As 931 Air Force Academy cadets walked the stage in Falcon Stadium to receive their diplomas and listened to Vice President JD Vance’s commencement speech, a group of veterans offered their own words of wisdom to graduates.

A protest organized by About Face Veterans, El Paso County Progressive Vets and 50501 brought together around three dozen demonstrators near the academy’s South Gate to show opposition to the ongoing war in Iran and the White House’s use of American troops.

Stephen Delahunt, an Army explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) veteran, emphasized that the group was there to celebrate the cadets’ accomplishments and remind them of their duty to uphold the Constitution.

Delahunt also offered an “alternative commencement speech” to that of Vance a few miles north at Falcon Stadium.

“We are at a critical hour for our military and our republic … Our leaders think that violence is strength, and the military’s esteemed record of nonpartisanship is being tarnished. I don’t care if you love the president; I don’t care if you hate him. I only care about defending the U.S. Constitution,” Delahunt said.

“We will restore public trust in the United States military’s reputation for nonpartisan defense of the Constitution. I believe that our democracy is badly wounded. We must get back up and carry on the fight,” he concluded.

Iraq vets disappointed

Several Iraq veterans made connections between the Iraq War that began in 2003 and the current war in Iran, stating that both are “unnecessary” uses of American troops.

Matt Mitchel, who served in Iraq from 2007 to 2009, said, “We did not join the military to be part of an aggressive force, this nation is not more secure (in war times).“

“We remind you that you are not obligated to follow illegal orders,” he added.

Mitchel said that his time in Iraq enlightened him; he realized that money and people’s lives were being wasted.

He believed that he would be one of the last groups of servicemembers to be deployed to Iraq; the final batch of troops left the country in 2011, two years after he returned home and left the military. In 2014, 5,000 more were deployed to counter territorial gains by the Islamic State.

Meanwhile, Vice President Vance, in his commencement speech, said, “When the president (Donald Trump) says that he will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, it is the men and women you will join in just 60 days who give force to that promise and to that guarantee.”

To watch the graduation ceremony, click here.