An Iraq Vet's Journey From Wall Street to OWS

thenation.com — In late September 2001, I was living in a tent in Lower Manhattan with the 2nd Battalion, 25th Marines, a reserve unit just outside the city. We were occupying Battery Park, which at the time served as the National Guard's headquarters. "Guarding the guard," we called it. The two weeks I spent there were profoundly affecting. There I was, at the center of the world, watching America at its finest, showing at once nearly impossible perseverance and limitless compassion. In the decade between my occupation of Battery Park and Occupy Wall Street, I saw the country descend into fear and apathy. And as money dominated politics and bipartisanship degenerated into an impotent ruckus, we let our banks more or less start regulating themselves. It was this last bit that brought me back to Lower Manhattan.

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