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October 21, 2005
From Soldier To Activist
An Interview With Tim Goodrich
by Karen Button, insurgent49

     Tim Goodrich , at 24, has served four years in the military and co-founded Iraq Veterans Against the War, a rapidly expanding organization whose members include soldiers like Camilo Mejia who have refused redeployment to Iraq and whose goals are to bring the troops home now, support the troops once they get back and support Iraqi reconstruction.

     Tim’s four years in the military spanned some of the most pivotal moments in recent US history. He was deployed on three different occasions to the Middle East, during which he helped “soften up” Iraq in bombing campaigns the Bush Administration denied took place, prior to the US’s declaration of war.

     While Mr. Bush refuses to acknowledge the debacle in Iraq, insisting that US forces will not withdraw, troop morale continues to decline and membership in the IVAW increases.

     On nearly continuous tour, Tim Goodrich now testifies, educates and speaks against the war in Iraq, what it’s like to be part of military culture, and on behalf of veterans.

     What’s your military background?

     At an early age, maybe 5/6 yrs old I knew I was going to be in the military. It’s a family tradition; both my grandfathers were in WWII and Korea, uncles and cousins in Vietnam, and even today some are currently serving. I remember playing with the Army guys on the front porch with my brother. For Christmas I always got fighter pilot calendars and instead of throwing them away at the end of the year, I would put the pictures up on my bedroom wall. It got to the point where I had about 80 some pictures of fighter planes on my wall. It was just covered.

     I joined when I was 18. It was between the Navy and the Air Force, but I was turned off to the Navy because I don’t swim so well. (laughing)

     Originally I had an ROTC scholarship. I was all set to go to West Virginia University but the scholarship was for electrical engineering and my math skills aren’t so good. I found out the hard way that I wasn’t really ready for that type of degree, plus it was straight out of high school and like many others I just wasn’t ready to start college right away.

     So your decision to join was out of family tradition, nothing to do with economics?

     Right, absolutely. I just wanted to serve my country and family tradition. My parents, while they’re not completely wealthy, they’re middle class and they could have sent me through school. They sent my brother and sister through school and they could have for me as well.

     You were in the military September 11, 2001. What were your thoughts after the attacks?

     I’d already been deployed once before to the Middle East. When September 11 happened I pretty much knew I’d be sent overseas and I was…after about 3 months. I was the second wave of my unit that went over there to a forward operating base. I didn’t have any questions. I’ve got pictures of me signing bombs that were going to be dropped on Afghanistan. I was caught up in it and I didn’t see the other side.  I didn’t ask the question why they attacked us in the first place, which is what people need to be asking.

     So you didn’t have any questions about when you got deployed you just thought, “this is the right thing, this is what I’m going to do”?

     Yeah, I just thought, we got attacked, it’s our job to respond.

     How long was that deployment and were you in Afghanistan?

     It was from December ‘01 to February ‘02. I was actually in Oman and we were flying direct combat support out of there for missions over Afghanistan.

     What kind of missions?

     My job was avionics technician, which is performing maintenance. I repaired the radio systems, communication/navigation systems and technological systems onboard the E3 AWAICS, which is a command and control aircraft. It’s called ‘the eye in the sky,’ it’s a radar surveillance aircraft and is there to make sure there’s no enemy aircraft, then they direct the fighters and bombers where to go to drop their munitions on target.

     Was this pre-ops for the ground troops?

     No, we worked in conjunction with the ground troops. We were able to relay battle maps to the ground troops and to some of the fighters and bombers.

     What did you see while there?

     Not too much; we were confined to the base in Oman. But, it was different than my other deployment in Saudi Arabia; there was a different tempo because we had B1 bombers flying day in and day out, 24 hours a day. Every couple hours one would take off, and those things are  massive and loud; they’d shake you out of bed. Then we had the KC 135 aerial refuelers on the ramp with us, so it was definitely different. I was helping them patrol the no-fly zone over Iraq and also bombing them at the same time, which I didn’t know at the time.



     You didn’t know you were bombing Iraq?

     Well, I’d gone over there thinking we’re patrolling the no-fly zone and making sure there’s no aircraft flying over the sky in Iraq; just making sure they comply with the UN Charters. Then after a couple of weeks we were shown a surveillance video during an intelligence briefing and it showed a bomb hitting a target.  I thought: Wow, I didn’t know we were doing this kind of stuff.  Most of the fighters were based in other bases across the Middle East, so while our fighters did go up I never realized they were dropping munitions until I saw that video. That time. I was there from March until May of 2001

     What did you think when you saw that target hit?

