Dissidents: Veterans Speak Out for Justice

Power of Social Media Connection

Higgins: After your retirement from your professional career, was there a sense of nostalgia bringing you back to other veterans or how did you get involved again and the VVAW today?

Sober: Well, I guess I wanted to see if I could find Roger Fleming. Roger I talked about earlier had been the truck driver. He was a finance worker too. But he had convinced me that I wanted to be the truck driver as well, and I've been trying to find some of the guys I served with. I knew Dirk Wieland, and I kept up over the years through telephone. He passed away what, 10 years ago. I just didn't have much to do with Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Decided I would try a Facebook post. I pulled up one of my old pictures with Roger and looking to see if I can find Roger Fleming. I think he came from Virginia. I had some 300,000 likes. Hundreds of thousands, I don't remember the exact number, and found Roger Fleming. This was like 10 years ago. Wow. He was dying of lung issues and hadn't seen any friends, didn't want to see anybody. But we'd been pretty close. I drove down, and he let me drive down to see him and we without fail from that day on once a week phone call, he could barely breathe, barely talk, but it was good to touch base with them in the last two or three years of his life and in that time I realized the power of Facebook."

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  1. Steve Sober Jason Higgins

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