Two Young Veterans Walk and Bike Across Country with a Message of Peace

The men plan to cover roughly 600 more miles, passing through one more state, reaching San Francisco by the beginning of November.

Making friends along the way. You can see other photos and read the background behind these veterans by visiting: contagiousloveexperiment.wordpress.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - Armed with only bikes and packs containing essentials and items to document their journey, Josh Stieber and John Conor Curran are on the move.

The Iraq War veterans are traveling across the country on foot and bicycles, spreading a message of peace on what they call the “Contagious Love Experiment”.

A soldier turned conscientious objector, Stieber, 21, decided that if he believed war created more problems than it solved, that he would journey to learn about, promote, and and invest his military pay to peaceful alternatives.

The events of 9/11 compelled the Gaithersburg, Maryland native to join the military, and after graduating high school in 2006 Stieber enlisted in the Army as an infantryman.

“My view of strength and duty was that I was right, everyone else had it wrong and one way or another people needed to be forced into what I believed-religion, democracy, etcetera, and that would make the world a better place. Listening to other perspectives,” says Stieber, "was what I considered to be weak."

After a 14-month tour in Iraq, Stieber became a conscientious objector.

“When it got to the point to where, during my tour, our strategy seemed like we were trying to out-intimidate the supposed terrorists, I realized that forcing somewhat to agree with you at the point of a gun doesn't change much, when that force is gone, nothing has changed. What does matter is the internal condition, which can be guided by love just as easily as fear,” says Stieber.

Stieber started the cross-country journey in Gaithersburg, Maryland on May 28, 2009, and will arrive in Salem on October 22nd.

On his journey, Stieber is attending speaking engagements and visiting a number charities whose objectives he admires and donating to them the money he was paid in Iraq.

To date, Stieber has walked 1300 miles from his home in Maryland to Boston to Cincinnati, (where he began cycling adding another 2800 miles to the trip), visited eight charities, spoken at scores of venues and relied on the kindness of countless strangers for food, shelter, and wisdom.

“It has been extremely refreshing to meet so many people who consider others as important as themselves and have a strong faith in common humanity,” Stieber says of his journey.

But the journey has not been without contention.

"Some people say that this trip is just me working off my guilt or something and that I simply don't understand how the world works. Most people say it respectfully, but there has been some criticisms stated harsher,” says Stieber.

Traveling with Stieber is Curran, a Perrysburg, Ohio resident and former Marine. Also a veteran of the Iraq War, Curran, 25, served two tours in Iraq before his 2008 discharge. Now a peace activist, Curran felt compelled to join Stieber after learning about the project.

“During my second tour in Ramadi, Iraq, an Iraq man changed my life by showing me what it is to bravely love your enemies,” says Curran. “I joined Josh on this trip after seeing the power of non judgement and love this Iraqi man transformed my life with, hoping that by exercising these qualities, I can change someone's life as well.”

Curran joined Stieber in Toledo, Ohio and is accompanying him on the remainder of the journey. The men plan to cover roughly 600 more miles, passing through one more state, reaching San Francisco by the beginning of November.

In Salem, Stieber and Curran will be speaking at the Friends Meeting House 490 on 19th Street NE at about 6:30 p.m., first enjoying vegetarian potluck meal and conversation.

The men have been keeping a blog of their journey at contagiousloveexperiment.wordpress.com

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