My American-Iraq Life

"Where are you?"

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 19:28:00 +0000

Graduated: UAlbany.
Moved: to Washington, DC.
Working: for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

More to come...

Hope you all are well and are surviving the winter!

Side note: I love that people still find my blog by searching "can you wear makeup in the army?" Hell yes, ladies! http://myamericaniraqlife.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-to-be-feminine-in-army.html

Now and Then: Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 14:19:00 +0000

I will be participating on a forum for the 12th Annual Interdisciplinary Forum on the Vietnam Era on Friday, October 15. The event will be held at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial and Vietnam Era Museum and Educational Center. The event is from 8:00am to 3:00pm.

There are three panels: Panel 1: Generational Serving: Comparing Soldiers' Experiences from Vietnam to Iraq. Panel 2: Women and the Military: Comparing and Contrasting Women’s Roles in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Panel 3: Should the Draft be Used Today? History of the Draft in Vietnam and its Current Place.

I’ll be on panel two with Helen Benedict, author of The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq and Susan O’Neill, author of Don't Mean Nothing. I believe our panel starts at 10am. Hope to see some of you there!

More information here!

College Blog.

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:18:00 +0000

Hello! I have started a blog for one of classes...26 and Still in College. Stop by and say hello!

Reaction to President Obama's speech last night.

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:04:00 +0000

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Link if video isn't working properly:
http://www.cbs6albany.com/video/?videoId=600480053001&lineupId=1143371293

It’s been quite some time since I’ve updated this blog, huh? Well, I started classes and I think cohabitation is brutal. Hope you all are well.

Las Vegas: Netroots Nation.

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:17:00 +0000

I will be attending Netroots Nation in Las Vegas July 22-25th with my VetVoice/VoteVets family! Who will I see there?

Review: "Restrepo"

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 12:53:00 +0000

Check out my review of the documentary "Restrepo" over at VetVoice!

More information regarding Restrepo.

"War Crimes" tonight on Current TV.

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 17:45:00 +0000

-Image by GOOD magazine

Correspondent Kaj Larsen (a former SEAL) investigates the rise in the number of soldiers who have been traumatized by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and are now accused of bringing the violence home. "War Crimes" takes a sobering look at PTSD, the growing crisis of incarceration among soldiers, and hears stories from the men and women who are now behind bars.

"War Crimes" airs tonight at 10/9c on Current TV.

Empire State Plaza Fireworks.

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 16:11:00 +0000

Tomorrow at the NYS Museum: "Restrepo"

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 16:02:00 +0000

Tomorrow the NYS Museum will be screening the documentary "Restrepo" at 6:30p.m. in the Huxley Theater, followed by a question and answer session with Tim Hetherington, producer and photographer and Brendan O’Byrne, a soldier who appears in the film. GO! GO! GO! See you there!

More information here.

The Widening Gap Between The Military and Society by Thomas E. Ricks

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:19:00 +0000

-The Atlantic Online

This piece appeared in The Atlantic Online in 1997. To date it is the best piece I have read regarding the culture war between the military and civilians. (Yes, a few things are a little outdated but it tackles a lot)

"In a striking indication of alienation from civilian society, an overwhelming proportion of the Basic School lieutenants -- 81 percent -- said that the military's values are closer to the values of the Founding Fathers than are the values of civilian society."

"What most congressmen know of the military is what they saw on television during the Gulf War. They learned two lessons: high-tech weaponry works, and the United States needs missile defenses."

"Overestimating the military is probably even more dangerous than believing that it is made up of incompetent buffoons, as Baby Boomers seemed to believe in the 1970s."

"With the evaporation of the Soviet Union, many Americans don't understand why the nation needs a large standing army. For the first time in its history (with the possible exception of the two decades preceding the Spanish-American War) the U.S. Army must justify its existence to the American people."

Enjoy!

Round-up.

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:01:00 +0000

I apologize for the lack of posts. I am currently without the Internet but it should be up and running soon! Hope you all are enjoying the summer!

Here are a few recent articles that have caught my eye.

If you haven’t read the Rolling Stone profile on Stan McChrystal, “The Runaway General” you should. Maybe you could also leave a comment. The piece only has 29, which is up from yesterday's lousy 12 comments.

The Runaway General

And here is a piece on how Rolling Stone fucked up their story of the year. Hence the reason why The Runaway General only has 29 comments. Bravo!

Oops!

VoteVets/VetVoice on the dismissal of General Stanley McChrystal.

Big Media Us

Finally! A great piece from The New York Times.

