We Are Not Your Soldiers

We Are Not Your Soldiers looks forward to engaging in dialogue with many students in their classes and organizations during the fall and spring academic semesters of 2026/27. Scheduling is on now for class visits. Where possible we will be there in person but can always speak via remote technology as well. At this moment in our country, these presentations and the discussions around them are more relevant than ever. The forever wars not only continue but accelerate with no end in sight. Horrific destruction and suffering is being unleashed in Iran, Lebanon, Gaza and the rest of Palestine along with piracy and further horrific actions in the Caribbean and Pacific. Treatment of the troops themselves has reached new lows. At the same time, conditions in this country worsen for much of the population, especially

May 03, 2026 / Joy Damiani / We Are Not Your Soldiers -“How do veterans become homeless?” is a question that should not have to be asked in a healthy society. When addressed to me by a teenager in a school in the heart of Manhattan, it spoke volumes of the world students are about to inherit. Not only are they witnessing and experiencing horrors in every direction, but they’ve got frighteningly little information about what the future is going to hold for them, and even less about the military.

03 de mayo de 2026 / Joy Damiani / No somos tus soldados -“¿Cómo se quedan sin hogar los veteranos?” Es una pregunta que no debería hacerse en una sociedad sana. Cuando un adolescente me lo dirigió en una escuela en el corazón de Manhattan, dijo mucho del mundo que los estudiantes están a punto de heredar. No sólo están presenciando y experimentando horrores en todas direcciones, sino que tienen alarmantemente poca información sobre lo que les deparará el futuro, y menos aún sobre el ejército.

Summary describing your organization: World Can’t Wait’s We Are Not Your Soldiers project brings Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans to classes to tell about the wars and what the military is recruiting for – information most have never been exposed to before. Often, we begin the presentation by showing a short video. Sometimes we use a version of “Collateral Murder” narrated by veteran Ethan McCord which contains footage, released by Chelsea Manning, of the Baghdad killing of Reuters journalists and others. Or we may show a clip from a feature film on a drone pilot stationed at a base here in the United States or another video. The veterans talk about their on-the-ground experiences in occupying countries, where civilians pay the price.  In-service and post-service issues such PTSD, medical/psychological care or lack thereof and homelessness are also addressed as well as the realities of advertised benefits, such as college tuition. Students are provided with information and a perspective to which they may not otherwise be exposed.

The World Can’t Wait organizes people living in the United States to repudiate and stop the fascist direction initiated by the Bush Regime, including: the murderous, unjust and illegitimate occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan; the global “war of terror” of torture, rendition and spying; and the culture of bigotry, intolerance and greed. This direction cannot and will not be reversed by leaders who tell us to seek common ground with fascists, religious fanatics, and empire. It can only be possible by the people building a community of resistance - an independent mass movement of people - acting in the interests of humanity to stop, and demand prosecution, of these crimes.

Summary describing your organization: Most schools around the country are struggling with fewer teachers and reduced resources to try to meet the critical needs of their students. But one thing is not in short supply. That's the military recruiters who stalk the hallways of far too many urban and rural public high schools and community colleges. We Are Not Your Soldiers is an initiative of World Can't Wait that brings anti-war veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars together with activists to talk about the reality of these wars in classrooms and to counter the dangerous deceptions served up by recruiters. This is truly a life-changing experience for many young people who are encouraged to ask their most difficult questions of young women and men who just a few years ago were students like them, considering what to do with their lives and are now committed to ending the wars they saw first hand. We have visited schools in New York City, Connecticut, rural Maine, Chicago, the Bay area and Washington state. We want to expand the We Are Not Your Soldiers project and reach out to more schools and more students and young people.