Veterans toss medals in protest

[B_J 2,752]

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Nearly 50 U.S. military veterans at an anti-NATO rally in Chicago threw their service medals into the street on Sunday, an action they said symbolized their rejection of the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Some of the veterans, many wearing military uniform shirts over black anti-war t-shirts, choked back tears as they explained their actions. Others folded an American flag while a bugle played "Taps," which is typically performed at U.S. military funerals.

"The medals are supposed to be for acts of heroism. I don't feel like a hero. I don't feel like I deserve them," said Zach LaPorte, who served in Iraq in 2005 and 2006.

LaPorte, a 28-year-old mechanical engineer from Milwaukee, said he enlisted in the Army at 19 because he felt there were few other options. At the time, he could not afford to stay in college.

"I witnessed civilian casualties and civilians being arrested in what I consider an illegal occupation of a sovereign nation," LaPorte said.

He said he was glad the United States had withdrawn its combat troops from Iraq, but said he did not believe the NATO military alliance was going to leave Afghanistan.

On Sunday, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen opened the two-day summit of the 26-member alliance saying there would be no hasty exit from Afghanistan.

A veteran from New York who only gave his name as Jerry said: "I don't want any part of this anymore. I chose human life over war, militarism and imperialism."

The veterans had hoped to present their medals to a NATO representative. The closest they could get was the fence ringing the McCormick Place convention center about a block from where U.S. President Barack Obama and other leaders were meeting. The veterans threw their medals toward the convention center.

Matt Howard, 29, who served in the Marines from 2001 to 2006, said the rate of suicides among veterans returning from the wars is high.

"These medals are not worth the cloth and steel they're printed on. They're representative of failed policies," said Howard, a spokesman for Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Former U.S. Army Sergeant Alejandro Villatoro, 29, of Chicago, served during the Iraq 2003 invasion and in Afghanistan in 2011.

He said he suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome and depression and gave back three medals - one "War on Terrorism" medal, one for participating in the Iraq war and a NATO medal from the Afghanistan war. He said he wants the war in Afghanistan to end.

"There's no honor in these wars," said Villatoro, before he threw away his medals. "There's just shame."

http://news.yahoo.com/veterans-symbolically-discard-medals-anti-nato-rally-235355143.html

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Did they toss their own medals, or were they like John Kerry, and tossed someone else's? My uniform is in a closet somewhere collecting dust and moth holes.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Too bad they didn't implement a draft for these bs wars. If they did that you would see some real protesting like back in the Vietnam days and not this mamby pamby ####### you see now. Even the media is riding the government bandwagon these days.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Too bad they didn't implement a draft for these bs wars. If they did that you would see some real protesting like back in the Vietnam days and not this mamby pamby ####### you see now. Even the media is riding the government bandwagon these days.

You are not doing anything useful these days IRL. Why don't you go to Juneau or Anchorage, and show them how it is supposed to be done?

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

You are not doing anything useful these days IRL. Why don't you go to Juneau or Anchorage, and show them how it is supposed to be done?

It's $550 for a R/T ticket out of this sh*t hole to Anchorage and back. You buying my ticket?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

It's $550 for a R/T ticket out of this sh*t hole to Anchorage and back. You buying my ticket?

Use alternate transportation.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Use alternate transportation.

LOL...ya. There's no roads in and no roads out. Ocean on one side, tundra and mountains everywhere else. I'm closer to the Russian coast than I am Anchorage. We have less than 40 miles of road in this ####### hole and maybe half of those are paved. The big drive here is the 20 mile drive to the Aleknagik Lake boat launch.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Too bad they didn't implement a draft for these bs wars.

If they had, I'd speculate that we would have been out of Afghanistan some time ago and I do not believe that the Iraq war would have ever happened. Hell, you didn't need a draft to avoid the stupid Iraq war. All it would have taken would have been a tax to raise the money required to fight it. That alone would have put a stop to it before it ever started. Propose raising the revenue today to pay for that bullshite in Afghanistan and our troops would be home before Labor Day.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

If they had, I'd speculate that we would have been out of Afghanistan some time ago and I do not believe that the Iraq war would have ever happened. Hell, you didn't need a draft to avoid the stupid Iraq war. All it would have taken would have been a tax to raise the money required to fight it. That alone would have put a stop to it before it ever started. Propose raising the revenue today to pay for that bullshite in Afghanistan and our troops would be home before Labor Day.

What those two wars proved though is just how ignorant a large part of the US population is in regards to world matters. Neither of those wars have anything to do with making the world a safer place. It also shows just how much power oil and gas have in regards to US policy.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

What those two wars proved though is just how ignorant a large part of the US population is in regards to world matters. Neither of those wars have anything to do with making the world a safer place. It also shows just how much power oil and gas have in regards to US policy.

Very true.

[SMOKE 1,426]

'Nearly 50 U.S. military veterans at an anti-NATO rally in Chicago threw their service medals into the street on Sunday, an action they said symbolized their rejection of the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan'

Q:how many of the nearly 50 are going to refuse their military benefits? A: 0...posers