Is a Culture War Between American Soldiers and Civilians Inevitable? by Robert Mackey

Now everyone sip on a nice Bud Light Lime!

Vote to Assist Veterans and Wounded Warriors Transition to College!

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 18:34:00 +0000

Are You Headed to Debt Collections?

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:01:00 +0000

For those of you who received the $3,000 in emergency funds for the GI Bill and still owe money, did you get a letter stating that whatever you still owe needs to be paid back in 60 days or else you’d be in the hands of a debt collector? Please let me know, thank you!

Lake George Memorial Day Parade.

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Mon, 31 May 2010 17:53:00 +0000

Here are some photos from the parade and the ceremony. I also stuck in a few random shots. I will call this, "Back of Heads Memorial Day."

Moving!

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Thu, 27 May 2010 20:52:00 +0000

So, I’m moving…in with my boyfriend. I have never lived with a significant other before so, wish me luck? I’m thinking this blog might start to explore my new roll as “house girlfriend”. We’ll see…

Spc. Robert A. Rodriguez is a Scumbag & Fingerprints On Gun That Killed Staff Sgt. Amy Seyboth.

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Tue, 25 May 2010 05:11:00 +0000

Just wanted to share these two stories...

"An Alaska-based soldier is under investigation for a video on his Facebook page that taunts smiling Iraqi children by asking if they're gay, if they engage in certain sex acts and if they would grow up to be terrorists."

"Above the Facebook video posting, which was titled, "future gay terrorist!," is written, "i got bored in iraq ... so I kept myself entertained!"

Rodriguez is a fucking piece of shit and I hope he pays for this.

Read the story here.

If you're following the Seyboth story you'll find this interesting...

Maybe she didn't commit suicide?

Under Attack.

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Fri, 21 May 2010 02:22:00 +0000

Welcome to Camp Anaconda aka Mortaritaville in Iraq! Watch Rene and Alex (a few soldiers I deployed with) run for their lives during a mortar attack. Notice how they don't give a shit.

Fat Ass.

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Fri, 14 May 2010 19:19:00 +0000

My gym membership just went up $10 for no apparent reason. This absurd increase got me thinking. First of all, I can’t even remember the last time I went to the gym. Months and months ago. So, why am I paying $29.99 for a gym membership? I’m paying $30 a month to do nothing. That’s a lot of money to do nothing. I’ve also maintained my weight pretty much since high school (always been between 115 and 120). However, during basic training I gained weight and the same thing happened in Iraq. There has to be other female soldiers who have dealt with the same thing, right? So, here is a little piece about my weight gain in Iraq.

I began to grow in Iraq. I gained muscle mass and my diet changed dramatically. My weight shifted from 120 to 135 pounds. My uniform was clinging to my thighs and my ass could have been mistaken for JLos. Because I’m vegetarian, I lived on cheese sandwiches, rice, and pizza. I was continually asked, “Why don’t you just eat salad?” I hate lettuce. I hate tomatoes. I hate onions. I hate salad.

I grew upset with the food selection at the dining facilities and decided to write a commentary for the newspaper. I asked for things like tomato sauce instead of meat sauce, vegetable Lo Mein, and possibly meatless products. Kellogg, Brown, and Root (this is the corporation our government pays millions to feed us, and whatever else the military needs them to do.) replied, “KBR does offer meatless sauces for pasta, meatless soups, cheese pizzas, vegetables…It is very helpful when patrons with special dietary desires discuss them with the government…This question is a great start!” Within a couple weeks, I noticed fake steak strips with rice dishes next to the salad bar. Even though the food was tasteless, I had won. But I kept eating cheese sandwiches.

My curvy figure began to attract attention. On a Sunday afternoon while Gonzalez and I were cleaning our room, a male soldier came to our door and handed Gonzalez a letter. She looked at me like I had been keeping a secret from her but I told her I had no idea who he was. Gonzalez and I sat on my bed like two school girls. I imagined opening up the letter, having him ask me if I would meet him at the porta potty after tower guard duty. Instead, this soldier told me that my black frame glasses and thighs caught his attention.

“Thighs?” I screamed.
“Katie, you have nice thighs.” Gonzalez said.
“I’m white. You don’t tell this white girl she has nice thighs!”

Gonzalez wouldn‘t argue with me. After this letter we agreed to take our names off of the door.Gonzalez had at least a dozen groupies that would randomly stop by and I didn’t want anyone else telling me they liked my thighs.

(Maybe I'll start going to the gym again)

Blah blah blah Iraq mix.

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Thu, 13 May 2010 17:34:00 +0000

This is amazing, brave, and hilarious!!

