Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to return their medals to protest war on terror at Chicago NATO summit

Wow. It it's beautiful but heartbreaking at the same time.
For them to give those medals up they are clearly very upset and disgusted with our government.
This is a big thing, it speaks volumes.
Bless their souls, I wish that all my heart that this gathers enough attention to get people to realize how they really feel. I know wishful thinking won't help, we all need to do our part. But really, bless their souls.
They are heroes.

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


So these soldiers want to return the medals from acts they committed while fighting in combat... If they are so against the war now, why werent they against it when they were committing these supposed "acts" of bravery? Wouldnt they have just bowed out when asked to fight in battle? Didnt something seem wrong when they were in Iraq and Afghanistan?

They want to protest the war on terror, but the fact remains that they were over there causing terror to the people of those countries... Think of all the "collateral damage" that happened, how many women and children our soldiers killed over there...

reply to post by jhn7537

I think I can answer that. Training, orders, adrenaline and a hostile environment.

A rather creepy but related sidetrack. A few years ago I stumbled upon a website that contained the last few seconds of black-box (?) audio recordings from pilots who had fatally crashed. One thing the many recordings all had in common was the pilot's calmness even when he could see it would end badly. Training. You or I would probably have left the controls and run up the aisles screaming but every single pilot (both military and commercial) kept at it right till the end, trying to avert a catastrophe.

"A hero of war. Is that what they see?
Just medals and scars.
So damn proud of me.
And I brought home that flag, now it gathers dust.
But it's A flag that I love, the only flag I trust. "

Pretty fitting. It was a war based off deception. Many of them joined up after 9/11 to fight a cause that they thought was true.
It's not like they all went over there like "YEAH LETS KILL SOME HAJIS!"
They did this to defend the country and the people that they so dearly love.

My grandfather never returned his medal for getting shrapnel in the chest in korea. Don't bitch out! keep them. You've earned them.

lots of info here on this protest -
NATO-Free Future

scroll down they will have some live streaming of the event

I agree that im not in favor of the war, but the soldiers should keep thier medals.

even if they earned them during an unjust cause

this actually makes me (sort of) proud to be an American. humility, even though they were lied to.

Some of these vets were so young during conflicts... just kids who don't know a lot about history but just wanted to protect their families. they were taken advantage of.

This is as if they are letting tptb know they are repentant for the blood on their hands because of lies.

This is a strong message. I hope many follow suit, for this act is much more heroic than pulling a trigger.

Anti-war demonstrators have clashed with police outside the NATO summit in Chicago, with reports of injuries in the scuffle.

The hours-long standoff began after an otherwise peaceful march led by a group of veterans who spoke passionately about their opposition to the war before tossing away their medals.

YT upload of a live stream during the event:


The Iraq/Afghanistan Veterans rally and their returning of their medals was the highlight of the protests, at least the some MSM came out to cover it, not sure how much of that coverage will seep into the cable networks, at least MSNBC, oddly enough, has been covering it. NBC and CBS have been showing some glimpses of the protests as well. I watched FOX earlier and they could only belittle the size of the crowds and how quiet they were. Considering the protesters can't get anywhere near the actual summit or NATO officials, what did we expect? I'd love to see them march in a direct confrontation with police barricades to the NATO summit itself, maybe only then will they get the attention of NATO leaders. The problem is, we've allowed "TPTB" to create such an impregnable buffer zone between themselves and us, trying to reach them to deliver a message is all but impossible. Think we'll see any of these world leaders attending this summit just hobnobbing around town?

here's your WTF moment for the day, the official NATO summit site has a nightlife suggestion guide for visiting NATO VIPs, wonder if that includes sightseeing guides for Grant Park and the mobs of protestors? Good info in the thread, hope to see more updates. So far no comments from NATO itself.