Recently, Marine Corps veteran and 2023 Peacemaker Awardee Hoh spoke at a local Memorial Day observation. As a descendant of veterans and a witness to war firsthand, his words shone a spotlight on what this day means, and what price war demands from us all. Among his thoughts on morality and war:
“These [Iraqi] boys that we killed on the streets…they weren’t al Qaeda, they didn’t believe in those jihadist notions, they didn’t believe that somehow there would be 70 Virgins waiting for them. They weren’t dead-enders for Saddam Hussein. They were boys who were fighting us because their country had been invaded.”