By Kedeshia Cassanova

A term project inspired by a We Are Not Your Soldiers visit to the author’s class.

The Recruiting Process

The first thing I see are the combat boots,
Tucked under the table they use to recruit.
Why do they make it all look so inviting?
Can I picture myself on the battlefield fighting?

Right now, I don’t even have a clue.
Is this really something I want to do?
The money they offer sounds so good,
A real chance to finally get on up out the hood.

I wonder, should I try college?
Or chase the free tuition and promised knowledge?
They say you can earn a degree on the way,
“Sign here,” they smile, “don’t delay.”

I can receive a lot of benefits,
But if I don’t comply, will I face prejudice?
That’s a question I have to ask,
Getting sign-ups must be a big task.

I see them posted all up and down Fordham Road,
Recruiting hard in certain zip codes.
Funny, I never see them downtown,
Only where minorities are mostly around.

It makes me wonder: is there a hidden agenda?
Basic training soon begins, mark your calendar.
I’m ready to start this brand-new journey,
But I hope in the end, I won’t need an attorney.

To fight for the promises made to me.
From the “home of the brave, land of the free.”
Because once the papers are signed,
I might not see freedom until I resign.

Why should I defend my country in these hateful crimes?
Fighting a country for oil, they lost their minds.
Taking power, being in control.
I wonder how this story will unfold?

Basic Training

I am finally ready for my basic training.
But when it’s all done, what will I be gaining?
A full ten weeks of discipline.
Even though I am a law-abiding citizen.

Minimal communication with my family.
Waiting to hear from them, I wait anxiously.
Here I am again, going over benefits.
It’s not about me anymore, it’s selflessness.

Now I’m moving through all these phases,
The sergeant’s constantly yelling in all of our faces.
I feel like a whole new person again,
I’m not the same as I was back then.

The moment I put on that uniform,
I felt my whole life start to transform.
Mentally strong, you have to prepare,
Physically push, never show fear.

They want you to be cold and tough,
Like life outside wasn’t already rough.
But what is life with no emotion?
When you’re training for bombs and explosions?

My friend Asha broke her leg in the line,
And can you believe she didn’t get a dime?
They packed her up and sent her home,
Broken in spirit, not just in bone.

Now I’m getting closer to graduation,
About to be part of this fighting nation.
Ready to serve the United States,
While a whole new life patiently waits.

Active Duty

This is more than what they make it seem,
We were all supposed to be on the same team.
But in this life, there’s no one you can trust,
Put yourself first here, surviving, a must.

Some people here are as crooked as ever,
The things I’ve seen will haunt me forever.
Babies, women, the most vulnerable people,
Hurt by soldiers, uniform showing a bald eagle.

Why are we fighting this country in war?
We shouldn’t be killing, whether near or far.
The people are hurting from left to right,
Some soldiers were murdered just last night.

Do you think it was from the enemy?
Some of our own show no empathy.
They take things to heart, they carry deep scars,
With them you have to move smart, stay focused and play hard.

Can’t ever let them know your next move,
After this, will my life improve?
Heading back home after all I have seen,
But I can’t sleep, my soul feels unclean.

I want to go home, I miss my family,
They said the war is over, I say “finally.”
Proud to say it’s not “Army Strong”.
In my eyes, it should be “Army Wrong.”

They’ve lied to the people for too many years,
When I return, I don’t want the cheers.
How can I celebrate all that’s been done,
When most wars the United States claims they’ve won?

They fund the bombs that fall on Gaza’s schools,
Wiping out a whole nation, how can that be cool?
They make it seem as if it’s not a genocide.
Just war, they say, but the truth, they try to hide.

Veteran

Veteran is what they now call me.
I no longer have a name being that I am free.
(PTSD) Post-traumatic stress disorder.
Wish I could go back in time, my life I would reorder.

I am home now, but my mind will never be the same.
Sometimes I think of the easiest way to get rid of my pain.
All the benefits I was promised.
Overall it was not worth it.

