This "Winter Soldier" thing was modeled after a tool developed during the rise of the Vietnam protests of the 60s/ 70s. When will this stuff die? It seems a heaviness of heart is generated when we step onto the go-back-machine, i.e. the latest that I'm aware of -- Recreate 68 - yawn, mumble grumble.
Contrary to my preconceptions about Winter Soldier, it is a beyond profound movement. This is where the resistance resides, an invisible undercurrent of humans of all kinds infecting this society with slow intensity. The first Neo-Winter-Soldier event took place in Silver Spring, Maryland, March 13 to March 16, 2008, timed to highlight the 5th anniversary of the 2003 invasion.
REPORT-BACK
Some 200/300 people showed up. Many elderly, a definite lack in youth presence. First panel - on stage - there we saw youth.
Amongst the shattered humans on that panel, nine men, as different from one another as can be imagined - a display of the beauty of humanity right there. Each brought their story, their confessions, their way of talking, seeing, feeling - straight shooters. Nothing but being there, in the flesh, can enable a person to grasp the enormity of the all-encompassing spectacle of war; we gotta own it, our wars. Radio, television, any intermediary form is an obstruction to the process of learning with something like this.
Background, I believe that all but one fellow on the panel was seventeen or eighteen years of age when they joined the services, including National Guard. Below, I've provided a few bits, from just a few people.
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