started. twenty years ago. and.

have a right to know. the. border control. agreements visa free travel. a shipment of weapons intended for. the first part of our special report on a former war correspondent who's taking

a walk of almost a thousand kilometers in a bid to talk people out of conflict. we . do.

what i came home it was amazing i was honestly one of the best friends of my life i thought i was going to pass out i was so happy. there was my wife and my daughter that i had seen her here and it was just almost too good to be true it was going to . at the same time there was only so wonderful because it's been the last year away from them in iraq which was terrible and so when a t.v. camera man came up to me and asked me some questions i told him out of the bat it's a i'm really glad to be home i'm proud of my service but i am against or in iraq and i know that some family members and some friends weren't pleased that i said that i thought it was maybe inappropriate at the time but if every soldier comes home and they just say that they're glad to be home the nuns going to know the

truth about what's going on in iraq. just. puts a. slight enlisted listening to the push happen that states will simply . get him in so many people on the field one hundred plus the two senior misses you know maybe it was. a. little sleep in the middle east. please. please. let. me.

save. the life of. my whole life and whatever i've tried to do i've tried to unite the will of the spirit to the work of the flesh or that's a spiritual journey my spirituality which all of us have to. have to deal with whether you call that or not call it conscience i was never an aft in the last. letters because i didn't think i learned how and then i died after casein had been . killed for about three weeks my daughter menopause. and in the last couple of hindsight if we the people let them continue another mother will mean i have a duty to lease the least you know till people buy store. it's the guys who are stuck where you. go back there is they're fine for us so

a house fire. in your house. people like us if i didn't object to some obvious injustice i couldn't live with myself i thought well i can't make a difference at least i'm going to try at least some of them on my deathbed and say at least i tried to make a difference when i thought we were getting deployed we were living in ohio so we just threw everything in a van and moved back home so now everything's kind of settled and i'm getting out of the army. and i have to go through all this crap and figure out what's the stuff i keep what's the stuff i turn back to the unit. so i can get out without paying too much money. i'm going to do this. they are back from morocco on july twenty fourth that's the day utah celebrates its statehood and so you know there's like tons of fireworks parades and things like that it was a bad day to come home as a soldier as well it sounds when it's really jittery in the middle of i'd wake up

and i would think it was still racked. he called me one night and said when i come home i have to do something to help end this war spending the year in iraq as a military journalist i saw so much waste going on with u.s. contractors i saw so many soldiers not having a clear mission they're just kind of wasting their time trying not to get killed for a year and then i talked to so many iraqis and they said they wanted the u.s. presence gone can you just watch the movie i guess or not part of the lie and he told me that i watch it so i kind of understand some of the feeling seals coming from i felt a connection to ron coding you know he was this this special you've been protesting war for decades you know and i focused on i was finding his footsteps i heard you correctly back not just the horses for his crazy idea and then n.p.r.

. well family member said it was really a dream i just said i'm going to spank him it's hard because protesting is kind of a paradox you need to do something crazy enough to get the media and people to pay attention to you at the same time it can be so crazy that people think you're insane and you lose all credibility he kept thinking of these ridiculous ideas and illegal things like. south sudan places going on a hunger strike and then finally it came to me i thought oh walk the link that you thought it would be about five hundred miles it would take me about twenty seven days and we were going to publicize it and have people invited to come with us i could to hopefully speak with people started to bait have a dialogue and sort of just. chanting a slogan or waving a sign in someone's face and i figured walking it's pretty normal i think people

walk every day right it's not too bizarre it's not going to do this you're right if you are right on to something very simple we're such non-controversial. everything. look. for us this is really a been raised and during the vietnam era when the peaceniks were a bunch of weird people they were hippies and and into drugs and that kind of stuff and i just didn't want my son to be associated with that kind of a thing but. he really felt that. he needed to stop. the read a statement he should have the highest approval ratings for bush and for the war and it's my home state so i think this is the best place to do it and marshall is of utah ease of the predominant faith she says she's he looks like a normal utah he's not on the fringe he's not being mean so. state of utah as

