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USMC 1st Lt Jacob Bridge,
Conscientious Objector
jake-bridge

“I read a quote from Chelsea Manning and I agreed with what it said. I started realizing that she was not like I’d been told and that I had a lot in common with her and her experience and her thinking and that was terrifying.”

By Bob Meola, Courage to Resist
February 4, 2015

First Lt. Jacob Bridge recently sat down with me and explained the process and events that brought about his transformation from military believer to Conscientious Objector. Jake submitted his application for CO status in June of last year. It is now at Marine Corps Headquarters in Quantico, Virginia and Jake is waiting to hear whether he will be granted CO status.

Jake was 13 years old and in the 7th grade when the World Trade Center was hit on 9/11. He could see plumes of smoke from Washington Rock Lookout Point, near his home in Stirling, New Jersey. This was the lookout point that enabled General George Washington to view the movement of the British army during the American Revolution. In high school, Jake new he wanted to be in the military—first in the army, and later in the marines, because they were tough, because they had the reputation of being the toughest of all of the branches of the military....

Read more at couragetoresist.org


An American sniper

garett_reppenhagen Chris Kyle’s war was not my war. Don’t make the mistake of thinking the hit movie captures the truth of the Iraq conflict. I should know. I lived it.

By Garett Reppenhagen, Salon.com
February 1, 2015

I spent nights in Iraq lying prone and looking through a 12-power sniper scope. You only see a limited view between the reticles. That’s why it’s necessary to keep both eyes open. This way you have some ability to track targets and establish 360 degrees of awareness. I rotated with my spotter and an additional security team member to maintain vigilance and see the whole battlefield. I scrutinized every target in my scope to determine if they were a threat.

Read more at Salon.com

Watch Garett on MSNBC discuss the movie American Sniper