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Vet paralyzed in Iraq emerges as antiwar icon

By Ann Powers
 

AUSTIN, Texas — Soldier-turned-antiwar activist Tomas Young has learned how to handle a standing ovation, but the one he received at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q in March threw him for a loop.

The South by Southwest music festival showcase had just ended for Young’s pet project, the compilation “Body of War: Songs That Inspired an Iraq War Veteran.” Earlier that day, there had been a packed screening of the film that inspired that double CD.

“Body of War,” which is in theaters in limited release, documents Young’s transformation from a traumatized vet to determined protester and self-described “political irritant.”

At Stubb’s, musicians Tom Morello, Ben Harper and Billy Bragg offered rousing sets of protest music, culminating in a no-holds-barred rendition of “This Land Is Your Land” that had former TV talk-show host Phil Donahue, the movie’s co-director, moshing in the pit. Young sat stage right for the whole show, beaming.

Then the rock stars were gone. Young, who relies on a wheelchair since being paralyzed by a bullet in Iraq, left his spot and headed for the ramp. Suddenly, the crowd of about 2,000 concertgoers started clapping. Young realized he was the star now.

“It was the weirdest feeling,” Young said the next day. “I’m like, OK ... I’m just me. All I did was pick songs and make a movie. And say some things, you know.”

Ellen Spiro, who co-directed “Body of War” with Donahue, describes Young as an emerging historical figure who is coming to the fore of the antiwar movement in America because of his personal resolve and charisma.

The “Body of War” film depicts Young’s indignities and growing resolve after being wounded, and the music compilation he created, a two-disc set featuring artists as varied as Public Enemy, Kimya Dawson and Neil Young, tracks his inner life.

This is Young’s post-Iraq reality: He’s a chick magnet, an eloquent spokesperson against war in Iraq and a new friend to musicians he admires.

Before Young enlisted, he wanted “to be one of the people in the middle,” quietly living near his folks in Kansas City, not even making lots of money, just getting by.

Since being wounded, he’s gone through a brief marriage and painful divorce. Sometimes Young has to clasp water bottles to his torso to regulate his body temperature. He rarely sleeps more than a few hours straight. His mother, Kathy, is his most reliable supporter.

Even Young’s activism is complicated. A former board member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, he doesn’t denounce armed conflict altogether; his stepfather supports President Bush, and his brother, Nathan, is serving in Iraq right now.

When Tomas signed up days after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, he was eager to go to Afghanistan and punish those responsible for taking down the Twin Towers. But he ended up in Iraq, where he was shot while riding in an unarmored Humvee on his first mission in Sadr City. In the hospital, he began to question the premise of the war itself and America’s presence in Iraq.

“If I had been injured similarly in Afghanistan, there would be no ‘Body of War’ film,” he said. “I would have taken my government stipend and shut up, and sat back in my house.”

In a world teeming with would-be celebrities, Young represents an uncommon figure: a man thrust into the spotlight against his will.

Donahue, a longtime activist, was visiting soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington when he met Young. Strung out on morphine, Young still made an impression. He was funny, smart and politically minded. Donahue, 72, decided to help him tell his story.

“If he’d wanted to go back to Iraq, that’s the film we would have made,” Donahue said.

Young, Spiro and Donahue have become a close-knit team determined to take “Body of War” to a wide audience. It’s being released in different cities through summer.

“The idea is to keep on rolling out until there’s no more war,” Spiro said.

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