Camillo Mac Bica, Ph.D. Philosopher, Author, Activist

The Truth Commission on Conscience in War was the first nationwide attempt to critically examine the questions of conscience facing our nation’s service members, military regulations governing freedom of conscience, and the moral and spiritual injuries of war.  The Commission launched on March 21, 2010 with a Public Hearing at the historic Riverside Church in New York City.  The hearing brought together a diverse group of over 50 Co-Sponsors and 80 Commissioners to receive testimony from 14 veterans and experts.  On March 22, Testifiers and Commissioners met in private to reflect on the testimony and identify strategies for change; Commissioners formed working groups to synthesize their recommendations for inclusion in the Commission’s Final Repor that was released on Veterans Day 2010.

Testimony: Camillo Mac Bica

"Human beings are not killers by nature. They have to be created.Moral injuries are an inevitable consequence of a sophisticated manipulation and distortion of the recruits’ moral foundations and their moral identities and the profound moral confusion and distress they experience as the horror, the insanity, and the moral gravity of their actions in combat become apparent." Dr. Camillo Mac Bica  Professor of Philosophy, School of Visual Arts (NYC), former Marine Corps Officer and Vietnam Veteran testifying at the Truth Commission on Conscience in War on March 21, 2010.

Testimony: Chris Hedges

"We are as capable of perpetrating evil as those who oppose us. There are hundreds of thousands of families whom we have plunged into the long perpetual night of grief and pain. I ask that we begin to see pain we endure is pain they endure and that our true brothers and sisters are those who carry this burden."  Chris Hedges.  former war correspondent for the New York Times and author of "War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning"  testifying at the Truth Commission on Conscience in War on March 21, 2010.

Testimony: Jonathan Shay

"We need to make it unmistakably clear that we never want our military leaders to lose moral agency  never, never, never." Dr. Jonathan Shay, VA clinical psychiatrist, national PTSD expert, Macarthur Genius winner, and author of "Achilles in Vietnam" and "Odysseus in America" testifying at the Truth Commission on Conscience in War on March 21, 2010.

Testimony: Camilo Mejía

"People who paid the price were unarmed civilians,9 out of 10 of the people we killed were unarmed." Camilo Mejía, Army veteran and conscientious objector, testifying at the Truth Commission on Conscience in War on March 21, 2010.