May 2012 vigils

[Brian]

This Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil was graced by 15 participants, including two little girls who emerged from the frozen yogurt shop and picked up signs, and two women who joined us weekly stalwarts later, separately and spontaneously. The last time we had such a good turnout was October 21, 2011, ironically right after the announcement that most U.S. troops would soon be leaving Iraq.

Our portable, telescoping half-staff flagpole was back on the corner, but the counter protesters were absent for the third time in the past four weeks from theirs. So all of the honks and waves -- and there were many in the hour I stood -- were directed at us. The PDF of the Department of Defense's press releases that we posted ran four pages, reporting ten deaths in Afghanistan:

Attachments:

[Sharon W]

There were only 5 of us at Broadway and Brand yesterday but we got lots of supporting honks, waves and thumbs up - and no negative comments. It was a good night!

[Brian]

May 5, 2012 7:40:49 GMT -8 Sharon W said:

There were only 5 of us at Broadway and Brand yesterday but we got lots of supporting honks, waves and thumbs up - and no negative comments. It was a good night!

Glendale Peace Vigil had more participants this week, I can say, because I took Friday off work and caught the first half hour on the southwest corner of Broadway and Brand Boulevard. Anni and I got to hang out with Nancy, Julian and Henry along with two great guys we hadn't met before. We also enjoyed lots of honks and waves from the vehicles and the goodwill from many teenagers on the sidewalk.

Then we drove north for the last hour at Montrose Peace Vigil. Before we arrived, a father with four little girls had lifted each of them on his shoulders, from where they hoisted signs. Roberta also told me about the three middle school aged boys who demonstrated for awhile to impress the girls they were with. And our co-founder Nancy brought her sister Mary for a return visit, so this week's official attendance totals 16.

The veterans were back on the opposite corner with their impressive flag display. Our flagpole engineer extraordinaire Mike is in Illinois for three weeks, but Jim has aced the intricacies of assembling it in his absence. This week's PDF posted on the pole runs three pages with nine deaths in combat -- the fourth page is the Army's press release announcing the branch's April suicide data:

Attachments:

[Sharon W]

Thank you Brian and Anni for augmenting our numbers. When we got there Moe and Richard were also there - Richard always carries a clip board and gets signatures for single-payer health care. Nancy told us about your vigil hopping this evening. We heard lots of honks from the passers by and no negative comments. It was a good night.

[anni]

And here are some fine pics from our Vigil hopping:

First we stopped by the Glendale Peace Vigil:



Then (arriving a bit late) to the Montrose Peace Vigil:

[Sharon W]

Yup - that's, from the left, pun intended, Julianne, Nancy, Moe and Richard!

[Jeanne]

i have lost my bearings on the message board and can't remember how to start a new thread. i'll just insert this thought right here.

Lately, I have been hearing people referring to the "fact" that soldiers returning from Viet Nam were called names and were spat upon. I never saw that happen, but I wasn't close to any. Does anyone have any first hand memories of that? I recall that Roberta has referred to some research that says it was all a myth.

i also recently heard something similar about Iraq vets. Frankly, I am suspicious that it is a ploy to ward off any criticism of the wars.

I'd love to hear any thoughts and facts that you may have.

[Sharon W]

The documentary "Sir, No Sir" about the Vietnam era anti-war movement explores the myth and finds it originated with a Rambo movie. There's a segment that explains that the typical story about returning veterans being spat on by hippie girls at SF Airport is impossible - troops landed at military bases and girls don't spit. We have a copy of the film if you want to borrow it - it's inspirational and talks about the 'coffee houses' for returning vets - I think those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan could use some comforting like that now.

[Sharon W]

I wasn't aware there's a book about it too, www.amazon.com/The-Spitting-Image-Memory-Vietnam/dp/0814751474

[Roberta]

May 15, 2012 7:10:58 GMT -8 Sharon W said:

I wasn't aware there's a book about it too, www.amazon.com/The-Spitting-Image-Memory-Vietnam/dp/0814751474

I've read this, and owned it. What I remember is that for one chapter the author meticulously researched major newspapers published when the Vietnam troops were actually coming home, and found no "spitting on the troops" stories. All of the reports surfaced long after, and they almost all involved a 2nd party -- the friend of a friend, or a neighbor's cousin, etc. etc. etc.

He addressed practical logistics -- troops never disembarked upon arrival in the U.S. in public. They didn't arrive anywhere where they could even be seen, let alone spat upon.

He documented the warm welcome that anti-war activists in fact gave any returning troops who joined them, which many did. It was a real coup to have ex-soldiers marching with us. Only a fool would have blamed the troops for the government's stupid war.

That is what I remember at this point, I'll keep looking for the book too.