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Iraq Veteran Speaks Out at the U of I

By VVAW

On February 11, 2006, the Progressive Resource/Action Cooperative (PRC) hosted an antiwar event featuring Iraq War veteran Dave Adams. The PRC is a multi-issue, multi-tactical activist organization composed of students and community members at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The PRC has been involved in antiwar organizing, including fighting for the rights of GIs and veterans, since the first Gulf War.

Dave Adams of IVAW, Veterans Day 2005, Chicago

Over fifty people came out to hear Adams, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), discuss his experiences serving in Iraq and readjusting to civilian life. Adams has spoken at many events, including the VVAW Veterans Day rally in Chicago last fall.

Adams joined the military in December 1999, not long after completing high school, and served from 2000 to 2003. He completed basic training at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina. Upon completion of basic training, he was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. He served as a mechanic for the military police and was stop-lossed in early 2003, shortly before the start of the Iraq War.

During his talk, he described how he was assigned to various tasks and positions, including chaplain's assistant, that he was never trained to do. He spent some time working in convoys, and witnessed a severe shortage of armor in his unit. Because of this lack of armor and the way they were arranged, the convoys were very dangerous, not only the soldiers in the convoy, but also to Iraqi civilians.

Adams called on President Bush to apologize to the troops for lying about the reasons for going to war with Iraq. As part of his process of reintegrating into civilian life, he began to realize that his friends were dying and there wasn't a good justification for what was going on. Adams discussed his work with IVAW and their goals of working to bring the troops home now, support Iraqi reconstruction in any way possible, and support our veterans and our troops now and upon their return home.

Adams said that upon returning home, he began drinking heavily and acting uncharacteristically, and sometimes he became angry for no reason. He went to the local VA and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He also joined Iraq Veterans Against the War and began speaking out about his experiences. Adams described how the VA's treatment was simply to dole out medication, which had negative side effects and didn't address the problems at hand. It was his work with IVAW that helped him the most. Currently Adams is an undergraduate at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Despite being a full-time student, Adams continues fighting for the rights of his brothers and sisters by talking to those who are contemplating enlisting, by talking with his fellow vets, and by speaking out and fighting for the rights of all veterans.