I have been hurt more in the Army than I was as a child,
Walking around with trauma, in my face it is hard to hide.
No one knows how I feel deep down from all this,
At times I wish the Army didn’t exist.

But it is just one of the government programs.
To the American people, it’s nothing but a scam.
The military can ruin you, and your outlook on life.
The pain cuts you deep, longer than a knife.

In the Army, racism is still present today.
Joe Urgo told me that just the other day.
He is from the Vietnam War.
Telling me his experience and so much more.

Do you know why you see so many veterans on the street?
Some were denied the ranks they needed to meet.
So they will not receive any benefits.
They will deny you with a lot of emphasis.

This will drain you and your mind takes a toll.
Of all the things you have encountered, and your stories untold.
They don’t even have any resources now for you to use.
You have just become a part of the structural abuse.
“For a great many years, as a soldier, I had a suspicion that war was a racket,
Not until I retired to civil life did I fully realize it.” ( We Are Not Your Soldiers)

Artist Statement

There is a common sense idea that “the military exists to protect our freedom.” But as an African American who grew up in New York and is now aware of slow violence and structural abuse, this is a phrase that made me really question its meaning. Classrooms, TV commercials, political events, and recruiting stations all use this phrase to promote the military. However, we must take a deeper look, I’ve discovered. After all, whose freedom is it? What is protected? Who does it affect? My poems “The Recruiting Process,” “Basic Training,” “Active Duty,” and “Veteran” are to enlighten anyone through the real emotional experience of a soldier whose trauma begins by the very first moment they seek the chance to enlist. I also discuss that over time, they end up being traumatized, disappointed, and abandoned.

These poems were written for young people and anyone from minority communities, who are considering enlisting in the military. The purpose of these poems is to question the attractive appearances and exaggerated benefits made by recruiters, especially amongst communities where I am from. I watch how the military targets low-income communities and young people who are searching for an easy way out and are not sure about their plans for the future. The “We Are Not Your Soldiers” veterans motivated me to write this series of poems also. Their accounts made me notice things that I had never realized before about the structural abuse we face from the military. The We Are Not Your Soldiers website includes the Smedley Butler quote, “For a great many years, as a soldier, I had a suspicion that war was a racket, not until I retired to civil life did I fully realize it.” This stuck with me the most, because I believe it is a very powerful quote that sums up one’s experience. I tried to fit it best in my poem because I think it speaks volumes and makes a very important point that you are aware of things when you become a veteran. It is from my last poem but that quote is a foundation for all of them.

In “The Recruiting Process,” I examine how young people are persuaded to enlist in the military as a means of escaping poverty. “I see them posted all up and down Fordham Road,/Recruiting hard in certain zip codes./Funny, I never see them downtown,/Only where minorities are mostly around.” Recruiters target low-income neighborhoods with promises of education and career advancement, as these lines clearly show . It reflects how military recruiters target specific communities. This is done strategically, manipulating economic desperation to fill enlistment quotas.“I’m trying to respect these kids by telling them the truth that other people are not telling them. I’m trying to give them something I didn’t have, which was somebody to bring the real talk right into my face where I needed it.” (We Are Not Your Soldiers, 2024). However, those promises come with hidden agendas. It appears the military targets working-class youth with messaging tailored to hopelessness.

In “Basic Training,” I explain how new recruits undergo emotional and psychological changes. For the purposes of duty, they are trained to shut down their humanity. “But what is life with no emotion?/When you’re training for bombs and explosions?” This is similar to the concepts in Do Muslim Women Need Saving? by Lila Abu-Lughod in which she criticizes the way the military presents itself as “rescue” operations. She states, “Projects of saving other women depend on and reinforce ideas about superiority.” (Abu-Lughod, 59). The military disguises its imperialist wars in middle eastern countries by claiming that it is waging war to ‘save’ Muslim women from Muslim men, who are portrayed as brutish and violent, never victims themselves. She further states, “As an anthropologist who had studied women and gender politics in another part of the Muslim world for so many years, I was not convinced at the time by this public rationale for war, even as I recognized that women in Afghanistan do have particular struggles and that some suffer disturbing forms of violence.” (Abu-Lughod, 32 ). What she is saying is that Muslim women don’t need to be saved, they just need the resources to survive, and for the U.S. to stop the war in their country. Was it purposeful doing it in a war? Assuming you are a hero while committing violence is a contradiction that I portray.

