Iraq Veteran Against the War

Gabriel Payan

By NICOLE JONES

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Gabriel Payan, 29, became a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) after deserting the Army last year, though he'd been following the organization's work before he decided to go AWOL. "I wanted to meet people like me," he says.

Payan joined the Army his senior year of high school because he thought military service might teach him some job skills, and perhaps pay for a future education. In 2000, he was deployed to Bosnia. "I did my job really well," Payan beams. "I got the highest honor, the Order of Saint Barbara." He became a staff sergeant with 60 men under his command.

But by 2007, Payan had deserted and was living with his family in California, seeing a psychiatrist for his PTSD. "The Army had changed dramatically since 2001," he says. "You had to be beating the war drum along with the Bush administration."

Payan served in Iraq in 2004 and 2005, gathering intelligence, leading patrols and negotiating with various local factions. "I did my job well, but I wasn't happy about it," he says. "It was a political witch hunt. It angered me. I was risking my life ... They try to make you feel better about it by going out one or two times a week and handing out pencils to schoolchildren."

Payan didn't agree with the prevalent war-hawk mentality and wasn't shy about expressing his doubts about the decision to invade Iraq, which made him unpopular with his superiors. He turned himself in after eight months AWOL, was other than honorably discharged, and decided to join IVAW.

Now he tries to educate young Bostonians about the injustices he's seen, giving speeches at a prep school in Danvers, a local rabbinical school and at Project HIP-HOP, a Roxbury-based, youth-led organization. "I'm in this movement to reach out to young people ... my biggest message is to do something, to become active," he says.

Payan keeps pretty busy: IVAW will table at the Warped Tour and the Crosby, Stills and Nash concert later this month. There's also an IVAW fundraiser on July 29th at Johnny D's in Somerville.

Payan believes speaking out locally is just his stake in a national responsibility. "It's supposed to be a democracy. Nobody's really outraged," he says, gesturing emphatically and raising his voice. "The best way to end the war is not in the halls of Congress. It's going to be a social movement, brought about by the people in America and the soldiers."

[Iraq Veterans Against the War, Boston Chapter 17, 33 Harrison Ave., 5th Flr., Boston. ivaw.org/chapter/boston]