Being a 35-year old post 9/11 antiwar vet can be a bit lonely, a feeling of being stuck between two generational worlds. In this case, just this past weekend, I spoke, along with the great Ann Wright, at an amazing event titled Peacestock, in Red Wing, Minnesota. It was an annual gathering, several years running now, of the greater Minneapolis chapters of Veterans for Peace.

In a solemn, yet joyous, day of peace, camaraderie, and even group singing, various speakers discussed the state of the struggling antiwar movement, the importance of patriotic veterans' dissent, and a plethora of intersectional foreign and domestic issues. We laughed, some cried, as many of our emotions leapt from frustration to excitement and back again. In addition to my genuine gratitude for the honor of attending and serving as a keynote speaker, there were, for me, two key takeaways from the daylong event.