     Well. this was even pre-Afghanistan, so like I said I still wasn’t asking any questions. I mean, I got excited, it was a morale booster, everybody was just excited because we’d accomplished our mission.

     What was your mission? Did you understand what it was?

     No….it’s kind of funny because when you’re deployed in the Middle East, you’re right at the forefront but all you see is just this little slice of the big picture that’s right in front of you and oftentimes you now less about the war that’s going on in front of you than the people back home do.

     Let’s talk about the war a bit…you’ve obviously had an awakening, you’re in the midst of a speaking tour with Iraq Veterans Against the War. What was the moment you started questioning?

     I was on my third and final deployment to the Middle East, August through October of 2002. I started questioning when the Bush Administration started talking about going to war in Iraq. That was very suspicious to me because he was saying they had weapons of mass destruction and from our briefings I knew that we were within range of those. And then he started saying that they had a nuclear weapon they could drop on the United States in 45 minutes and I thought: wait a second, we’re 200 miles away from the border and they’re not attacking us, why would they attack the US? Do they have that capability? And then I realized that with the sanctions and the no-fly zone we had them contained in this little box for 12 years. That and the constantly changing rationale from the Bush Administration just made me suspicious, so I was against it from the start.

     Did you have others to talk to?

     Not so much, no. Out of my unit of 150, there were only about three or four of us that were against the war.

     Did you talk to each other?

     Yeah, but the military is funny. They say there's certain things you’re not supposed to talk about at work: sex, religion, politics, and war. But, in the military you’re either really busy or you’re really bored. A lot of times we were really bored, so that’s all we would talk about and my buddy got some verbal reprimands. We were eventually told to stop talking about it. For the most part I just kept quiet because I knew I was due to leave the military in a couple months and I didn’t want to make waves and cause trouble for myself. I just wanted a quiet exit and to be done with it.

     What did you think you would do when you got back?

     I was definitely against it (the war), and I was still active duty.  One weekend I used part of my government paycheck to fly out to New York City because a big protest was happening- it was February 15, 2003. I had been back four and half months and was due to get out in just a month in a half.

     You came home right in the middle of all the rhetoric.

     Yeah, right in the middle, and I remember just hoping that Colin Powell was going to stand up for what’s right and I remember even saying to my dad on the phone: Colin Powell is our last hope that this war doesn’t happen. And then he testified on February 5th.

     What was your father’s response?

     He’s a good listener. He’s very moderate, so he doesn’t put in too much of his own opinion.

     Yet, he saw this change happening in you?

     Yeah, definitely. (laughing) He didn’t try to take sides either way. He’s always been good about that, letting me figure things out on my own.

     What happened for you in New York City?

     Wow! Well, my sister was living there at the time, we took the subway and I walked out of the tunnel into Grand Central Station where a lot of people were meeting up for the actual march and where people were in transit to get to the march. I remember just having to hold back tears because it was just so beautiful to see that many people coming together for something they believed in so strongly.

     Was that the first time you were moved in that way?

     Oh, yeah! It was, it was…and then in the march, to just see blocks and blocks and miles of people coming together for the same thing. But I was kind of like a lost sheep though because…well, Military Families Speak Out had already been started, and knowing Nancy and Charlie, the co-founders, I told them (later) I was there at this protest and I was active duty military and they said, “where were you, we were looking for you,” and I didn’t know who to turn to, I was still on my own. I hadn’t really met anyone in the movement. I was just there, an individual, no associations whatsoever.

     After such a powerful experience what did you do afterwards?

     Well, I did the march and one of the concerts one night, and I went to a meeting one of the groups had. I made a couple of contacts, but other than that I just went home and ended up just getting out of the military a month later.

     But what were you thinking? What did you do with those feelings you had at the march afterwards?

     I don’t know. (laughing) Even to this day, it’s an amazing feeling when I see so many people come together for such a good cause and being in the movement now, thoroughly embedded in it, I can say I’ve met some of the best people in doing this type of work, people that will do anything for someone else, selfless people and whenever I’m in any kind a big protest, it just really moves me to see and feel that kind of energy because I know there are those good people there.

