Buff Whitman-Bradley - About Face. Military Resisters Turn Against War

About Face gives us important insights into the consciences of women and men who volunteer for the military but find they cannot obey orders to fight in illegal wars. These are brave and loyal Americans who are willing to challenge the U.S. government and perhaps go to jail rather than betray their inner voices that say NO to these wars!

Ann Wright, retired U.S. Army colonel and diplomat who resigned in protest of the invasion of Iraq. Author of DISSENT: Voices of Conscience

About Face pulls down the veil of what honorable service in todays U.S. military really means. When new soldiers swear to support and defend the U.S. Constitution by following lawful orders, what are they to do when they are given unlawful orders? About Face provides raw examples of precisely what soldiers are doing who take their oath seriously.

Dahr Jamail, independent journalist, author of The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan

During this time of war it is vital that every American take a moment to listen to the first-hand accounts of those who have served on the front lines and those who refuse to fight.

Aaron Glantz, author of The War Comes Home: Washingtons Battle Against Americas Veterans

It was a privilege to read this book. As a veteran, it was especially meaningful to me because I know some of the participants personally. It certainly opened my eyes and heart to their struggle. I know that it will have the same impact to everyone who reads it. It is especially compelling because it gives a wonderful cross section of veterans in their struggle with the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. I think that it has the potential of getting people involved in the antiwar movement. Together we can make a difference in a world that seems engulfed in war.

Dennis Lane, executive director, Veterans for Peace

This book documents the resistance of American heroesresistance to illegal wars, to immoral wars, and to government secrecy, that threaten the very foundation of our democracy. A must-read for every American.

Marjorie Cohn, coauthor, Rules of Disengagement: The Politics and Honor of Military Dissent

About Face: Military Resisters Turn Against War

2011 Buff Whitman-Bradley, Sarah Lazare, and Cynthia Whitman-Bradley

This edition 2011 PM Press

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be transmitted by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN: 978-1-60486-440-3

LCCN: 2011927945

Cover design by John Yates/stealworks.com

Interior design by Jonathan Rowland

Photos by Jeff Paterson

Free Bradley Manning poster by Alisha Bermejo

PM Press

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Oakland, CA 94623

www.pmpress.org

Courage to Resist

484 Lake Park Ave #41

Oakland, CA 94610

www.couragetoresist.org

510-488-3559

Printed by the Employee Owners of Thomson-Shore in Dexter, Michigan.

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For Mike Searle and Bill Hard

BWB

For Mom, Dad, Ben, and Kinley

SL

For my children

CWB

Courage to Resist, formed shortly after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, is a group of concerned community members, veterans, and military families who support members of the U.S. military who decide that they can no longer participate in wars of empire and occupation waged by the U.S. government.

In the past several years, tens of thousands of service members have resisted illegal war and occupation in a number of different ways: by going AWOL, seeking conscientious objector status or a discharge, asserting the right to speak out against injustice from within the military, and, for a relative few, publicly refusing to fight.

Although the efforts of Courage to Resist are primarily focused on supporting public GI resisters, the organization also strives to provide political, emotional, and material support to all military objectors critical of our governments current policies of empire.

With the limited resources of a grassroots, mostly volunteer organization, Courage to Resist has nevertheless been able to provide assistance to a great many resisters, including those in this bookpublicizing their stories through our website and other media; organizing people all over country to write military and public officials in their behalf; sending them books and personal items; creating national support campaigns; and raising funds for civilian legal representation that has helped many of them stay out of military prison, receive lighter sentences, or avoid dishonorable discharges and loss of veterans benefits.

Courage to Resist is motivated by a people power strategy that we believe can weaken the pillars that maintain war and occupation in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. By supporting GI resistance, counterrecruitment, and draft resistance, we hope to diminish the number of troops available for unjust war and occupation.

Some of the most eloquent and powerful voices raised against U.S. wars of imperialist aggression are those of the soldiers who have been called upon to fight and have uttered a resounding no!An important part of the work Courage to Resist does in supporting the growth of resistance inside and outside the military is to provide opportunities for the voices of GI resisters to be heard. We have published their personal statements as well as articles about them on our website; we have arranged press conferences and speaking tours; and through our Audio Project we have made it possible to hear many of those courageous resisters telling their own stories.

From 2007 to 2009, the Courage to Resist Audio Project recorded telephone interviews with more than two dozen GI resisters. It was my good fortune to be the member of the Courage to Resist organizing collective who produced the Audio Project and conducted those interviews. Invariably, I finished each conversation with enormous respect and admiration for the speaker at the other end of the line. To a person, they were thoughtful and articulate about the reasons they chose to go AWOL, seek conscientious objector status, or refuse to be recalled, and were very, very brave in confronting the possible consequencesincluding prisonof their actions.

This book is a compilation of most of the interviews originally posted, and still available, on the Courage to Resist website. In editing them, we have removed the interviewers questions so that the only voice you hear is the resister telling her or his own story. We have also made some other small editorial changes and adjustments as necessary for clarification of facts, eliminating repetition, and smooth transitions between topics. Mostly what you will be reading are the words as they were spoken. I believe that you will find them compelling, often disturbing, and making a powerful argument against the arrogant cruelty of militarism and empire.