Winter Soldier Testimony

Of all the accounts of war given last week by GIs at the Winter Soldier hearings (which are now up on YouTube), I was struck by the story of Hart Viges who enlisted in the Army and requested an Airborne assignment after 9/11.

At the about 8:20-mark in the video, Viges, who is now a conscientious objector, describes a moment when he had his sights on an Iraqi with an RPG strapped to his back, and didn't pull the trigger.

"When I looked at his face, he wasn't a bogeyman, he wasn't the enemy," Viges recalled. "He was scared and confused, probably the same expression on his face I had on mine during the same time. He was probably fed the same bs I was fed... to put myself in that situation. I seen his face ... it took me back, and I didn't pull the trigger and he got away."