When young American men and women sign up to serve in the US military, our government makes a basic promise to them: that if they are wounded in the line of duty they will get the care they need. Unfortunately, for tens of thousands of veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, that's a promise that only exists on paper.
Specialist Joshua Casteel: Abu Ghraib Interrogator Meets With the Pope
Lance Corporal Jeff Key: Gay Marine Comes Out on CNN
Sergeant Todd Bowers: While I Was in Iraq, My Student Loans Were Sent to Collection
Sergeant James Dean: Afghan Vet Shot by Maryland State Troopers
Podcast URL:
http://warcomeshome.org/podcast
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This panel will explore institutional policies of discrimination in the military and its impact on service members both on and off the battlefield. Testimonies will include the real impact of the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy; the effect of women’s engagement on the front lines for the first time; and the perpetuation of racism within the military.
Patricia McCann served in the 133rd Signal Battalion of the Illinois National Guard from 2000 to 2006 as a MSE Sysems Switching Operator. In 2003, McCann and other members of her Battalion were deployed to Iraq for a 15-month tour of duty. She lives in Chicago.
From the March 15th "Divide To Conquer: Gender and Sexuality in the Military" Panel.
Margaret Stevens is a former member of the New Jersey National Guard and Treasurer of the Board of Iraq Veterans Against the War. She got out of the military one month before her unit was deployed to Iraq.
From the March 15th "Divide To Conquer: Gender and Sexuality in the Military" Panel. Jeff Key had already come out as gay to his friends and family, graduated with a degree in theater, and moved from Alabama to Los Angeles when - at age 34 - he decided to join the Marine Corps. He was excited to defend the Constitution and “kick some ass,” but was outraged when he learned, after a tour in Iraq, that there were no weapons of mass destruction. So he came out as gay on CNN and the Marine Corps expelled him under their “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy.
From the March 15th "Divide To Conquer: Gender and Sexuality in the Military" Panel.
