When Kevin Benderman learned that the U.S. had entered a war with Iran, his mind teleported back about 20 years to Fort Hood, Texas — the day he received orders to deploy to Iraq.
That deployment profoundly changed Benderman, an Army veteran now living in Augusta, Ga. Despite coming from a long line of military service, he said nothing prepared him for the trauma and loss that he endured.
" I'm just nervous and upset about what I know the young service members are going to be facing when they are in Iran and what they're already facing," he said.
That worry led him to drive to Washington D.C. earlier this week. He was joined by over 150 veterans and military families who occupied the Cannon House Office Building to call for an end to the war. The demonstration on Monday was abruptly ended by Capitol Police, who arrested a total of 66 people. About Face, a veteran group who helped organize the protest, said everyone arrested has been released.
Since then, photos and videos from the act of civil disobedience have spread widely across social media — amplified by others who share a similar frustration and unease about the country's military action.
The U.S.-Israeli campaign in Iran is nearing the two-month mark. On Tuesday, a ceasefire was extended indefinitely while the U.S. continues a naval blockade on Iranian ports. As of Friday, American envoys are preparing for a new round of peace talks.
In response to NPR's request about veterans' concerns over the war, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in an emailed statement that President Trump took "decisive action to ensure that Iran could never harm our homeland, our troops, or our allies again."
"Once Iran's nuclear threat is removed for good, America and the entire world will be safer and more stable," she added.
Since the start of the war on Feb. 28, some 50,000 American troops have been deployed to the Middle East. Thirteen service members have been killed and 400 have been wounded, according to the Defense Department. In Iran, over 3,300 people have been killed by U.S.-Israeli attacks, according to the country's forensic medical agency.
Under the rotunda in the Cannon building, veterans — young, old, some with visible disabilities and all wearing military jackets— held a flag-folding ceremony to honor the American troops who have died in the current conflict. They also clutched red tulips in remembrance of the Iranians killed by airstrikes.
Along with About Face, the protest was organized by the Center on Conscience and War (CCW), Veterans For Peace, the Fayetteville Resistance Coalition, Military Families Speak Out and 50501 Veterans.
"We cannot afford another war," Matt Howard, About Face's interim organizing director and a Marine Corps veteran, said in a statement. "Funding this war means putting even more lives at risk."
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted from April 15-20 found that 60% of Americans disapprove of the U.S. military strikes against Iran. In response to a question about the costs and the benefits to the U.S., 51% of those surveyed said the military action wasn't worth it.
Benderman said he sees a lot of parallels between the Iraq war and the current conflict with Iran. When he was deployed to Iraq in 2003, he believed the U.S. was going to war because Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and represented a threat. But evidence of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction were never found.
Now, hearing the president warn that Iran was on the cusp of a nuclear weapon, Benderman can't help but be skeptical.
" I always believed that… if my country was going to send me to a war, it would have a damn good reason to do it and it would be justified," he said. "There was no justification to send us to Iraq, just like there's no justification for us to be going into Iran."
After his first tour in Iraq, Benderman refused to deployed again on moral grounds and was sentenced to 15 months in a military prison. To this day, Benderman said he's haunted by the Iraq war.
He added that the hardest moment in his military service was attending the ceremonies of those killed in action and watching bereaved family members break down.
" I do not wanna see another family dealing with that same type of grief," he said.
Robert Cheng, another Army veteran who participated in the demonstration, said his concern was that the conflict with Iran will drag on for years, like America's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I had this deep sense of frustration that we were allowing another war to start in my lifetime," he said.
Cheng added that he was especially horrified by the deadly Feb. 28 missile strike on an Iranian girls' school, which a preliminary assessment determined the U.S. was responsible for, and the ongoing U.S. blockade on Iranian ports.
"This military action that is being taken by the United States and Israel is not improving the situation," he said. " This is not a solution to potential nuclear de-escalation."
Cheng said he has also been disturbed by how the White House has portrayed the war on social media with edited videos that mix together footage of actual airstrikes in Iran with pop music and video game clips.
"The White House is treating this conflict like a game while people's lives are at stake," he said.
For Jessica Serrato, whose partner is currently deployed in the Middle East, it's been a constant state of worry since the war began — worries about whether her partner will return home safely and how the war might affect him mentally in the months and years ahead.
" He's also scared to some extent, but he's on fight or flight mode," she said.
Serrato said she had long understood that military life involves risks and sacrifice. But it's been difficult for her to accept this situation because she said she doesn't fully understand the administration's objectives in Iran.
When she traveled to Capitol Hill this week for the protest, she did so in hopes of getting clarity to questions that have been weighing on her for weeks.
"When they're gonna get to come home? Why are they there?" she said. "And why do they keep sending more troops?"
But even after returning home, she's still seeking answers.
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