When we reach “Active Duty,” the soldier in my poem starts to realize how unethical war is. At this point is the real action of combat, in which one can now experience innocent lives being taken, corruption from your own, and chaos instead of fighting for freedom. “Do you think it was from the enemy?/Some of our own show no empathy.” The death of Aaron Bushnell, an airman who set himself on fire in protest of American military brutality, is an example of this. He wanted the public to comprehend how soldiers are compelled to perform tasks that go against their moral principles. As journalist Mohammed El-Kurd writes in Middle East Eye, “This is not just an Israeli genocide. It is an American one,” citing billions in U.S. military aid and diplomatic cover that enable Israel’s assault on Gaza. This is what Air Force member Aaron Bushnell protested in his final act, stating, “I will no longer be complicit in genocide” before self-immolating outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. (El-Kurd)

The Nation’s Molly Manning claims that Bushnell’s actions were motivated by his sense of being “trapped in a system that demanded obedience over morality.” “Veteran,” the last poem, is the result. It’s about being exhausted and abandoned after serving years in the military. “I have been hurt more in the army than I was as a child/Walking around with trauma, in my face it is hard to hide.” This poem addresses the reality of PTSD, denial of benefits, racism and prejudice, and structural abuse. It also reflects the moral injury many veterans face. Henri Henrikson, a member of We Are Not Your Soldiers, described joining the group to attest for the legal but harmful acts he carried out in Afghanistan, actions that still weigh heavily on his conscience.

Many veterans do not receive the help they were promised. Many individuals end up homeless, and homelessness is a common issue for veterans. Joe Urgo, a Vietnam veteran, informed us in class that these patterns of neglect and racial prejudice are not new and are an ongoing problem. “Do you know why you see so many veterans on the street?/Some were denied the ranks they needed to meet.”

Many people are unaware of this terrible reality until it is too late.

My goal in writing these poems was to be honest. The military can change you tremendously and take a toll on your mental, physical, and emotional well-being. After doing my research and listening to the accounts of the veterans that visited class, I wanted to speak on the unspoken facts that don’t appear obvious to someone who is enlisting. I need people to think critically, especially young individuals who are considering enlisting in the military. They make it seem like an American dream, especially with their patriotism and loyalty to America. When we claim we fight for freedom, we must also consider who we are fighting for. And freedom from whom and why?

I selected poetry as my form because it helps me to express myself emotionally and effectively. Poetry has been widely used to get messages across. Some poems protest injustices. I’m warning people with my poems. I want everyone who is considering entering the military to read this and think deeply before making a decision. Ask questions if you’re not certain. Do not get caught up in the slogans. For instance in my poem, I changed the slogan “Army strong” to “Army wrong” which was done deliberately to bring to light that a slogan means nothing. How can one be strong, when you are doing things that are wrong? Real freedom comes with the opportunity to make choices and have options. Freedom should never demand your silence, trauma, or life. Also when fighting a war it should be purposeful. In my poems it becomes clear that the military is defending power rather than freedom.

Works Cited
Abu-Lughod, Lila. Do Muslim Women Need Saving? Harvard University Press, 2013.
El-Kurd, Mohammed. “This Is Not Just an Israeli Genocide. It Is an American One.” Middle East Eye, 6 Mar. 2024
Manning, Molly. “Aaron Bushnell, One Year Later.” The Nation, 27 Feb. 2025
“We Are Not Your Soldiers.” “08.06.2024 Resources.” We Are Not Your Soldiers!, Veterans for Peace, 6 Aug. 2024