Last month the group Iraq Veterans Against the War held the winter soldier proceedings near Washington, D.C.
Matt Howard of Burlington was there. Howard was a Marine Corporal and served during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and later went back in 2004. Here’s some of the testimony he gave at the winter soldier hearings:
(Howard) "When we got over the border, as you’ve also heard, there were a lot of Iraqi children begging for food. I instantly, putting one and one together to make two, started handing out the humanitarian rations. No sooner than I started handing out those rations, my first sergeant came up to me and in no uncertain terms made it crystal clear that I was under direct orders not to throw out anymore food to anymore Iraqi children. To make a long story short, I got all the way to Baghdad I got all the way back to Kuwait, and I still had the food on my truck. And I went to my command and I said, what am I to do with the humanitarian rations? And he said, bury it. And I did. I buried it in a garbage pit in Kuwait."
Matt Howard said he joined the Marines for all the reasons a recruiter tells you about…adventure, discipline and money for college. When he got back he felt a disconnect between his military experience and the way the war was portrayed elsewhere. He now heads the Vermont chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War.
We spoke with Matt Howard about what he hoped to accomplish by participating in the winter soldier hearings:
Click listen to hear the entire interview.