On July 4, 2026 in Philadelphia, in the largest veterans’ protest since the Vietnam Era, 500 veterans, active-duty soldiers and military family members from multiple organizations, including: Veterans for Peace, About Face, Common Defense, Military Families Speak Out, the Fayetteville Resistance Coalition, and the Center on Conscience and War marched in 101-degree heat to show their opposition to and demand an end to the illegal and immoral war on Iran, the latest of America’s Forever Wars. They marched to bring attention to the war crimes being committed against the Iranian people and to the physical and moral harm being done to the young American soldiers who are bearing the burden of this war. Johnny Odom, a retired US Army Sergeant First Class, a combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and a member of Military Families Speak Out, spoke at the march as the father of a service member currently deployed to Jordan since the start of the Iran War:
“Today I stand here before all of you as a father…to denounce this illegal and unjustified war against the people of Iran and the mis-utilization of American forces without Congressional approval and, most important, without the people’s approval. In my multiple deployments, I cannot honestly tell you why we were in Iraq or Afghanistan or what we achieved other than violence and trauma. Now my son is repeating the cycle in Jordan, and it tears me up inside to think he is in harm’s way for no good reason.” (Quoted in Gerry Condon, World Beyond War, July 7, 2026).
As Mike Prysner, Executive Director of the Center on Conscience and War, reported in Counterpunch, there were at least a dozen currently serving members of the US Military who joined the march, despite fears of reprisals. They carried banners reading “Service Members Say No to War” and “Conscience Takes Courage.”. In contrast to acts of resistance by lower ranks of enlisted soldiers to earlier conflicts, commissioned officers also took part in this march. Prysner noted that most of the currently serving soldiers who took part in the July 4 march were born after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. “They became adults as the Afghanistan War, which spanned their entire lives, ended in defeat…They have grown up with those wars and their lessons: total disasters that turned out to be for nothing, with a devastating humanitarian toll, kept alive endlessly by the lies of those in charge.” Since the start of the Iran War, The Center on Conscience and War has had a 1000 percent increase in requests for information and applications for conscientious objector status from currently serving soldiers including many officers.
On Memorial Day, May 25, 2026, members of Veterans for Peace Smedley Butler Brigade, About Face Veterans Against War, Military Families Speak Out, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) and Massachusetts Peace Action gathered at Boston Common to begin a Memorial Day March to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. At the monument, marchers were asked to name American soldiers whom they knew had died in order to honor their memory. The marchers then continued to the Eyes Wide Open exhibit that had been installed nearby
Bahar Sharafi, MAPA Board and National Iranian American Council member, and Nancy Lessin, Co-founder of Military Families Speak Out came up with the idea of displaying the exhibit in Boston. They were watching a press conference given by Senator Chris Van Hollen and Representatives Delia Ramirez at the Eyes Wide Open exhibit in DC on May 18, 2026 and decided to display it on Memorial Day on Boston Common.
“We were inspired by the Eyes Wide Open exhibit that was created by the American Friends Service Committee during the Iraq War to show the human cost of war. We reached out to friends and comrades to get organizational support. The exhibit is now co-sponsored by Military Families Speak Out, NIAC, MAPA, Veterans for Peace, About Face, and the Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine.” In the exhibit, thirteen service members are memorialized with their photos placed on crosses and other markers. The goal is to raise awareness of the lethal impact of the Iran War on civilians, especially children, not just the American military. A separate display of personal items such as shoes, backpacks, books and stuffed animals memorializes the 175 children who died when their school, the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School was bombed on February 28, 2026. The exhibit also aims to challenge the political narratives framing the Iran War that absolve the perpetrators from accountability for the war crimes being committed against the Iranian people.
At the Memorial Day event, Bahar noted that the exhibit triggered a powerful response from people passing by. “We printed the names of the slain children and read them out loud. That’s when I noticed repeated names – some families had lost multiple members – multiple children, cousins, siblings. Many passersby stopped to thank us, studying the photos and conversing with one another. More than once I saw someone break out in tears. It is one thing to know about the children murdered in cold blood, but quite another to see the small shoes, backpacks and personal items that could have belonged to your son or daughter laid out. It brings the stark reality of this home to people and we hope it spurs them into action. Learn more about our work by visiting the issues page of our website. Take action against the war in Iran by contacting Massachusetts Peace Action.
By Nancy Goldner