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Winter Soldier/Wagin' War Minneapolis

By Billy X. Curmano

These are the times that try men's souls. The summertime soldier and the sunshine patriot will in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. —Thomas Paine

War is the ultimate failure of civilization. It creates a culture of hate, death and destruction that changes its participants forever. The Iraq War, with its atrocities at Abu Ghraib and sites yet to be discovered, is not new. It parallels Vietnam and the ever-expanding history of war and inhumanity. The Vietnam War had Lt. William Calley of Charlie Company and the March 16, 1968 My Lai Massacre. Lt. Calley gave the "search and destroy" order that flattened the village of Son My. The two platoons of Charlie Company were war-torn. They had suffered lots of casualties. If you've never been sent to kill or be killed (quite literally), you wouldn't understand. They were probably on edge, really on edge.

It was more an execution than a firefight. It most likely began as Charlie Company protected themselves with superior fire from what their intelligence said was an enemy stronghold. In war, things have a way of getting out of hand. By some reports, 500 men, women and children—including babies—were killed in a matter of hours: shot while fleeing; shot in the back; shot while praying. Lt. William Calley became the scapegoat for an administration that claimed My Lai to be an isolated incident.

In response, Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered over 125 Vietnam veterans for the Winter Soldier Investigation at a Detroit Howard Johnson hotel in February 1971. Three days of testimony exposed the brutality of their tours of duty. Without regard for possible repercussions, the mostly young men bravely testified to witnessing and participating in war crimes. They testified about things that had changed their lives forever. They wanted to awaken America. My Lais and Abu Ghraibs are to be expected in the culture of war.

I remember that Winter Soldier Investigation. I began actively protesting the war in 1969, and I worked with Milwaukee's VVAW in the early days. I wanted to testify, but just couldn't. I couldn't talk about it yet. I served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in 1968 and '69, in a paratrooper strike force that moved about the country, striking fast and hard, at least theoretically. We marked our path with human skulls and ears. My company had a motto: "Dog Company: a pocketful of ears." The uninitiated may ask why. It was unsaid, but we simply wanted to stay alive. We wanted the enemy to fear us more than we feared them. We wanted them to think twice about engaging the "Herd."

I repressed much of this with drugs and alcohol (read "PTSD" here) until the Karl Armstrong trial in Madison, Wisconsin several years later. Karl was charged with (among other things) blowing up the Army Math Research Center at the University of Wisconsin. Karl didn't deny the charges. He pled guilty. In this way, attorney William Kunstler, Karl and his defense team used the Winter Soldier model to put the war on trial. I joined with other VVAW witnesses to expose the atrocities that drove Karl and the New Year's Gang to acts of violence against the war machine. My testimony stirred up dark memories. Afterward, I was exhausted. I fled my home and found anonymity on the road. I bring this up only to emphasize how difficult it was to expose the realities of war, and to show my admiration for those "winter soldiers" who broke first ground in Detroit—and the Iraq veterans that have begun to follow.

A film crew captured those first testimonies in the documentary Winter Soldier, with footage every bit as relevant today as it was thirty years ago. First released by Winterfilm in 1972, it played to accolades in Europe, but was repressed in the USA. Milestone Films rereleased it in 2005 to an ever-expanding university and art-house audience. One reviewer noted that it still possessed "the power of an unexploded grenade."

Last January, I was asked to represent VVAW and perform the song/poem "Wagin' War" at the Bryant Lake Bowl Winter Soldier screening in Minneapolis, as part of the City Pages documentary film festival. The audience spanned generations of witnesses to the repeated cycles of war. VVAW shared an information table with Veterans for Peace. A veteran VVAW campaign banner and traveling display with documentation from thirty-some years of our antiwar and social-justice struggle stood as reminders of vigilance. Several harrowing photographs smuggled out of Vietnam in 1969 showed the work of my unit, personalized the film's message, and brought it all home.

Well, I read about a baby
That was wounded by a bullet
That was meant for her...mama!

The young soldier that shot her had nothing against her.

When! We were wagin' war.
When! We were wagin' war. (Refrain)

But mama was a rebel, so she would have to die.
"Just followin' orders," the young soldier sighed
As he squeezed on the trigger and let the round fly.
Though she believed in truths just as strongly as he,
Their personal Napoleons could never agree.
He might've asked why. But then again, foreign tongues have a tendency
To tie.

War-fueled adrenaline junkies and jock-ass news reporters,
Mr. and Ms. taking missiles and tracers and rockets and mortars
For Fourth o' July fireflies that light up the skies,
While bombastic bomb blasts blow out their eyes.
And the damaged eye always wonders why.

Busy, boyish hands flying air-conditioned cockpits,
Playing Dungeons and Dragons and delighting in direct hits,
High above reality and anguished human cries,
Separated by Ninja Turtle Nintendo screens blocking out the whys.
But then again, bloody bull's-eyes wins extra tries.

Patriotic rites of passage push and pull us straight to hell.
High-hoped heroes exchanging emotions
For protective plastic shells—
Can you look them in the eye again?
Can you pat them on the back
When they kill for you...believe in you...
believe in where you're at?
Take your AWACS and A-10 and A this 'n' that—
Take your AWACS and A-10 and shove it up your...!

Well, I read about a baby
That was wounded by a bullet
That was meant for her...mama!

The young soldier that shot her had nothing against her.

While! We keep wagin' war.
While! We keep wagin' war.