Iraq vet opposes war
By Molly Walker, [Yamhill Valley] News Register, May 13, 2009
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Benji Lewis spoke out against the Iraq War during a stop in McMinnville sponsored by Yamhill Valley Peacemakers.
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Benji Lewis joined the Marine Corps at the age of 17. He went on to serve two tours in Iraq, during four years of active duty, before being honorably discharged in 2007.
But when the Corvallis resident got six months notice last fall of his recall to active duty, through the Individual Ready Reserve system, he decided he wasn't going to report. He decided he was going to become an activist instead, and began accepting engagements throughout the Northwest to speak out against the U.S. invasion.
His unit's recall orders were canceled last month, 30 days before its scheduled departure, leaving him free to continue his anti-war tour without fear of military sanction.
Lewis' tour brought him to McMinnville May 6 and 7 for presentations to groups of Linfield College and McMinnville High School students. He also attended a potluck with the Yamhill Valley Peacemakers at the home of member Ellie Gunn, who coordinated his visit.
When he joined the military, Lewis said, he had a desire to "be part of something bigger than I was." He came from a long line of military officers, including both of his parents, both grandfathers and several of his uncles.
In addition to manning a mortar and serving as a translator, he taught urban combat. But he became more and more disillusioned during his service abroad.
Lewis said the first big turning point for him occurred during the initial siege of Fallujah in April 2004.
Members of his unit had spent days in a foxhole, getting little sleep, when a crying Iraqi woman came toward them. "It was pretty evident to me she was not a threat," he said.
Trained in Arabic, he served as a translator for his platoon and received permission to talk to her.
She told him her house had been bombed, killing two of her children. She had a baby still buried in the rubble, and it had stopped crying. She was desperate for help.
Lewis was pretty sure, from her description, that he was the one who had fired mortar rounds into her house. He wanted to take her to a Red Cross station for help, but was told his unit couldn't spare anyone to escort her.
The commander sent her back into town with nothing more than a bottle of water. He wonders to this day, he said, whether she survived.
"It illustrated to me that maybe we weren't there on a humanitarian mission," Lewis said. "I think the capability was in our hands to help that woman."
As his thinking evolved, Lewis came to believe the U.S. had launched the entire invasion under false pretenses. "That raises the question, 'Why are we there?'" he said.
"From the Iraqi perspective, we were there solely for oil," he said. "We, as Marines, didn't totally believe that."
When Lewis received his recall orders in October, he was ordered to report to Camp Pendleton on May 18 - then still more than six months off. He knew immediately that he was not going to comply, and decided to use the time in between to speak out publicly.
He was notified April 16 that the recall orders had been canceled. He was thankful for that, because he believes such involuntary recalls are unjust anyway.
Lewis is currently studying at Linn Benton Community College in hopes of eventually becoming a teacher.
But he is continuing to squeeze in speaking engagements, and said he's been getting a very positive reception. "We're really talking about what is fundamental in society," he said.
His speaking engagements are being sponsored by the Rural Organizing Project and Veterans for Peace. He's also planning to join an anti-war delegation on a trip to Venezuela later this year.
Lewis said there are some important issues to be considered, such as the number of men and women returning from service in the war with post-traumatic stress disorder. "How do we integrate them back into society?" he asked.
He also questions the huge costs the U.S. is incurring in Iraq during difficult economic times. He said they were running $200 million to $400 million a day during his two tours - money that would go a long way toward solving the nation's economic ills.
"We're facing this recession," he said. "Lots of people are losing jobs.
"We're freedom-loving people here in America. Do we think we can achieve more freedom with less education, less opportunities and higher unemployment?"
Lewis also expressed concern about mounting war debt.
"Debt is accumulating," he said. "Who gets that debt? That's us."
For additional information, visit www.couragetore sist.org.
