For Dustin... and all the children of war...

Last night I hugged Dustin. During the second long hug that we shared, Dustin told me, "Yeah, I'm still here..." It had been a long time since I had last seen my son Matt's childhood friend. Dustin has been a medic in Iraq, and he is currently home on an 18 day leave.

Matt told me this morning some of what Dustin has seen and experienced -- the deaths, the injuries, the kicking down doors of people's homes, shooting his gun and not knowing if he had killed someone or not. And also about his friend's own close brushes with death.

All this falls on the heels of the extraordinary event I witnessed last night at the First Baptist Church in Portland in which a diverse group of actors, poets, activists, truthtellers and peacemakers read aloud from the Voices of a People's History. At the end of this event was Eddie Veder... singing about No More War...

Here is Eddie Veder in conversation with Iraq War veteran Tomas Young, whose story is told in the documentary "Body of War": http://backtorockville.typepad.com/back_to_rockville/2008/03/body-of-war.html

Here is the website for this documentary: http://bodyofwar.com/. Included in this website are links to a dozen ways to take action against the war/occupation:
1. Vote!
2. Stop the next war now
3. Support GI resistance
4. Demand the best for our vets
5. Go on record against the war
6. Twist the arm of Congress
7. Take to the streets
8. Stop the military from preying on our kids
9. Stop war profiteers
10. Connect the dots
11. Shut down secret prisons
12. Pull the plug on war

Here is Bill Moyers Journal from March 21, 2008 which was dedicated to Tomas Young and Body of War, the documentary which tells his story: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/03212008/profile.html.

This is for Dustin and for all the children of all the people who are impacted by war. My own belief is that, to one degree or another, that includes us all.

Tag, you're it...

Peace ~ Molly