This is my Award Speech. I forgot somebody transcribed it and had sent it to me.
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Thank you very much.
I am a bit overwhelmed by the acceptance and gratitude that I have been shown, so let me just show a little bit of mine.
I would like to thank the people who have supported me through these really difficult times. I would like to thank my mother first, because she raised me to be the men I am today. And I would like to thank my dog, whose name is Bayern. He has been my companion for the last 5 years and without him I would not have had the will to keep going, to even just take care of myself because things have gotten so bad.
And I would like to thank my grandfather, who is the biggest male influence I ever had in my life and who kind of started this whole thing. When I was younger, he told me the only thing that a man has of any worth in this world is his word and if you cannot fulfill your word, then you have no worth. And he always talked about love and kindness and gentleness and peace and joy. And he said that these are the things that make up what a man can truly be. And I believed it.
In 2009 he passed away and the last thing I ever told him was that he was my hero and he told me that I was his. But I had not told him what I have done in the military and it broke my heart.
So, this is mainly for those 3 people that have been such a significant part of my life.
I would also like to thank the previous whistleblowers who have risked their lives and set the example for all of us to follow. If it was not for them we would not have an example to follow. We should also be reminded that there are people who are in exile or imprisoned like Manning, Snowden, Annsange and these people should be given just as much care and attention as me, even though they are away, they still need our support and our help.
I would also like to say that to anyone else out there who is thinking about whether or not they should talk about what is going on or things they have seen – just follow your conscience. It is never too late. Look at me! I thought that I was damned in the very literal sense and I have had validation, I have come to peace with myself. This is something I never thought that I will find.
It is a bit unreal, actually. There are a lot of things I could say. Before I came here my little brother told me that I was an inspiration to him. And I really thought about what that meant. I wanted to be an inspiration to him by being a good military member and I wanted to show him what a good man really is, to be a good older brother, because I just met him. He is 17 years old and I just met him. I was thinking about this the other day and came to the conclusion that I am exactly the man that I wished that I wanted to be. The military has forged me into this man that I am today, for the upbringing of my family. They taught me integrity first, service before self and excellence in all we do, and these are exactly the things I stand for and they have not stood for. They taught me that. I am a product of their training. I do not think they realize that. I think that it goes over their head a little bit, because everything I have done and said has been because they trained me to do it. And they trained me to be a man of integrity. But the power that they have given me, the power that we wield, is very destructive and I do not want my little brother to ever go through the things that I went through – to be where I am today. I do not want another child to have to decide whether or not going to war, to defend your country, because they do not know. When I joined my military I was a child. I was a child for years because I had no idea what is going on, I did not understand. I was told to shut up and color, do not question, do your job. I went against my conscience. I went against my upbringing, for something that I believed in. And I do not want anyone else to ever have to go through that to have to question themselves, to have to tear themselves apart, because they think that they are doing the right thing when they know that they are not. And I hope, I hope, that as we move forward to the future that we can stop this madness that is going on.
Thank you!
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