“I joined the army after 9/11 – to kill people,” said Hart Viges of Austin, Texas. Hart’s a 32-year old member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. He served in Kuwait in February of 2003, only to be deployed to Iraq 13 months later. It actually wasn’t until April 2004 — three months after returning home — that Viges started to morally reject the U.S.-led occupation. He was at a peace rally in Fayteville, North Carolina, when he found his “new unit.”

“I must tell the people of Iraq that I’m sorry for participating in the war,” Viges said to a mostly high school-aged crowd in front of the Capitol Thursday afternoon. Viges’ appearance — clad with brown sweatshirt, partially frayed jeans and an American Spirit dangling from his mouth — could easily make any local gutter-punk mistake him for a West Bank burnout rather than the veteran-turned-Christian that he is.

Viges isn’t shy to point to his faith as a chief motivator for getting himself out of the army. “In 2004 I saw ‘The Passion of the Christ’,” he said, “and realized I could not be a Christian and in the military at the same time.”

Viges also readily admits that he, under orders from his superiors, fired mortar rounds into crowds of civilian Iraqis during his stay in Iraq. He contends that the atmosphere in the military featured U.S. soldiers proudly counting their casualties as if they were trophies. Here’s his testimony:

Hart’s Testimony

Viges is one of the hundreds of Iraq War veterans that came to St. Paul last week to protest the war as the Republican National Convention was underway in the Xcel Energy Center. I also caught up with Mary Horgan, a Minneapolis resident and 20 year veteran of the Minnesota National Guard during
Monday’s March on the RNC, which gathered at least 10,000 activists. Horgan served in Tallil, Iraq for five months in 2006.

“McCain has a terrible record on veterans,” she said, perhaps alluding to a 2006 Senate vote against an amendment that would have provided $20 million in health care aid to the troops.

“I’m concerned about the veterans,” Horgan said. “[The government] needs to make sure we have jobs when we get back.” When Horgan got back, she couldn’t find work, she said, but now has a job in a Minneapolis art gallery.

When I talked to her, she echoed words similar to what’s been constantly said for the past five years: “We were lied to go into war. We’ll probably attack Iran.” It reminded me of a sign I saw two teenagers carrying during Thursday’s protest that read: “I can’t believe we’re still protesting this shit.”

Tags: Iraq Veterans Against the War, protest, RNC