     How did you feel when it was clear the US would be attacking Iraq?

     When the war hit, it was hard. I was glued to the TV. I was a wreck. I was in shock. I couldn’t believe this was being done in my name. I felt betrayed and that’s a feeling that sticks with me to this day.

     Talk more about that.

     When you grow up in American society and you’re told from day one that being in the military is an honorable thing to do and you see your grandparents have served, it’s in your mind that being in the military really is an honorable thing to do. And when you volunteer to join, when you sign on the dotted line, you’re basically saying: I will give my life for my country, for the defense of the country. And then when the Administration sent us into a war that had nothing to do with the defense of our country, even the opposite--in my opinion it’s harm to the defense of our country---it’s this deep thing….I guess you just have to be put in the position to volunteer your life for your country to understand.

     Can you draw an analogy to help people understand?

     No…and even on a more shallow level, trying to explain military life to people is difficult because there’s just nothing that compares. Explaining military life is hard, explaining that feeling of betrayal is even harder.

     With your new perspective, what did you think you would do now, after the military?

     I didn’t know. I had made a couple contacts with a student group and I aligned myself with them for a little while and I did a little bit of writing for their publication and did some local stuff in Oklahoma City, where I’d been stationed, against the war. They had weekly peace marches on Sunday and I started making more and more contacts in the peace movement, that’s about it.

     Did you feel lost at that time?

     Looking back I guess I kind of did. I didn’t see the big picture. I didn’t realize how powerful my voice was at that point, after having helped bomb Iraq before the war and then being against it. I didn’t realize how powerful that was.

     How did Iraq Veterans Against the War come about?

     Eight months after I left active duty I went to Baghdad as a civilian with Global Exchange. What I saw there galvanized me even more against the war. I didn’t see any of the reconstruction. Even at that point I thought there was some reconstruction going on; I didn’t believe what the TV said, I knew better by then, but I had a hard time believing there was no reconstruction going on so I went there expecting to see at least some and I saw none. That really pissed me off and it galvanized me more. I started speaking out more and a couple months after I returned from Iraq I met Mike Hoffman, one of our other co-founders. It was the week before the first anniversary  of the war.

     We were at Dover Air Force Base doing a memorial/protest. Of course, Dover is where all the dead bodies come home. We both spoke there. He told me about his idea to form a group of recent veterans who were against the war and I liked the idea and we kept in touch. We met a couple of others across the US who felt the same way and then nine of us launched Iraq Veterans Against the War on July 28, 2004, right before the Democratic National Convention and during the Veterans for Peace annual convention.

     How do you feel now about that? When you look back on your life before to where you are now?

     (laughing) I can’t believe it’s only been a year because I’ve been so incredibly busy. It feels like so much longer; it feels like we’ve been doing this work for years. I’m so caught up in it, to tell you the truth I couldn’t stop it even if I wanted to.

     Does it feel like your life’s work?

     Definitely! I feel like I have a mission to do.

     What do you say to young people thinking of joining the military?

     I tell them don’t do it. I don’t have so much a problem with people joining the military in a time of peace, but in the time of an illegal war, I definitely can’t support it and I do whatever I can to get them to consider other alternatives.

     Yet, you have a distinct respect for the military still, it sounds like.

     Yeah, you have to, to see what these guys go through. The military four years was some of the hardest time of my life. They ask a lot of you, not only physically, but emotionally. It’s your whole life when you’re in. There’s a deep sense of loyalty and commitment when you’re in the military that you don’t have as a clerk in a 7/11. So, that sticks with you.

     Beyond the individual soldiers though, what do you feel about the military? Do you feel that we need it?

     At this point in the global situation, I think there is a need for the military because there are countries that have bad foreign policies just like the US and would like to get their hands on the US’s interests if they could, so I think at this point it is necessary for defense. But, I look at back at our foreign policy and the way our military has been used in at least the last hundred years and I can’t think of a time when it was used out of selflessness and for purely self-defense reasons.

     What do you think the solution is?

     I wish it were that easy. I think the first thing we need to do is examine our foreign policy and implement one that doesn’t take advantage so much and exploit other countries. Put a little respect into the people we deal with around the world.





Karen Button is a freelance journalist and peace activist. She can be reached at kbutton@insurgent49.com
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in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership.