Anti-War Soldier Jonathan Hutto: People, Not Politicians, Will End the War in Iraq

Active-duty sailor Jonathan Hutto signed up to join the Navy in December 2003, at the age of 26. Previously a college activist fighting police brutality in Washington, D.C., and later an organizer with the ACLU, he was not the sort of recruit one usually imagines enlisting in the U.S. military. But his experience as an activist would serve him well as he began to protest unjust practices within the armed forces, where almost from the start, he battled institutional racism and the unwillingness of the chain of command to punish it, while also fighting oppressive and arbitrary disciplinary practices by his commanding officers. In 2006, he co-founded Appeal for Redress, one of the only active-duty anti-war groups since Vietnam, devoted to ending the war in Iraq.

The appeal itself is three sentences long:

As a patriotic American proud to serve the nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq. Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for U.S. troops to come home.

This month, Nation Books published Hutto's book, Antiwar Soldier: How to Dissent Within the Ranks of the Military. Part military memoir, part training manual, it lays out crucial things a soldier needs to know before resisting. The preface was written by David Cortright, whose 1975 book, Soldiers in Revolt, is considered the definitive chronicle of the Vietnam GI movement. With the Iraq occupation in its sixth year and no real end in sight, Antiwar Soldier comes at a critical time, and a moment where, increasingly, veterans and soldiers are revitalizing the anti-war movement.

AlterNet staff writer Liliana Segura recently exchanged e-mails with Hutto, who discussed, among other topics, why he joined the military; why he does not support a candidate for president; and what comes next for the anti-war movement.

Liliana Segura: You were raised in a left-leaning, politically conscious household and were an activist in college. Plus, in the book you describe how your mother used to chase away military recruiters from the house. Did you ever think you'd join the military?

Jonathan Hutto: No not at all. Nothing in my background or history would have supported me making such a move. The military was not represented as a proud tradition in my community, given the military was segregated until the early 1950s, with blacks still experiencing severe racism and repression throughout the Vietnam conflict. Both of my parents were born in a segregated/apartheid South, which shaped and informed my world view.

LS: Why did you choose the Navy?

JH: My mom was the primary reason for my decision. I was looking at the military at the age of 26, purely for economic and social adjustment reasons. One of the primary motivators was paying off a substantial portion of my student loan debt, which was $48,000, in the fall of 2003. Today, my loans stand at $24,000. I've always envisioned myself working toward advanced higher education, so the GI Bill was also seen as an incentive. My mom lobbied for me to look at the Navy, given the risk associated with service in the Army and Marines -- plus I had two uncles that were veterans of the Air Force, one during the Korean conflict. The Iraq War was barely a year old when I decided to enlist.

LS: What surprised you the most about the Navy?

JH: I guess the word is "shocking" and not so much "surprising." Nothing really surprised me; however, it was shock treatment to be exposed to the depths of internalized racism and imperialism. I vividly remember an instructor at boot camp speaking on the virtues of Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee in 1964 that ran on an anti-Civil Rights platform. I remember seeing the Confederate flag as one of the many flags we marched under. Although I have seen that flag many times in my life, this is the first time I had to endure it from an institutionalized setting. Then I remember battle stations, the last phase of boot camp. This is when you stay up 24 hours completing different battle scenarios on a ship, in combat, in water, etc. I can remember the instructors giving these heroic war stories, many of these stories coming directly from the Vietnam conflict. Much of this ran counter to my core belief system. You can imagine how deep the shock treatment was, given that one of my first experiences leaving home in 1995 was standing in front of Frederick Douglass Memorial Hall, named in honor of the late great abolitionist on Howard University's campus, for a student rally.