On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Aidan Delgado, unaware of the
day’s events, enlisted in the Army Reserve.
He had hoped for a change of scenery and expected nothing more
than a two-day-a-month commitment.
“They said, “˜You should come see what happened on
the television,'” Delgado said.
The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 changed Delgado’s life,
as he had to withdraw from college to receive basic training. After
advanced training the following summer, Delgado was on his way to
Iraq.
“There was a nervous anxiety of not knowing what war would
be like. It’s very surreal to say in eight days, you’re
leaving for the Middle East,” Delgado said. “It
wasn’t really real for any of us until we set foot in
Iraq.”
Delgado is currently speaking at various venues around Los
Angeles about his experiences in the war zone.
What Delgado witnessed in Iraq, along with his growing interest
in Buddhism, eventually caused the 23-year-old to apply for
conscientious objector status, citing his pacifist beliefs. It
would be several months of experiences that further soured
Delgado’s attitude toward the war, however, before he
returned home.
“They used to drive by in the humvees and break bottles on
Iraqi civilians’ heads,” Delgado said. “This was
a matter of routine in the South (of Iraq).”
As a diplomat’s son, Delgado moved from country to
country, spending his junior high school and high school years in
Cairo, where he picked up the Arabic language. With this skill,
Delgado often served as a translator in the Army, which provided
him with several chances to talk with Iraqi civilians.
“They were no longer saying, “˜Thank you, God bless
George Bush.’ They were saying “˜When are you going
home?'” Delgado said. “I responded, “˜Soon,
I hope.'”
Delgado’s desire to become a conscientious objector became
known within his unit, which he said led to regular ostracism.
Though Delgado was provided with a Kevlar vest, which protects
against shrapnel, he said he was not issued the ceramic plates that
protect against bullets.
Before returning home, Delgado, along with the rest of his
battalion, was required to serve at Abu Ghraib, long before the
reports of abuse made the prison a household name.
After one month at the prison, word of leaked photos and a
potential scandal broke among Delgado’s battalion. Head
officers implemented an informal gag order, Delgado said.
“Officers came to us and said, “˜If you have any
incriminating photos, destroy them,'” Delgado said.
“They said, “˜We’re a family, we don’t air
our dirty laundry in public.'”
Though Delgado was not witness to any of the well-publicized
abuse at Abu Ghraib, he said he was there for several other
instances of what he regards as blatant misconduct.
This misconduct was highlighted after a prisoner protest that
led to three prisoners being killed and 12 being wounded.
“Guys in my unit had been shooting guys and they came back
with photos they posted and it was like a trophy,” Delgado
said. “They were bragging about how many they shot. These
were unguarded men behind barbed wire.”
Though Delgado and other soldiers have levied these kinds of
allegations, a spokesman for the Army told the Los Angeles Times on
Tuesday that the Army has “aggressively investigated”
all such allegations and is actively persecuting soldiers who have
committed such violations.
Though Delgado was deeply troubled by the misconduct he
witnessed, he regarded the idea of filing a grievance as
futile.
“In order to complain about your chain of command, you
have to use your chain of command,” Delgado said.
“It’s almost like you’re asking someone to
investigate themselves.”
After returning home, Delgado has decided to travel through the
country to share his experiences, an idea that occurred to him
after many of his friends expressed interest.
Currently Delgado, with the help of Westwood resident and former
UCLA employee Ed Fisher, is speaking at various venues in the L.A.
area.
“I heard (Delgado’s) interview on “˜Democracy
Now!’ on the radio on the way home. Usually when I stop in
the garage, I turn off the radio, but with him I couldn’t
stop listening,” said Fisher, a management consultant who has
been inspired by Delgado to consider retiring and become a
full-time activist.
After several interviews and speeches across the country,
Delgado said the worst attacks on him have been from members of his
unit, who attended one of his speeches in Florida. Delgado said the
men accused him of misinterpreting situations, but did not refute
that any of the incidents that actually occurred.
So many things going on right now in Iraq are
“horrible,” Delgado said.
“If Americans knew what the occupation is all about, they
would not support it.”
Delgado will be speaking at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church
on Wilshire Boulevard on Friday at 7 a.m. He will also be speaking
at USC on Friday at 11 a.m. at the Von KleinSmid Center for
International and Public Affairs in room 300.