Beginning...
Dissent is Democracy began as a way to process personal and collective shock, anger and despair following events of 9-11-2001. In its aftermath, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in late 2001, followed by war on Iraq on March 20, 2003, ending in December 2011, nearly a decade later.
In 2001, my husband and I were living outside Washington, D.C. just a few Metro stops from the White House. I was a social worker with a nature photography side-business. Having participated in a local festival, I was home that Tuesday morning, cutting nature images for a collage. As I watched the news, the World Trade Towers, ablaze and billowing smoke, flashed onto the screen. I spent the next eight hours transfixed on surreal images of destruction, as the cutouts became a collage and a way to process despair amidst a national tragedy.
september 11, 2001
new york city
pennsylvania
the pentagon
Grateful to be alive, I spent the rest of the day in a haze, breathing deeply...He remembered that as he helped a 90-year old man down a stairwell, he passed 30 to 50 firefighters heading upward. It was like a ladder up to heaven. I don't think any of them made it...surreal...terrorism...Pilots, crews and passengers...tangled web of emotions...shock, anger, fear, despair, compassion, confusion, love, hope, reflection...Desperately poor countries...the victims speak to all of us over the world...all touched, changed forever...Historic challenge...justice...true peace...May Peace be with us all.
Shalom In Memoriam Salaam
invasion and occupation
Post 9-11, the war drums were soon beating loudly in Washington, as citizens converged on the Nation’s Capital in October, 2002, to protest Invasion of Afghanistan, followed by mass demonstrations across the country and the world, in the months leading up to invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003. Thousands marched in January, 2003, coinciding with the Birthday Commemoration of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. who publicly opposed War and the social, economic and moral costs of war.
...One other challenge that we face is simply that we must find an alternative to war and bloodshed. Anyone who feels, and there are still a lot of people who feel that way, that war can solve the social problems facing mankind is sleeping through a great revolution.
- Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution, March 31, 1968
Costs of war
Trail of Mourning and Truth from Iraq to the White House - March 15, 2004 - As the death toll rose, a steady flow of body bags arrived at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Peace groups with Veterans for Peace and Military Families Speak Out, organized to represent and honor those fallen, to make a statement of their sacrifice for a War Based on Lies-that Iraq had current, viable Weapons of Mass Destruction, weapons not found before or after invasion. A silent procession carried coffins from Arlington National Cemetery to the Ellipse behind the White House. 1000 Coffins - October 2, 2004 - Flag-draped coffins lined the Reflecting Pool before the Lincoln Memorial, where names of soldiers and civilians killed were read.
healing
Arlington West - a series of projects in coastal California drew public attention to, and open discussion on military and civilian deaths during the Iraq War. Initiated by a Santa Barbara resident, Veterans for Peace adopted the project with their mission,”...to remember the fallen and wounded, acknowledge the human cost of war, provide information about the domestic costs of a permanent war economy, encourage dialogue among people with varied points of view, and educate the public about the needs of those returning from war and to provide a place to grieve.” Each Sunday, the memorial was reinstalled on the sand next to the world-famous pier in Santa Monica, California. A public “wall” positioned on pillars, contained the name, age, rank, branch of service, unit assigned to, date and place of circumstances of death, their hometown and state. Messages and momentos were left by friends and family.
The Iraq war officially ended with U.S. troop withdrawal in 2011: U.S.: 4,424 dead; 31,952 wounded in action. (Dept of Defense) Iraq: 461,000 total deaths (Iraq Family Health Survey, June 2011) Afghanistan: 31,000 civilian deaths; 111,000 total deaths (civilians, soldiers, militants) Refugees/Displaced - 8.4 million Afghans, Pakistanis, and Iraqis are war refugees in other countries or displaced from their homes.
veterans-in their words
“A moving target is harder to kill, and I didn’t stop running, maneuvering, until I reached home base, where I could breathe between death-defying sprints. I just need to make it home alive, and this will all be over, I told myself. Home.”
M.B. Dallocchio, The Desert Warrior
“Post-Traumatic Stress Injury isn’t a disease. It’s a wound to the soul that never heals.”
Tom Glenn, Vietnam Veteran
“Today, a soldier can go out on patrol and kill someone or have one of his friends killed and call his girlfriend on his cell phone that night and talk about everything except what just happened...And if society itself tries to blur it as much as possible, by conscious wellintended efforts to provide all the ‘comforts of home’ and modern transportation and communication, what chance does your average eighteen-year-old have of not being confused? “
Karl Marlantes, Vietnam Veteran, What It’s Like to Go to War
“You were strong enough to make it this far,” a Veteran wrote in one blog entry. “Don’t give up. Dig a little deeper and make that final push.”
Veteran Interview, The Nation’s Health, April 2012
“Storytelling also knits a community together. It records or recreates the collective history and transforms actors and listeners into community witnesses. Veterans’ stories need to be told in a way that transfers the oral weight of the event from the individual to the community.”
Edward Tick, War and the Soul, Healing Our Nation’s Veterans.
Veterans Shared Their Stories to Help Others Fight PTSD. Army Veteran, Frank Lesnefsky, after considering suicide, then seeking help in therapy and beginning to talk about his trauma, found community support in Headstrong, a nonprofit whose mission is to help Vets heal wounds of war. Founder retired Marine Capt. Zack Iscol, teamed up with Brandon Stanton, creator of blog site, Humans of New York, to allow veterans to share their stories online and receive mutual support.
Stanton stated that Veterans seeing other Vets describe similar hardships can help them to heal. “To sit there and watch somebody be vulnerable and possibly read their story and say, ‘you know what? I’m going thru that too. But I’m not talking about it. And I need to.’” “I can own it. I can say ‘this is who I am. This is what I’ve been through,’ Lesnefsky said. “I can tell people there’s a way out. There’s a way to get better. Why not take it?”
CBS Evening News, Jim Axelrod, 9/7/2016
Team Rubicon
Team Rubicon, an organization that gives veterans a new mission by helping communities overcome disasters and disadvantages. “The physical, mental, emotional, and social wellness of our country’s returning veterans are of national importance. As our veterans have returned home, many have experienced challenges navigating the transition back into civilian life. While there are real and difficult issues plaguing our veterans – a lack of resources and understanding around mental health, homelessness, unemployment – Team Rubicon does not see our veterans as broken...veterans are the agent of our mission, not the object. By engaging our veterans in continued service through disaster response, not only does Team Rubicon provide relief to affected communities, but many veteran volunteers begin to regain the purpose, community, and identity that is difficult to find upon leaving the armed forces.”
Mission Statement, Team Rubicon, Los Angeles. CA