Iraq War vet wants to return his medals to NATO

Iraq War vet talks about why he wants to return his medals during NATO summit
Ohio guardsman's hitch as gunner in Iraq turned him against war

Iraq War veteran Greg Broseus, who has a photography exhibit at the National Veterans Art Museum in Chicago, wants to hand over the medals he received for his service to a NATO representative during this weekend’s summit. (Nancy Stone, Tribune photo / May 14, 2012)

Dawn Turner Trice
May 14, 2012

Greg Broseus joined the Ohio National Guard in 2002 to help pay for college. He wound up spending all of 2005 in Iraq as a gunner on a convoy whose mission was to search for roadside bombs.

For his service, he received 11 medals. But now he wants to give them all back.

On Sunday, he plans to participate in a unity march for reconciliation and justice at the 25th NATO summit. The march, organized by Iraq Veterans Against the War, will culminate in a ceremony in which veterans will get rid of their medals.

Organizers said they wish they could hand over their medals to a NATO representative. Since that's unlikely, contingency plans range from members erecting a memorial site where the medals would be pinned to an American flag to tossing them over a barricade near McCormick Place, where NATO officials will be meeting.
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