“No More” — Eddie Vetter’s moving musical tribute to Iraq War veteran Tomas Young

Young recently announced that he will stop his medicine and nourishment, a decision which will hasten his death

No 704 Posted by fw, March 22, 2013

Paralyzed in a 2004 attack in Sadr City, Iraq War veteran Tomas Young recently announced that he will stop his medicine and nourishment, which comes in the form of liquid through a feeding tube — a decision which will hasten his death. Joining us from his home in Kansas City, Young reads in full his letter, A Message to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney From a Dying Veteran. “My day of reckoning is upon me,” Young says. “Yours will come. I hope you will be put on trial. But mostly I hope, for your sakes, that you find the moral courage to face what you have done to me and to many, many others who deserved to live. I hope that before your time on earth ends, as mine is now ending, you will find the strength of character to stand before the American public and the world, and in particular the Iraqi people, and beg for forgiveness.” —Democracy Now interview with TomasYoung

(See below for a segment of the DN video interview and the trailer from the documentary about Young, Body of War)

No More War sung by Eddie Vetter for Tomas Young

Lyrics

I speak for a man who gave for this land
Took a bullet in the back for his pay
Spilled his blood in the dirt and the dust
He’s back to say:

What he has seen is hard to believe
And it does no good to just pray
He asks of us to stand
And we must end this war today

With his mind, he’s saying, “No more!”
With his heart, he’s saying, “No more!”
With his life he’s saying, “No more war!”

With his eyes, he’s saying, “No more!”
With his body, he’s saying, “No more!”
With his voice, he’s saying, “No more war!”

Yeah, nothing’s too good for a veteran
Yeah, this is what they say
So nothing is what they will get
And there’s no American way

The lies we were told to get us to go
Were criminal (?)… let us be straight
Let’s get to the point where our voices get heard
And I know what I’ll say

With his mind, he’s saying, “No more!”
With his heart, he’s saying, “No more!”
With his life he’s saying, “No more war!”

With his eyes, he’s saying, “No more!”
With his voice, he’s saying, “No more!”
With his body, he’s saying, “No more war!”

No more innocents dying
No more terror rising
No more eulogizing
No more evangelizing
No more presidents lying
No more war

With our minds, we’re saying, “No more!”
With our hearts, we’re saying, “No more!”
With our lives, we’re saying, “No more war!”

SEE ALSO

• WATCH: Exclusive: Dying Iraq War Veteran Tomas Young Explains Decision to End His Life, Democracy Now interview with Tomas, March 21, 2013

• Body of War trailer — A film by Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue http://www.bodyofwar.com/

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