Meet Logan M. Laituri of the IVAW

[unhappycamper]

Logan M. Laituri
Branch of service: United States Army (USA)
Unit: 2nd Bn. 35th INF, 25th ID
Rank: SGT
Home: Camden, New Jersey
Served in: North Carolina, Hawaii, Iraq: Kirkuk, Mosul, Najaf, Sammarah, Tall Afar, Syrian Border, Diwaniyah, Tuz Kharmatu... then I stopped keeping track.

I was a paratrooper for two years in the 82nd Airborne in Ft. Bragg, NC before I reenlisted for an assignment in Hawaii with the 25th Infantry Division. I was on Oahu for one year and two days before I deployed to Iraq on January 19, 2004. In Iraq, served with Josh Dawson, another IVAW member, in the 1/14 Infantry as the entire country's QRF. We never were at a FOB for more than a month or so for the duration of our 14 month deployment. We redeployed from theater in February 2005 after spending the elections in Mosul, an area that was especially volatile during the historic event.

After my deployment, I began to take religion seriously, but did not trust the form of Christianity the President seemed to embody. I found the religion of the Bible to be rooted in much more merciful and humble foundations than what many others seemed to display.

After an intense time of studying the scriptures, I came to find what I was being told by pro-war Christians was not based in a contextual understanding of the Bible, but in a selectively literal understanding. When Jesus said to love our enemies, He did not have in mind killing them.

Many months later, I am still trying to figure it all out, but I have not come any closer to believing that violence is used by God in this era, or that it is even an appropriate means of conflict resolution (either personally or internationally).

Currently, I live in America's fourth "Most Dangerous City," Camden, NJ. Two nights ago, a 17 year old boy was shot and collapsed to die one door down from my house. Within the same 24 hour period, thousands of miles away, a 22 year old youth was summarily executed (by a pistol shot to the back of the head, along with 23 other bullet wounds) in a coffee shop in broad daylight in Ramallah, Palestine, by an 'undercover' Israeli government hit squad using weapons purchased with yours and my tax money. Both boys (and their murderers) were victims of the myth of redemptive violence; the belief that murder is the only weapon we have against death. Truth and justice truly are the first casualties.

I find it a patriotic duty to help bring about a better way of doing life; to save not only our fellow Americans' lives, but those of the Iraqis, Afghanis, and all the victims of our national terrorism.

[A-Long-Little-Doggie]

1. Excellent post!

Thanks, unhappycamper.