By Chloe McElligott

Weave News correspondent Chloe McElligott speaks with Jack Gilroy, a Veterans for Peace member whose lifelong journey of social justice activism has taken him from military service to self-imposed exile in Australia to campaigns against militarism throughout the United States. Situating himself within the tradition of radical Catholic antiwar organizing, Jack finds hope in the "search for young people who are individuals with a sense of true justice, have a sense of morality, who are not on an ego-trip, who are not on a power trip, but are more concerned with reaching out with compassion and generosity to the world."

By Chloe McElligott

It boggles my mind to think that the United States spends so much money and energy on war, a venture that always ultimately leads to destruction and death. Though it is debatable whether war is underreported (obviously, some wars are underreported, depending on who is fighting and dying), I do think the issues of peace movements aren’t discussed enough by the news media. This led to my desire to start interviewing pro-peace/anti-war veterans and creating miniature profiles of them, starting specifically with members of Veterans for Peace. These are people who, at some point, probably saw military service as one of the highest performances of patriotism. Eventually, however, they became disillusioned with the U.S. as a military power, and for me this gives their criticisms of war even more credibility.