Hannah Jones

I served in Fort Riley for four and and a half years. I deployed to Iraq twice. There were times in my military career where I felt like I could adapt to the organization. After four and a half years, it was painstakingly clear that I could not. When I joined, I viewed the military as a necessary agent of protection. I softly believed in the goals we purported at the time as well. The experiences of my friends, myself, and the role we play in driving colonialism, environmental destruction, and overall destruction of human life is what made me throw in the towel. While deployed, I came across on youtube the IVAW and Democracy Now sponsored event called "Operation: Winter Soldier", where service members bravely came forward and attested to their experiences. Hearing the stories of the service members touched me and made me feel less alone in my budding dissent. I was an agent of white supremacy against the people of Iraq, regardless of what my subjective views may be. In uniform, this is what I represented. Peace activism is my restitution for my role in perpetrating the war and profiteering from it.