(2008) Two days after September 11th, 2001, Tomas Young, 25 years old of Kansas City, Missouri, called an Army recruiter to enlist, anticipating that he would be sent to Afghanistan to fight al-Qaeda. Instead, in early spring 2004 he arrived in Iraq; five days later on April 4th while riding in an open truck, Tomas was struck by AK-47 rounds, damaging his spinal cord, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.

Relevant as a reminder about future wars, this documentary about a veteran who became an anti-war advocate was directed by co-producers Phil Donahue and Ellen Spire, with songs by Eddie Vedder. In October 2002 Congress - one elected representative of the people cautioned his colleagues to act "as if we are sending our very own children to war" - in an "abdication of our responsibility," according to Senator Robert Byrd ("Don't rush this through"), passed the Iraq War Resolution by a vote of 296 to 133 in the House and 77 to 23 in the Senate.

A year later Senator Byrd delivered a famous speech in which he quoted Nazi Hermann Goering: "We got around to the subject of war again and I said that, contrary to his attitude, I did not think that the common people are very thankful for leaders who bring them war and destruction. . . . But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship. There is one difference. . . . In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars. Oh, that is all well and good, but voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them that they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for a lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country." Tomas in his wheelchair meets personally with the West Virginian in his Senate office.

After his return to Kansas City from three months of rehabilitation - which Bobby Muller, a Vietnam vet who suffered a similar wound and paralysis 35 years earlier, in comparing the care they'd received said the Veterans Administration had skimped on Tomas's treatment - Tomas's girlfriend Brie insisted on getting married, which they did in August 2005.

Tomas's younger brother Nathan enlisted in the Army and has served two tours in Iraq. His mother Cathy - unlike his stepfather Mike Smith, a rightwing, pro-Bush, Rush Limbaugh "dittohead" - opposes the war and accompanies Tomas to a rally by the Iraq Veterans Against the War (which he and Brie attended on their honeymoon) and an anti-war demonstration in Washington, DC, (with gold star mothers wearing tee-shirts: "Bush lied, My son died") where he takes an active role as speaker.

In December 2005 he is interviewed by Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes. But President Bush declines to speak with this wounded warrior who wants stem-cell research to continue in hopes of a cure for his condition: "I'm jealous of people that can walk."

Tomas describes his medical complications, regimen of drugs, erectile dysfunction and need of a catheter to clear his bladder. The stress on Brie becomes too great for the couple to bear; they separate in June 2006.

Impetuous politicians and gung-ho patriots are too eager to go to war, ignoring the consequences.

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Copyright © 2009 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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