On Monday, April 20, a demonstration was held by About Face: Veterans Against the War, as well as Veterans for Peace and 50501 Veterans in Washington, D.C. At the event, around 130 veterans, including myself, military family members, and supporters filled the Cannon House Office Building to hold a flag-folding ceremony within the rotunda to honor Iranians and Americans who have been killed in the ongoing war with Iran. During this, 62 veterans were arrested by Capitol police.

About Face is an anti-war, anti-imperialist organization of veterans that started as Iraq Veterans Against the War, which has since modernized to include all post 9/11 veterans.

The protest was represented by four generations of war veterans, including the Vietnam War, both Gulf Wars, and the Iraq War. Veterans wore shirts that read, “VETERANS AGAINST FASCISM,” and also held tulips close to their hearts, which represent martyrdom and the cost of war.

Family members of active duty servicemembers who were worried for the safety of their loved ones also spoke at the protest as this war of choice continues.

After all the speeches were over, veterans demanded Speaker Mike Johnson come and accept the folded flag in person and agree to veterans’ demands to end this illegal war against Iran. They continued to chant, “not another nickel, not another dime, we won’t pay for Trump’s war crimes. Not another nickel, not another dime, the cost of war is too damn high.”

From the second floor of the rotunda, I witnessed through my camera lens as veterans chanted while they were arrested, including several elderly and disabled veterans. I felt guilty photographing fellow veterans and friends while the US Capitol Police zip-tied them. But I knew they were willing to accept the consequences for assembling peaceably to practice their First Amendment rights. 

After the final arrest, the tulips veterans held near their hearts fell and hit the ground, leaving behind what looked to be a battlefield full of the fallen. While tulips can not speak, they represented Americans silenced by the country they served before being silenced again after being removed from the rotunda.

On a normal day, I am a photojournalist who documents what others do in the world. Naturally, as a member of About Face, I was there as a Navy veteran and as a photographer because I believe in putting an end to wars of domination, ending the military industrial complex and building a world based on love, respect, kindness and understanding for all of humanity. 

I want to do whatever I can to help. Alone, I am powerless in the face of endless suffering at the hands of a vile, disgusting empire, and doing nothing will only permit this empire to do worse to humanity. 

So many people in Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, Sudan, Congo and Yemen are being killed by our government and its foreign allies like Israel and the UAE. Our allies are committing genocides, which we arm with our tax dollars, in violation of the Leahy Law, which makes it illegal to arm foreign forces with credible allegations of gross human rights violations. People at home are being killed by a militarized police force and ICE. People are dying in ICE detention facilities. So many people are losing their families, their livelihoods, their homes, their culture, their safety and their freedoms, for the benefit of a few people who want to keep making money from war and detention.

When I joined the Navy in 2018, I had recently lost my job as a cashier at Walmart. A doctor saw I had one of the most viral strains of the flu and recommended I not work to avoid spreading it to the whole city of San Antonio, Texas. My managers at Walmart did not see it the same way and fired me over attendance despite having a signed doctor’s note. I grew up believing military service was the most honorable job. I could no longer pay for my rent, and the military was a way out of poverty that came with many benefits. I did not join the Navy to harm people around the world, nor at home.

I despise what the American empire is doing to immigrants, to Iranians, to Palestinians, to Venezuelans, to Cubans, to Chinese, and to Lebanese people. I despise war. And war makes the world despise us.

Politicians always demand that we be patriotic and hold nationalism in our hearts, but as an American-born citizen turned sailor, I can not say I love this country.

As long as America represents death and suffering globally, I remain deeply ashamed of being American and deeply ashamed of being a veteran.

In About Face, I am a part of a larger movement that can make a difference. I hope that our actions help Americans reflect on our behavior as a society and as a country. Ask yourself, are we doing the right thing? 

Should we be spending so much money on endless war and refusing to pay for Americans’ healthcare, housing, school, and our well-being?

I am sick and tired of seeing our tax dollars going to a war machine that slaughters children and innocent people. I am tired of seeing universities, apartment buildings, churches, synagogues, and mosques explode for the benefit of the American empire and its allies. 

I have had enough, and so have many other veterans. We need to end the military industrial complex yesterday. Do not thank me for my service because I do not want any of this. If you want to show appreciation for veterans, then stop making veterans.