Iraq and Afghanistan veterans from Massachusetts call war with Iran "very concerning"

Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are expressing hope and concern over the U.S. going to war with Iran.

Will Serra, who served as an Army intelligence analyst in Iraq, sees Iran's decades of terrorism as a justification for the U.S. strikes.

During the Iraq war, Iran provided militias with sophisticated roadside bombs called Explosively Formed Penetrators or EFPS, which killed more than 500 U.S. service members.

"We would develop reports on service members who were dying in our area of operations and EFP attacks were the leading cause of death for service members," said Serra, of his time in Iraq. 

Serra told WBZ-TV that the U.S. has a strategic opportunity to strike Iran right now.

"Iran has supplied Russia with thousands of its Shahed drones," Serra said, "At least 7 thousand protestors have been killed in Iran since December. So, if we don't take action now, if we don't capitalize on this opportunity, China takes the front seat."

Other veterans say they are worried about the prospect of prolonged combat or even putting American soldiers on the ground in Iran.

"If Iran turns into some situation where there's American boots on the ground in force, I would hope that all other options have been exhausted," said Andrew Coville, a Marine Corps veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan who lost his best friend in combat, "I've seen, first hand, as many other veterans, what it looks like for even one casualty in these conflicts. And what that does. And all the people that affects and all the changes that makes in somebody's life forever."

"It's very concerning. We don't want to lose any more life than we already have," said Army combat medic John Clifford, who fought in Iraq.