Want to End the War? Talk to the Troops

Dennis Serdel, Vietnam Veteran and member of VFP, read his extremely moving and heart wrenching poems which can be found regularly in the publication GI Special at www.militaryproject.org.  The audience was completely silent and greatly touched during the reading. 

Other veterans who spoke about the importance of doing face to face outreach to the troops were Alberto Jaccoma, and Alan Stolzer, both members of VFP and the Military Project.  Jaccoma said, “I went to a meeting where a group was planning to do something… hold hands….and we did that, and I thought ‘what does this mean’.  Then I go to the armory and feel like I have accomplished something.”  “It’s hard to be there at 5:30 in the morning, in the snow and rain, and you think ‘what am I crazy?’ but when you leave you feel like you’ve accomplished something.” 

Of course there are the civilians who believe that outreach to the troops is the way to end this war.  Presentations by Katherine Gorell, Johanna Petit and Elaine Brower, all of the Military Project, talked about how they got involved in this kind of work.  Katherine Gorell, whose father was a Vietnam Veteran, and died from agent orange poisoning, is a zealot when it comes to trips to the local Harlem armory.  “There’s nothing more productive, or useful.  Protests just don’t work.”  Johanna Petit, who lives by the naval base in Connecticut, started by handing out GI Rights materials to the sailors either in the mall or at the Groton Naval Base.   

I spoke about roaming the Country in search of military installations to hand out flyers to the troops.  Starting outreach at 29 Palms Marine Corps Base in California when my son was stationed there to leave for Iraq in 2005, I told the audience,  “Before I left for California, I called some friends who are part of a local chapter of “World Can’t Wait, Drive Out the Bush Regime.  They met me and we went to the corner, about a block outside the main gate and we held a banner that said “Drive Out the Bush Regime!”  “We handed out flyers to cars at the intersection that talked about how bad the war was, as well as the problems with this government, and marines in uniform took them.  They gave us the peace sign, thumbs up and fists up all the way and that was in 2005!  When I got back on the base to see my son, he said ‘mom, some of the guys said they saw you on the corner with signs and stuff?’, “no not me,” I said. 

The conference wrapped up with the presentation made by Clarence Thomas, National Co-Chair of the “Million Worker March”, and Executive Board member of Local 10 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union who spoke on “Iraq Veterans + Union Workers = History In Motion.” The history of this particular Local 10 and its members is one of courageous acts.  Before the war started, Thomas addressed a crowd of over 2 million anti-war activists in London that February 2003.   

In a statement made to labor leaders gathered last year in San Francisco he called on workers to stand up and take organized action against the war in Iraq, saying that politicians can’t be counted on to halt the bloodshed.  “Until people get off their asses and do something, there won’t be change.”  On May 1st the ILWU, dockworkers plan to stop work for eight hours in U.S. West Coast ports.  “No peace, no work” holiday was declared for May Day, International Workers’ Day.   

His fiery speech at the conference brought cheers as he spoke to the importance of union solidarity with Iraq Veterans Against the War and his commitment to supporting outreach to the troops.  “It’s a working man’s military, and we are all part of the same union of brotherhood.”  (to watch video go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jxhrDNzugo and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms9-NBYltL4)  
 

IV. The new generation of resisters 

This conference helped provide materials, motivation and acted as a catalyst to those who understand that outreach to the troops is the way to end not only end the occupation in Iraq, but could exert an influence on how and when our government decides to deploy the armed forces.  Some of us remember the days of the GI resistance during the Vietnam war, and how it grew exponentially while the peace movement remained stagnant and ineffective.  Once the force of those military members turned against the governmental structure and all that it was doing, they were unstoppable.   

We are seeing the growth of a new GI rebellion.  On the heels of “Winter Soldier 2008:  Eyewitness accounts of the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan” (see http://www.ivaw.org/wintersoldier/testimony), this conference stressed the need to nurture that resistance by forming an alliance, or bridging the gap, between the civilians who are determined to put an end to the imperialistic occupation, and the members of the armed forces who are refusing to protect and defend a lie, continue the bloodbath that politicians refuse to stop, kill and die in the process.  

If you are paying attention, you will see that not only the power of this resistance is mighty, it is increasing daily.  Members of the military completely understand what is happening in Iraq, as well as Afghanistan, and have the ultimate power to stop it.   

Those civilians who get it must organize to do outreach wherever we live, whatever military installation you can frequent, and talk to those soldiers, sailors and marines.  They want to hear you, see you, and hunger for the information you can share with them, as we have done.   

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