a whole i think is extremely conservative by that term i mean resistant to change still really like george bush and like him as a guy they would mind having a glass of milk with them or if they're that kind of time i support president bush totally with sending all the people out to fight for our country because that's what it's all about our support bush. and others because you are purposely. this is because if you ma'am up her him one of them one of the. command had one of the new now don't know whether it is. an eight or shad eight hear them bob don't know which one it is but one of them shady things liberal if you meant disease. i'd won the fight not like what about right kev i disagree with him it's not just age isn't good net effect got diseases can be cured. i mean you're starting out you want to

spread the word and let people know you have no budget no influence no connections how do you do that. citizenry here's. a. shit load. that's the. funny thing is a. shit load it streams. for. it. oh it tends to stop press releases we've got a website a network news with six hundred invited politicians from both parties i talked to an orthopedic doctor i talked to the physical trainer to be publicized that we got permits to walk over protesting the students so my family and friends together they

all chipped in everyone can seem to use their towns in your abilities to keep this free moment i also went through local rituals. but the meanest thing anybody's ever said driving by your mother that it's a pretty bad you can imagine that a lot of where we have libeled that may help but that one other person all. because i think it is very important i think the president needs to be there every week to remind people that morning. and said something looked. good but let's. look at it looking. for the long. haul it looks like to. look if.

it looks good. but there are still here i'd like to know why not appreciate it good to know your friends from her hold you close have they never been there for you no more you look like they are they don't they have no idea what i've been on the ground i thought i've heard. but they are here for why we're there. i just think you have some communication and i need to take it with you don't offer country we don't support the troops you support. but i wish the troops were doing peace making. amy goodman is the host of democracy now its really popular news program and she was coming to town to do a book signing she's come to salt lake three people independently one of them told her hey while you're here in salt lake you should interview this army sergeant she calls up that night and we were expecting to hear the next day we were down there in salt lake doing interviews even goodman is going to announce. today ted

democracy now exposed to army reservist marshall thompson dispensing year in iraq working as a military journalist the son of a former you time they are he now plans to walk across his home state in the nation to protest war at this point it doesn't matter why we got into the war or what the partisan politics were about what matters is that two soldiers die every day on average and any anyway that we can in this war one day soon as two lives saved and i would walk five hundred miles for that i would walk a thousand miles for that. some people said some terrible things not never to my face you know but in even they got this electronic bravery and they would really say some crazy things one guy wrote in and he said that he hoped that i got run over by a truck on my walk. a lot of people said i just hope you keep walking to mexico

when you leave this country when i want you here. and one guy even said that he wished that i had died in iraq because then i would have been honorable. so i was about to go speak to utah state to help promote the walk in right before we go in a phone call from the utah department of transportation and they told me that if i was going to walk they would arrest me for trespassing on the state highway suddenly it was political suddenly he was against it suddenly he needed a permit. for no other reason than that it was a peaceful but you. told me that i would be arrested if i tried to walk i shan't believe but what if someone's watching and i really don't know why or why don't you just arrest them unchecked he says that i can walk on the sidewalk myself because i have a reason for sidewalk but would like you to do this could you tell your superiors to do we can't just arbitrarily decide to meet me didn't surance policy from other people. and. so it will be. but i'm.

i'm sorry and i was just you just the right of you just wants to walk because you're trying to arrest me yeah seriously you arrest me. for the story has to be believed in the american press to walk down the street here in wales perhaps we don't know what we're doing luckily my father in law is a lawyer and so so he got in touch with the a.c.l.u. together they were able to convince the attorney general of the time that. it was in fact my right as a u.s. citizen and iraq war veteran to walk down the street without being arrested. this use of toilet paper imodium ibuprofen kettle black butter and water walkie talkie cell phone ring tone pants and then calories like trail mix or get in get or it can

this is a good start. it's the morning of the walking. and everything is pretty much ready . for good weather if nothing else this walk with me feel better make me feel like i'm doing my best right so nobody shows up i just washed in the rain all day it was thought i. was. not saying. it's the same with an adult son but the bang out of the. sound just like burning does in the coming in the night in this funny. getting together. shyness of way that ringing is saying get out that with a new get on the sheets without the sound the same spiel get it together we'll get this thing off the grid. by the time we got to the point where people are going to

walk with me to read the kind of stuff the scum the first test of this crazy stuff is going to work you know in around that corner and there isn't big you're going to a good nights and there's probably one hundred fifty people which response comic will get that's a lot. that was amazing i just feel so good i feel at that moment i thought i could finally come home how you got it. it's just wonderful to see so many people here who want peace so thanks so much. total thank you. all right let's start at eleven. when i see the sun in the states then i'm not they say no get up stand up. stand. he said get up stand up to some sound get love the give up the fight.

