May 15, 2008
Anti-war activists in northern New York State are joining with the
organizers of the Different Drummer cafe in Watertown and members of Iraq
Veterans Against the War (IVAW) for a new kind of war protest this May 17,
dubbed Armed Forces Day.
Three feeder marchers started out on May 8 from the cities of Ithaca, Utica
and Rochester to walk the many miles to Fort Drum, stopping at towns along the
way before they all meet on May 16 north of Syracuse for the last leg of the
march.
Organizers have written reports on a blog at nysmarchesforpeace.org, telling
of the response from the local communities—mostly supportive—to the
few dozen people marching from each city. At a supporting dinner, one father
spoke of his two sons who had been to war and of his own transformation:
“I never liked people like you,” he said, “now I am one of
you for life.” At the same dinner, a Native elder volunteered to do a
sweat lodge for the walkers.
Leaflets for the march point out that the war has killed a million Iraqis
along with more than 4,000 GIs killed and 60,000 wounded, and that it costs the
U.S. Treasury $275 million each day.
Tod Ensign, a Vietnam-era activist and an organizer of the Different Drummer
Cafe, told Workers World of the group’s plan for the end of the
march.
“We expect the walkers to arrive in Watertown on Friday and that
evening at the Drummer we’ll hold a reception for them. The next day is
Armed Forces Day, and the Fort Drum military plans to hold its parade right in
the center of town. The reviewing stand will be right in front of the John
Foster and Allan Dulles State Office Building here. That’s right, the two
leading cold warriors of another era were actually from Watertown and have a
building named after them.
“So we’ll be holding our kind of protest, appropriately, right
in front of the Dulles Building. That will be early in the day, at 10 a.m. As
you know, we are right near Fort Drum, which is home to the 10th Mountain
Division. Brigades from this division have been the most heavily used in the
Army, some spending three tours in Iraq or Afghanistan. These tours are now 15
months.”
Ensign, who is also the head of Citizen Soldier, then told of the big event
of the day. “At 1:00 in the afternoon we start our festival at the Black
Water River Park and Campgrounds. We’ve invited all the soldiers who
would like to attend. All the speakers will be soldiers or veterans.
“But the attractions are also the musical groups. These include
Endangered Species, featuring Tommy Gunn; Double Barrel Blues; Colleen Kattau,
folk; S.O.N., hip hop; and It Dies Today, indie rock. We’re hoping for a
good turnout. We’ve seen that the Drummer has become more acceptable
among the troops. That evening we’ll hold another reception at the
cafe.”