"Created by Codey Wilson and his elite step team of volunteers. The video is an EXAGGERATED act of a possible future military that is open to any sexual preference. Please don't try to cause us any problems. We're just a few good guys trying to enjoy ourselves and get this deployment over with. No one in the video is gay... that we know of, nor am I. Sorry guys. Not that there is anything wrong with that! (political correctness) I am NOT saying it IS ok to be gay in the military. I am not saying it's NOT OK."

Four Elements: The Dragon Warriors of Isis Coven

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Tue, 11 May 2010 05:22:00 +0000

Here is the documentary my partner (Kayla) and I have been working on throughout the semester. Check it out!

A short documentary analyzing the religious connections and interactions between the members of a small Wiccan coven in upstate New York.

Four Elements from Kayla Galway on Vimeo.

The Dragon Warriors of Isis Coven website.

Have an Opinion Regarding DADT? You'll Need a CAC to Share it.

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Fri, 07 May 2010 15:31:00 +0000

Piece on VetVoice.

UAlbany Veterans Bottle Drive!

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Thu, 06 May 2010 17:09:00 +0000

Help us raise money for the newly-created Veterans' group by donating your bottles and cans. All proceeds will be used to promote veteran-related causes at the University at Albany.

Date: Saturday, May 8, 2010
Time: 9:00am - 12:00pm
Location: American Legion Post 1520
Street: 4 Everett Rd Ext.
City/Town: Albany, NY

More information here.

Stephanie and Michelle.

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Thu, 06 May 2010 16:49:00 +0000

First and foremost, I am sorry for your loss. The reason I am posting blogs regarding Jesse’s death is because your loved ones story is being ignored by the media and the VA. I find it horrifying that a soldier can take his life on the steps of a VA hospital and be forgotten about within a weeks time. He is a causality of the war, the VA, and the negligent media.

You have both expressed different opinions regarding Jesse’s situation. Michelle, you are correct, I do not know Jesse’s past. Maybe he suffered from depression before his deployment…like you said, life isn’t black and white. However, when a soldier goes to war and comes back a different human being, whether that be mentally or physically, the VA has an obligation to do whatever it possibly can to assist that soldier in readjusting. I am not aware of the treatment Jesse received from the VA but I do have friends who have been/are currently being treated for PTSD. It might be possible that the way to go about treating soldiers isn’t with five different prescription medications that make them feel like walking zombies.

By posting clips I find regarding Jesse does not mean I am “believing every statement written.” My intention is to enlighten those about his situation and to hopefully get people talking about it. How many more soldiers need to take their lives before people start paying attention?

If you are unpleased with those speaking on Jesse’s behalf, I am pretty positive the media would hear your side of the story. I know I would love too. Jesse’s story should not go untold. I believe he chose to take his life on the steps of a VA hospital for a reason (and you may disagree)...it could be possible that he was tired of the treatment he was receiving, tired of feeling ignored, tired of feeling out of place in the civilian world, or tired of fighting the realities of war within himself…you lost a loved one and the military lost a good soldier. Michelle -- Stephanie has expressed wishing to get in contact with you. I hope you speak with one another and find some sort of peace. My heart goes out to Jesse and your family.

Always remember...

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 03:32:00 +0000

"If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery--isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you'll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is."

"I wanted the whole world or nothing."

Love,

CB

Behind Friendly Lines By Jason Davis

noreply@blogger.com (GI Kate) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 01:26:00 +0000

One of my favorite bloggers, Jason Davis, wrote a piece regarding the Michael Yon controversy. Yon has recently spoken out against General Stanley McChrystal and this has pissed off a few people (aka Blackfive). Read the piece…it’s worth it. I wish Yon the best of luck.

Behind Friendly Lines
By Jason Davis

Michael Yon is the Exception.

As an independent journalist, Yon has written from Iraq and Afghanistan more frequently than any other journalist, and he has been praised for his insightfully accurate observations about the state of the wars; he has won numerous awards for his work, has written a best-selling book, and has been quoted in various mainstream media outlets as a credible and experienced source. Among Milbloggers, Yon has enjoyed a rabid, cult following for his tireless dispatches in support of the troops.

But recent informal comments by Yon on his Facebook and Twitter pages have left some fans disgruntled with the star writer’s conduct, despite the notion that a greater story may further illustrate growing deception and crony’istic censure enacted by top military brass overseas.

Yon has alleged that top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, has enacted a smear campaign against him, after his recent disembed from a unit in Afghanistan. Yon suspects this disembed is the result of lucid, less-than-flattering dispatches he has written that portray top commanders as having questionable merit and competence to lead.

