Courage to Resist Audio Interviews

Nathen Burden: AWOL in America audio interview

Courage to Resist. 9:23 min. November 11, 2007

Nathan Burden joined the U.S. Army right out of high school. Soon after he was in, he learned that his recruiter had propositioned his mother. Troubled by what he viewed as a personal betrayal and a betrayal of his family, Nathan went to his commanding officer with the information. The commanding officer did not act, and the recruiter was promoted.

Nathan began to feel that being ignored and disrespected and used was an all too common experience of GIs, and at the same time, began to question why the U.S. was sending GIs to Iraq. After seven months in the military, Nathan went AWOL. In this interview, he speaks about his disillusionment with the Army.