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IVAW Update: Eulogy for IVAW Member Timothy Swanson

On Saturday, January 27, Cpl. Timothy Swanson was killed by an IED in Taji, Iraq. His tragic death is a blow to us all; not only because he is numbered among the over three thousand American soldiers who died for a lie, but because he was a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War.
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Tim was not the first member of IVAW who we’ve lost (Spc. Douglas Barber took his own life after a long battle with the VA) but he is the first member to be killed in action, and I’m sorry to say he will not be the last.

I served with Tim during his first tour of duty; I’d been in Iraq for over nine months by the time he arrived and was assigned to my platoon. He was real fresh, straight out of Basic and already disenchanted with the Army. He reminded me a lot of myself when I first joined; so full of misguided idealism and so frustrated with reality. I took to him right away; he was like a little brother to me. He rode shotgun with me on the supply truck and I showed him the ropes, I taught him how to survive, and I always made sure he was taken care of.

After the deployment I filed for conscientious objector status and began the lengthy process of paperwork and interviews that would eventually lead me out of the Army. Tim was there with me every step of the way; he helped me prepare for my hearing, he testified as a character witness on my behalf, and we shared resources such as the GI Rights Hotline and the Guide to Getting Out. He kept telling me that if I were successful with my claim, and managed to get an honorable discharge, that he would do it too. Well, I did get that honorable discharge; I got out. But Tim stayed in; I guess he had his reasons. Or maybe he was just “being Tim”; he never was very good at following up on the things.

But he was a good kid.

We kept in touch, and I would always tell him about IVAW and the stuff I was doing to end the war. He got really interested, and joined IVAW about a month before his second deployment.

The most tragic thing about all this is how vehemently anti-war Tim was when he died. His rage was often misguided, but his mind was always in the right place; he knew about the profiteering, and the racism, and the lies that surrounded the war; but he went anyway. I guess he felt he had something to prove, but to whom? His family? His friends? Himself? Probably all three…

Tim is gone now, he was my little brother; but he died in Iraq last Saturday and he’s never coming back. Little by little I am coming to understand the utter finality of his death, and the frustrations of his life. He hated the government, he hated the Army, and he hated this war. Tim hated a lot of things, even unto his death.

The government owned his body, but it never owned his mind. And now that he’s gone, I will make sure they never own his memory. They will never steal his soul or the essence of who he was. Tim was a rebel, he was all about “sticking it to the man”; and I know the best way to honor his memory - to bring all the soldiers home, and to end this senseless war!

I love you man, I’ll miss you. But I’ll rest easy knowing that you’ve finally reached your “sweet release”…
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Iraq Veterans Against the War
 
 

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