“Further evidence of McChrystal's incompetence,” writes Yon, “is the ease with which he jerks a writer from the field and gets a laser on himself/staff for lying. And then his own staff commits defamation and libel. They fight like children. They are giving me their ammo. It's saddening. We cannot win such a complex war with people like that in charge. This is not a winning team.”

It wouldn’t be the first time a journalist has publicly questioned the official military story, but few, if any, have done it informally via social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter—real-time technologies not previously available to journalists of any era. Until recently, journalists were more subtle and understated in their criticisms, which is the case with Hiroshima, by John Hersey.

In 1945, a nuclear bomb named “Little Boy” was dropped from a B-29 Bomber onto the city of Hiroshima, killing 80,000 people and leveling more than 70% of the city. Just months after Hiroshima’s destruction, and after the war had ended, Hersey, a noted author and journalist, traveled to Hiroshima to interview survivors for a lengthy, narrative feature for The New Yorker. What followed is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest narrative nonfiction works of the 20th century.

The immensely successful article follows the account of six survivors, from seconds before the blast, to the scurry for survival in the days after. But the greater story subtly concerns the period of reconstruction after the bomb, when the United States Army restricted Japanese investigation and research into what happened. Weeks passed before survivors learned that an American super-bomb was dropped from the sky. Hersey, for whatever reason, decided not to write a pro-US, pro-bomb historical account that thankfully ended the war. Instead, his narrative was sympathetic to the innocent civilians who had lived through the experience and for that, the American Occupation Government in Japan discouraged the distribution of Hersey’s article.

It doesn’t matter why the American Occupation Government suppressed local research into the event—only that it did. In this instance, the military’s restriction of information provides an historical precedent:

In 1971, The New York Times printed the “Pentagon Papers” a top secret and extensive list of public deceptions commissioned by the Department of Defense concerning the history of American involvement in Vietnam. These papers show, among other things, that an American bombing campaign in Vietnam was well planned before America’s first involvement in the war.

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush, acting on information provided by top-secret satellite images, alleged, “within three days, 120,000 Iraqi troops with 850 tanks had poured into Kuwait and moved south to threaten Saudi Arabia. It was then that I decided to act to check that aggression.” [emphasis mine] A reporter from the Saint Petersburg Times, having obtained Russian, commercial satellite images over the same area at the same time, had found nothing but empty desert.

And on February 5, 2003, Colin Powell claimed to know what, in fact, US intelligence reports did not show: there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and there was not a valid link between 9-11, Al Qaeda, and Iraq.

Of course, there are many more instances in which our government is either not telling the truth, or is intentionally hiding the truth—and there is a difference. This short list serves to remind that some of our recent and most famous (tragic) wars are the result of government deception. What this means is that we have continually had a government that is willing to deceive us, and the rest of the world, for its own intentions—and that is wrong. Always wrong.

Through many of these leaks and investigations into government practices, it is inevitably the investigative journalist who brings to light the crimes committed by our elected officials, and those our elected officials hire. Today’s journalists who cover America’s wars have far less access to troops and leaders than they used to—and far less than they need. Now, journalists rely exclusively on the military for transportation, embedded assignments, and official news releases.

As a journalist in training, and former Sergeant in the United States Army, I see this as a serious infraction on journalistic integrity. One of the detractions against embedded journalism is that journalists often do not have access to local populations and are seen as too sympathetic to invading forces. Indeed, when a journalist is required to sign a contract with the military, which effectively limits what he can and cannot say, then what journalist can act any more than as a tool for propaganda?

To Yon’s credit, General McChrystal has a less than stellar history (his bio shows where he’s been, and what his soldiers have done), and has demonstrated a penchant for distortion of facts (Pat Tillman investigation).

“I have in my possession compelling evidence of General McChrystal’s smear campaign,” writes Yon. “It’s been sent to my attorney. The sad part is that McChrystal is incompetent even with a smear campaign. Official statements by his people—in writing—have been defamatory and libelous. A writer must be able to spot libel just as ...a soldier must be able to spot IEDs. It’s part of the job. If you can’t spot it, you will get hurt.”

Remarkably, it is Yon’s most ardent supporters who are now calling him out. A comment left on Yon’s Facebook page states, “You need to chill, and listen to the writers at Blackfive concerning your situation. If you haven’t read their letters of advice you should.... soon.”

Blackfive, a popular, ultra-conservative, pro-military blog written by a slew of retired and former veterans, is calling for Yon to take a break and to reassess whether his work has become more about himself than the war.

