Breaking Cadence: Insights From a Modern-Day Conscientious Objector

Three veterans who joined less than a year before 9/11 share their stories of enlistment, service and life after wearing the uniform. Victor Inzunza and Eddie Falcon join host Rosa del Duca in a panel discussion.
Victor Inzunza grew up in Stockton, California. In 2001, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and served with 1st battalion 2nd Marines. He did two tours in Iraq, one in 2003 and one in 2004. After his enlistment, he graduated from University of the Pacific with a B.A. in English and received an MFA in Poetry from University of San Francisco. USF chose Victor as its 1st Lawrence Ferlinghetti Fellowship recipient in poetry. His work has appeared in the literary arts magazine Calliope, After Action Review, an anthology by Warrior Writers, and Tin House. He works as a Policy Analyst for the veteran’s rights organization, Swords to Plowshares. Victor lives in San Francisco.

Eddie Falcón served for 4 years in the USAF as an active duty enlisted aircrew member. He was stationed in Little Rock Air Force Base. He completed 4 short overseas tours, 2 in Iraq and 2 in Afghanistan, as well as performed medical evacuations in Hurricane Katrina. Eddie is a California native and moved back to his home state after separation from the military in 2005. He resides in Bay Area where he received a Masters degree in Spanish and has worked in high school education since 2012.
He has enjoyed writing since a teenager. He started writing poetry and to this day writes lyrics for his personal Hip Hop music. He is currently a board member of Warrior Writers, facilitates writing workshops for veterans and civilians, and organizes events for these writers to share their work in public.
Eddie is also a member of the Bay Area Aztec Dance community, plays the piano, is a fan of the NBA, is a cyclist, enjoys billiards, produces music, reads comic books, and practices sober living.

Support the show

Ethics expert and Santa Clara University professor David DeCosse explains Just War thinking and how it went very wrong in the lead up to the Iraq War. We explore America's martial culture, how PTSD can also be viewed as an ethics issue, and much more. DeCosse is the Director of Campus Ethics Programs at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, a center designed to guide students, business leaders, government leaders, scientists, and others, through ethical decision making in the real world. How do we apply the lessons of Aristotle, Kant, Mills... in our everyday lives?

Support the show

After living what he saw as a charmed childhood, Michael Mihalakis was bound and determined to find some adversity, and to overcome it. He joined the Army National Guard in 2002, at 17 years old. He was still 17 when he was deployed to Iraq. And then, on December 26th, 2003, the unthinkable. His sister, Kristine Mihalakis shares his story, as well as her family’s journey into the depths of grief, and the struggle to climb back out.

Support the show

That junior and senior year of high school, the pressure is on to make some big decisions that will affect the rest of our lives. And yet we often make those decisions based on whims, on chance, or incomplete pictures. In our late teens, we are still coming to some major epiphanies. The parts of our brains that calculate risk and reward won’t be fully developed for several more years. We test limits. We feel lost, overwhelmed, and confused and don’t admit it. A discussion on all this, and more, and how it relates to the recruitment age.

Support the show

Longtime activist Siri Margerin talks about manning the phones at the G.I. Rights Hotline, and much more. If you think folks only call when they are looking for a discharge, you'd be wrong. Sometimes even officers call, seeking answers they can't seem to get anywhere else. Siri is also part of an innovative program called Drop the MIC, or Drop the Military Industrial Complex. Find out more here.

Support the show