give it. my name is john shawn morning and i came down oregon. heard me goodman on her program now say marshall was going to do this law and so i come from a long history. in the during the civil rights movement. vietnam. and saw the outcome. we're going to turn the whole world around. but what can the world can't survive with with the scores going on and on no this has to happen. to be. there is a changing tide in america and you're a part of it today we're sending a mandate from the people to the government of the united states and to the representatives of utah specially the utah does not support

a war we support peace and we support a plan for. this morning to become real to the american people the military is a war america is not and then needs to change. way . to get them here because my dad is in the combat and the way they were affected him . made her in some cases. this is a violent childhood in my house and so i hope that this will be a place for some sense of unity about finding another way i see as being like gone to use. danis walk news walk to the see this is a big deal i think it will call attention to the fact that

a lot of people feel similar you know similarly to the way he feels deep down inside but maybe they're afraid to voice their opinion even just a small demonstrations going to make the community aware that they really exist and i think it will help people think. when somebody from the u.s. military a soldier. sees what's going on over there and and can tell you exactly that there's no good that's coming out of iraq. it's a people listen to that they listen to a soldier i think his opinion is that really indicative of what most soldiers think i think most soldiers think this right here you know that. that really we ought to stay the course we've got state we've got to put together we've got to fight smarter we got to fight harder but we don't just give up and run away we can't leave these people we commit ourselves now whether or not we are for the you know

being committed or not we're there now and we need to get committed to the cause but i would much rather die for a cause then for to just die in vain i mean we've cut and run now all those people died in vain all it's time for us to pull up to ourselves up by the bootstraps and . i mean come on wake up america we got it we got to win this thing. for about a mile or so in the canyon starting then and this is dog through oregon a better. america in honoring his willingness to speak out to his community about this that's why i came down oh you're on the air. yeah you're the worst nightmare. over there i'm sorry don't laugh at me don't laugh at me you know whacked because you are and you know when you better start paying attention to president bush and what we want you to do we are over there for

a good cause we have found. now destruction weapons whatever and you know what my loved one came home and you know what you have to get back to work your five children here at the port what on earth are you doing around you one and why did we i want one as a mother one of the people are you and you know what are. for the country over there i don't know i have a mother i think for president bush and what he signed he's been through aren't. you and you know what my opinion of this guy walking i think is crazy i think there's an easier way to get a point across the more across the state here in the one nine hundred sixty s. to be an activist an anti-war activist was considered generally. sort of disreputable and not really ethical thing to do and i think that's still true today people are. protesting this is this is this is what i hear from people when i talk

to them if you know the people who protest or if he's near you know they're dead enders and they're in their pot smokers. or demonstrators protest your ass and. estimated. a couple. simple. straight. cuts facing. she said it's. work. in the clubs you should list you just. listed.

just. the. fundamentalists. say. that must be. in the military they tell you that the people protesting the war and the smiths rachel tell you the same thing that this one should be sort of heavy. for you or against the troops and what fun is that it's exactly the opposite i mean think about the leaders in the peace it's erect actions against the war it's veterans for peace it's military families speak out it's gold star families for peace these are four organizations that are the leaders of the peace movement that are all

surrounded by the military part of military families speak out that's true but the group are worried and it. all starts with i open my door at eight o'clock. am there was a military court and i want to. form. it like this you don't want to go. from that i realize that unless. someone acts. it too many more families are going to work for your. people give voice to fight like . cats. i keep. coming down the street i'm. looking good thank you thank you so much yeah i must see both of you i'm. the democratic

candidate for congress in the first district i was honored. except the invitation to be part of this my name straight out down i'm running for u.s. senate for utah and i'm here to support marshall because i think what he's going to grade on a missile larry can agree with me so much so that i just got out of the army myself i was active duty army for five years one of the rank of a sergeant i'm here to support arsenal this group is for the cause and i believe that people you know people need to be aware of what's going on the world right now great majority of the active duty army supports this and they want more of this they don't want to put it you know sent packages or put a stick under a car or they want you to do this supporting the troops supporting a change. in .

the legal. system. just. twenty years ago are just countries. to say to this isn't just. what how did you try. to teach began the journey. where did it take.