Dispatches

Full article available at Slate, where is was originally published

I can usually pick them out before I get close enough to read their shirts. There’s something in the way most combat veterans carry themselves in a crowd, not quite military bearing anymore, that gets worn down over time, but something residual, a way of standing that’s hard to describe and easy to recognize.

The No Kings protest in Austin drew thousands on a warm late March afternoon, a broad coalition of Texans who’ve had enough. Teachers, doctors, nurses, truck drivers, construction workers, parents, grandparents, college students. And scattered through the crowd, often identifiable by their hats and t-shirts, were hundreds of veterans. I came looking for them specifically.

Most were from my generation, the GWOT generation, Iraq and Afghanistan vets, though there were plenty of Vietnam guys too, and Gulf War. With the Iran war now in its second month, the casualty count already climbing before a single boot has touched Iranian soil, I wanted to know what the people who’d actually done this for a living had to say about it.

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Adrian is a former Army captain. We were wearing matching unit hats, so that was a natural conversation starter. We served in different brigades within the same infantry division. He was deployed to Afghanistan as a company commander while I was a squad leader in Iraq. He came to the protest in veteran gear, deliberately, because he believes visibility matters right now.

“I’m out here as a veteran because I think we have a particular awareness and a particular stake in service,” he told me. “Service to our country, service to the Constitution, selfless service. And I think we need to show up and be part of this.”

When I asked him about Iran, he didn’t give me talking points. He turned to terrain and troop strength and strategic objectives.

“Airpower isn’t going to do anything. You’re not going to accomplish anything lasting without infantry on the ground. You can’t achieve sustained effects by strategic bombing. You can’t get there without putting boots on the ground. So then, what is your objective? What are you trying to do?”

He paused. “I’m a former war planner, and I still don’t understand what we’re trying to do.”

When the subject turned to the Strait of Hormuz… continue reading at Slate →

Nick Allison is a writer and editor based in Austin, Texas. His work has appeared in Slate, HuffPost, The Fulcrum, CounterPunch, and elsewhere. (@nickallison80.bsky.social)