenlist. i was not going to participate in the system anymore. >> let's talk about the second part of this journey were you ended up at occupy oakland. >> after i got out, i found iraq veterans against the war and started to participate in actions with them, started to make friends with other veterans and started to think the way that i did. i went up to the wisconsin protest last year. that really made me see the true power of being part of a community that is try to change things for the better. i saw occupy as the next after that, as a continuance of that. it is something that i was

waiting for, something that a lot of people were waiting for. >> and so what happened to you at occupy? >> october 25, i went to a protest in oakland at night. these people had just been removed from their encampment. i thought we had a right to be there, that we have the right to have our voices heard. a police officer shot the in the head with a beanbag around and a fractured my skull. >> ddc the officer? >> i did not. it came out of nowhere, from my side. >> how do you know it was a bean bag? >> we had a test done and the test results revealed that the whatrn was consistent waith

they would have looked like with a beanbag. >> how long were you in the hospital? you had a fractured skull. >> right. i was in the hospital for two and half weeks. i could not talk while i was in the hospital until last few days when i regained being able to talk again. i had neurosurgery, scall reconstructive surgery. it was hard to be in the hospital, a lot to go through. i am really glad that i committed myself to getting better. >> how did you go from occupy oakland and hospital, rehab, to this nato summit, willing to face whatever you might face here? >> i am not going to let their

actions stop me. i am not going to let that keep me home. i will make every effort icahn -- i can to show them that we are doing right thing, we are in the right. it does not matter what they do to anyone of us. we have each other's back and we are going forward. >> and to see the police, the riot police with their helmets, police officers on horseback? >> that still always gets to me. they are always trying to intimidate us, keep our numbers down, keep families home. people do not want to bring their kids out when there is the threat of violence. that is what that represents to me. that is why i was wearing my helmet today. i cannot be too safe.

anything could happen. i was wearing a helmet for my safety. i have to do that every time i go out to protest, where there is a threat of violence from the police. >> because? >> because they have been using violence across the country and they still do and people are still getting hurt. >> and if you hit again in the head? >> since i had a reason brain injury, another hit would probably be dead the or cause much more damage. i cannot take that risk. >> lance corporal scott olsen, after two tours of duty in iraq, he came back to this country and serve his country in a different way. he protested at occupy oakland. it was there that he was shot in the head by a police projectile almost ended his life. he is now recovering from a

fractured skull. he was one of more than 40 veterans who hurled their war medals at the two gates in chicago. [♪] [♪] >> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. today, we bring you a memorial day special. honor the dead, he'll the

wounded, stop the wars. that was the cry of iraq veterans against the war as they hurled their war medals toward the gates of the nato summit. shortly before the women's of afghans for peace led a protest in chicago, i had the chance to conduct an interview with them. >> we are a local afghan-led peace movement speaking out against the occupation and war in afghanistan. we are here to protest nato and call on the two representatives to end this inhumane, the legal, marbury or against our home country and people. >> my name is gramm. i spent three years in the military and deploy to afghanistan. >> burke when were you in afghanistan? >> 2005, 2006. >> where were you in afghanistan? >> abbottabad and the july bond area. >> where is your family from?

>> my family is from four different provinces. i was born in kabul. i left afghanistan in 1988 as a refugee of the soviet war. >> and you are standing next to an american soldier. >> i am honored to be able to stand next to the veteran. in my opinion, they are now doing the right thing and speaking out against the occupation and war, alongside us today. we will be marching with them at the rally. we will be with them during the reconciliation event towards the end as well. >> as we speak here near the nato summit, amnesty international is holding what they are calling an alternative summit. madeleine albright is addressing them. they have these adds up that basically congratulate nato, talking about continuing the progress with women in afghanistan. what is your response to that? >> that is a ridiculous joke.

there are not there to liberate afghanistan women. you can that liberal women through the occupation, war, bombs, tanks, weapons. that is not how you do it. it is quite offensive to me as an afghan woman. >> how do you do it? >> many to be empowered. they need to focus their priorities on basic human needs. education, health care. those would be the top two. we also need to focus on reconciliation efforts and reparations as well. >> when did you sign up for the military? >> after 9/11 in the summer of 2003. >> when did your view start changing of what were you were doing in afghanistan? >> during the deployment we saw that what we saw in the television in the chow hall about the war was much different from the reality on the ground. we were taking casualties on a weekly basis and other units are

doing the same. we could see when we entered a home, even if there was not a terrorist there before, they were when we left. your radicalizing the population because of our presence. >> you are wearing a medal. what is this for? >> this is the global war on terror medal. >> what will you be doing it today? >> i will be turning back to the generals it in nato. i reject what it means and any affiliation with this war. >> why? >> this war has changed so many lives, it has changed my own, hers, so many hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people. i joined because i wanted to help women, and be the patriarchal savior who came in to fix the problems. i did not understand that i was making the problems worse. >> what is the reconciliation that will happen today between

u.s. military and afghans for peace? >> part of this process is starting the process of reconciliation, which means we are actually listening to each other, practicing active listening. we have a long way to go to overcome a lot of the guilt and shame that we as soldiers and veterans feel for what we participated in. we want to start creating instead of destroying. >> it is the first time and afghan-led peace movement is working with a veteran-led peace movement. this is the beginning of something new and something better. reconciliation and peace. >> they were part of a reconciliation ceremony that concluded the march on the nato summit. graham went on to throw his medals at the nato gates, along with 40 other veterans of the iraq war and afghanistan.

we end the show with a song called "hero of war." it was performed on the hot asphalt but has also been produced into a video which has been viewed more than 13 million times online. [♪] [♪] black leather boots spit shine so bright they cut my hair but it looks all right

we marched down with tanks we all became friends as we learn how to fight a hero of former that is what i will be and when i come home they will be damn proud of me i will carry this flag because it is the flag that i loved and a flag that i trust i kick in the door, i yell my command the children they cry, but i have got my hand we took him away, a bag over his face from his family and friends

they took off his clothes i told them to stop but then i joined him we beat him with guns and batons not just once but again and again a hero of war that's what all be and when i come home, they will be damn proud of me i will carry this flag to the grave if i must it is the flag that i love and a flag that i trust

she walked, in haste i asked her to stop, i begged her to stay but she pressed on so i lifted my guns i fired away and the shells jumped through the smoke and into the sand and blood now had soaked she collapsed with the flag in your hand, a flag white as snow a hero of war is that what they see medals ansgar's and there are damn proud of me

i brought home that flag and now it gathers dust but it is the flag that i love, and the only flat i trust is said, son, have you seen the world what would you say if i said that you could >> chicago musician tim mcgilrath. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. email your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693, new york, ny 10013. box 693, new york, ny 10013.