BRIDGEPORT — Conscientious objector Rory Fanning walked away from his Army Ranger squad in Afghanistan shortly after the controversial cover-up of NFL star and fellow Ranger Pat Tillman's death by "friendly fire."
Then he hit the road, walking 3,000 miles across America to raise money for Tillman's foundation, a journey he recounts in his new book, "Worth Fighting For: An American Soldier's Journey Out of the Military and Across America," published on Veterans Day by the Chicago-based Haymarket Books.
Fanning will speak in Bridgeport Wednesday at Benton House, a century-old social resource agency at 3052 S. Gratten Ave. The talk is scheduled for 7-9 p.m.
The book describes Fanning's remarkable transformation from devout Christian to atheist, from American military loyalist to conscientious objector and, ultimately, from soldier to peaceful domestic wanderer.
Fanning, 37, of Rogers Park, now works for Haymarket books after spending a few years volunteering for Communities United Against Foreclosure and Eviction.
Learn more about Fanning from reporter Casey Cora:
In addition to his debut book, he's written some biting criticism of corporate-sponsored Veterans Day events and what he sees as well-intentioned but counterproductive promotion of qualities like "honor," "valor" and "heroism" for returning soldiers.
"Most veterans who have seen combat, watched babies get torn apart, or their comrades die in their arms, or the most powerful army on Earth spend trillions of dollars fighting some of the poorest people in the world for 13 years feel anything but heroic," he writes. "If you really want to talk about 'awareness raising,' it’s years past the time when anyone here should be able to pretend that our 18-year-olds are going off to kill and die for good reason."
DNAinfo Chicago caught up with Fanning before Wednesday's talk in Bridgeport.
The book has been out less than a month. What's been the response so far?
The response has been very positive. I just got back from a seven-city tour.
People are looking for ways to push back against our unending wars. They are tired of our $600 billion military budget — which is more than the next 13 countries combined spend on their military.
People are embarrassed and horrified by the hundreds of thousands of lives (the great majority being non-combatants) that the U.S. has taken since 9/11 around the globe.
People want the money that we are spending on our wars to go towards sustainable energy, education and health care. People are sickened by the fact that there is a veteran suicide every 65 minutes in this country.
They are beginning to see that the media guards us from the horrific realities of war and that soldiers are left to suffer in isolation.
People are well aware of the fact that we have long since stopped fighting for freedom and democracy in this country, and are tired of the near-mandatory patriotism they must exhibit at sporting events, concerts and just about every other type of public event they attend. People are tired of our militarized police.
People are looking for a vocabulary and a movement that will fight against all this. They want veterans and active duty soldiers to take the lead.
The book at least starts with positive encounters on the road — I’m just 60 pages in and it seems like you've met nothing but kindly souls. Did you run into anyone who's pledged blind allegiance to the American military? Did it ever come to outright hostility? Or even fistfights?
Walking for Pat Tillman was easy. Left, right, up and down, people embraced Pat Tillman and what he stood for. In large part people respect anyone who has the courage of their convictions and can stand up for a greater good. I had all positive experiences — other than one guy who threw a Fanta can at me in Arkansas and yelled "hippie" from his jacked-up pickup truck.
Have you reconnected with anyone you've met on the road?
There are a bunch of people I stay in touch with. Many people put me up for a few days or a few weeks after talking with me for just a little bit. Most of the people in this country are quite amazing in my experience.
Cable news and a deadlocked Congress would have us believe we're all at each others throats in America. As someone who’s living a truly unique American experience, do you find that to be true?
People do the best to make the world a better place with the education they have access to in the little free time they can afford. Like I said, most people respect others who are willing to stand up for what they believe in.
I will say that the police and the richest 1 percent do their best to divide and conquer us. They want to deflect the blame from the people who have all of the political, military and financial power to the poorest and most oppressed in our society.
Hopefully my book shows that the majority in this country have a great interest in uniting together to unseat the minority who send us into wars without end, impose unnecessary austerity on us and plant seeds of racism and intolerance in us.
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