Rick Reyes is a former Marine who served tours of duty in both Afghanistan and Iraq and is now active with the group Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Reese Erlich is an award-winning veteran free lance journalist based in Oakland, California.

Edwidge Danticat is a Haitian immigrant and acclaimed novelist who lives in Miami.

David Isay is founder of the radio oral history project called StoryCorps and an award-winning radio producer based in Brooklyn.