"Tomas Young, 34; veteran was critical of Iraq War" by Douglas Martin, New York Times November 21, 2014
NEW YORK — Paralyzed from the chest down, the Iraq War veteran is seen in a 2007 documentary film taking dozens of pills for spasms, pain, and depression. He speaks agonizingly about sexual problems. Viewers watch him marry and, eight months later, divorce.
In the film, “Body of War,” Tomas Young is the body. Codirected and underwritten by Phil Donahue, the film sought to show, through Mr. Young, the devastating human cost of a war the filmmakers argued should have never been fought.
Who was forced off MSNBC just before the war began.
Mr. Young died at 34 on Nov. 10 at his home in Seattle. When asked the cause, his mother, Cathy Smith, said, “His body just wore out.”
The film, praised at festivals, was not released theatrically.
That is one thing about video: you do live forever.
Images of Mr. Young’s agony are interspersed with shots of the congressional debate over the resolution giving President George W. Bush the authority to invade Iraq in March 2003. The film shows Mr. Young in the forefront of demonstrations and lobbying members of Congress to stop it.
Mr. Young recalls enthusiastically enlisting after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. But he became disillusioned when he was sent to Iraq, not Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden masterminded the attacks.
I'm not going to get into the whole 9/11 false flag and cover story this morning. I've got to try and act young on the basketball court this morning.
Tomas Vincent Young was born in Boise and grew up in Kansas City, Mo.
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