Part V: "Going West"

Carol kisses me goodbye at the train station in Meriden, Connecticut, and I ride Amtrak through Philadelphia, Washington, and Chicago. Two days later I arrive in Denver, where it is brutally cold, well below zero, but I instantly learn the difference low humidity makes. If the wind doesn’t blow it’s quite bearable, much easier to take than a 30-degree day in the humid New England air.
My friend and producer Dennis greets me in his pick-up. He’s arranged to meet some vets in his home state of Wyoming. I’ve tried to avoid using the word ‘interview’ here, but I don’t have a proper word for what I do. ‘Interview’ sounds kind of condescending to me, as I see my job not as journalism, but simply creating a record of what certain Iraq vets with certain beliefs think about themselves, the country, and the war. Besides, wherever possible, I don’t use the Q&A format. If I can, I just get them talking, without steering anything.
Later, we meet Ben. He’s amazingly direct and sincere. He didn’t believe in the war, and was very conflicted in Iraq. “Everyday, I felt like crap. I felt like such a hypocrite. But you do what you have to, to survive.”
A big part of the problem, he says, is that American voters live in a “comfort bubble,” and they’ll simply vote in anyone who will keep them there.