In Micheal Yon Wake Up Call, “writer” Uncle Jimbo asks Yon “to wake the hell up.” The article is hardly inspiring and instead of analyzing Yon’s content, Uncle Jimbo begins by apologizing, as if his commentary holds the weight of absolute truth. Jimbo continues his wakeup call with a red herring, a formal fallacy of irrelevance, or ad hominem—attack on the person, by stating that Yon didn’t go “to war,” but as a journalist, merely went “to the war.”

Interestingly, whether Yon went to war, or to the war, with a gun or pen, he has no doubt seen and experienced more of the conflict than most who are actually fighting the wars. In fact, more than even Jimbo, whose only intellectual offering comes in a disclaimer at the bottom:

“I have not embedded...ever. I am not going to embed because I don't want to. I like being in the rear w/ the gear. I have plenty of stamps on my passport, have toured the most craptastic places on the planet, and now don't deploy anywhere w/o room service. I respect what Michael Yon has done, I just think he is acting like a jackass.”

What this amounts to is frivoled and uninformed commentary that is neither strong in rhetoric, nor adequate in providing specific reasons why Yon’s “competence” is called into question. To be an effective writer, one must eminently “show, not tell,” and after reading Jimbo’s article, there is little advice, and too many unsubstantiated statements.

To his credit, writing is not Jimbo’s craft. But, apparently, Blackfive writer “The Laughing Wolf,” C. Blake Powers, is a writer. In “An Open Letter to Michael Yon,” Laughing Wolf suggests that Yon should “stop, step back, and think.” That is a fair suggestion for anyone, in any situation. But Laughing Wolf, too, employs the use of many informal fallacies that negate the effectiveness of his argument: appeal to authority (Uncle Jimbo, Michael Yon Wake Up Call), argumentum ad populum (Yon’s confronters), appeal to consequences and cum hoc, ergo propter hoc (the assertion that the lowest common denominator of four disembeds is Yon, himself).

Clearly, writing is more than just an appropriate use of grammar. Behind the façade of Blackfive’s “advice” to Yon, which is nothing more than a call to “stop doing what you are doing,” and “slow down,” we find an important characteristic inherently biased in the Blackfive mission: to propagate the tireless advocacy of the military and to verbally criminalize those who oppose them (hasty generalization, or an appropriate observation?).

Because of Yon’s informal status updates on Facebook and Twitter, he is now a traitor. As a former soldier, he should know not to talk dirty against the Chain of Command, right? By bashing military command in Afghanistan, Blackfive, and others, are effectively saying that Yon is no longer a part of the “good ‘ol boys club,” that his work is now selfish, and that he is something less than what he used to be.

But is he? Is Yon anything less than an investigative journalist? Isn’t it his job to uncover dirt—even dirt that we may not always want to hear or believe? Hasn’t Yon proven himself sufficiently credible at doing just that? Hasn’t he always flown arrogantly in the face of the mainstream with his views? And, isn’t his work heralded for its candid and honest portrayal of what the mainstream media is not covering (appeal to emotion, or valid thinking?)?

This is more than about being a hero for the military—it’s about journalistic integrity. Unfortunately, that just isn’t something I expect the Facebook and Twitter detractors and “writers” at Blackfive to understand. After all, freedom of speech works precisely because of the military’s hard-won effort to preserve the rights of every American’s access to it.

In Vietnam, journalist Michael Herr (whose experiences, along with Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, are the inspiration for Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now) had free access to any Huey he could find, and often lived for days on any base or camp for as long as he could stand. In World War II, photojournalist Robert Capa was a part of the landing on D-Day, and John Hersey, working for Life and Time, had “accompanied Allied troops on their invasion of Sicily, survived four airplane crashes, and was commended by the Secretary of the Navy for his role in helping evacuate wounded soldiers from Guadalcanal.” You can’t get any closer to the troops than actually swimming and flying with them.

Along with exposing government corruption, these journalists and photographers have given us the most iconic and genre-defining works of art ever made. It is precisely that closeness that enabled these writer’s and photographer’s incredible work over the last century, and it is precisely that closeness our government is now restricting.

Ultimately, the debate should not be about whether Michael Yon has “lost it,” or needs a break. The real argument is whether Yon is being silenced because he has spoken critically and publicly (and perhaps arrogantly and tactlessly) of commanders. If that is the case, then his blacklisting should not come as a surprise.

What’s most surprising is that the government has finally assumed complete control over who can have access to tell the war story. Such control will no doubt have a perverse impact on the future of unbiased reporting.

“If a writer wants to make money,” writes Yon, “he should avoid truth and tell people what they want to hear."

And that’s exactly what the government wants to hear.