by Arti Walker-Peddakolta

I was a kid when I joined the military at 18—naive, overwhelmed, afraid, and way too scrawny and out-of-shape to believe that I was going to make it past basic training.

"We owe it to everyone—veterans, interpreters, the American people in general—to speak up," says Tony Clapp, a VFAI leader and retired EA-6B Naval Flight Officer with over 25 years of service.

By Scott Cooper

When I retired from the Marine Corps, like all of my friends who served, I reflected on my experience and wondered if I could find something as meaningful and important. I often revisited the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes, when he spoke to the veterans of his unit some twenty years after their war (the Civil War). He said, 

Michael Trudeau is a U.S. Navy veteran and an MBA student at Northeastern University. His advice to veterans? "If you care about something, never stop fighting for it."

In Syria, the battle for the last of rebel-controlled Aleppo culminated in “a complete meltdown of humanity” as pro-government forces, backed by Russia and Iran, moved in on Tuesday. At least 82 civilians, including children, were reportedly indiscriminately executed. Others posted final goodbyes and pleas for help via social media before evacuations of remaining civilians began on Wednesday.

Last week Veterans for American Ideals (VFAI) hosted its first-ever Leader Convening, bringing together a bipartisan group of 30 veterans from across the nation to fight for policies consistent with American values.

Thirty Veterans for American Ideals leaders descended on Washington, DC last week to advocate, as "citizen soldiers", on issues that are central to retaining U.S. moral leadership in the world. 

On Friday the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included a renewal of the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program for interpreters, translators, and other allies who served alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan. These allies are often targeted and threatened by the Taliban and other extremists due to their service to the United States.

Roman Baca is a U.S. Marine veteran, a graduate student at Columbia University and a classical ballet dancer who believes in the power of art to serve and create change. 

Mansoor Shams is a U.S. Marine veteran who created MuslimMarine.org to combat stereotypes and bigotry. He says, "As veterans, we’ve played a tiny part in the grand scheme of things, just by signing on that dotted line. Your role now is to help people understand that this is a diverse nation: there is no religious test. This is what you signed up for—to protect this, so that those who come after us can also enjoy these freedoms. It comes back to our core values. We are all one people and what makes us strong is standing together in unity."