New York State Marches for Peace

Perhaps by joining the energies of the peace movement with those of
soldiers returning from Iraq who have become disillusioned with the war
as well as with their families who have been thoroughly stressed and
drained by the experience, we can begin to create a new and significant
power to counter our nation’s incessant thrust toward war.  When these
two groups begin to provide mutual support to each other with the aim of
change and healing, new hope can begin to grow.  A recent walk across
upstate New York by a combination of peace people with Iraq Veterans
Against the War as well as veterans of other US wars may be a first step
in this direction.  Any new effort like this requires infinite patience
to overcome historic mistrusts and differences in language and culture,
but the outcome may be well worth it.

Looking back on the three consecutive days that my husband David and I
spent with “New York State Marches to Ft. Drum” brings a great sense of
satisfaction.  It was an extraordinary undertaking, and despite
occasional communication glitches and other to-be-expected hassles, we
felt it was an enormous success.  Let me set the scene:

A community of peace activists has been gaining momentum in upstate New
York since last September, when a consortium of groups combined to host
a 3,000-strong march in Syracuse in support of Iraq Veterans Against the
War from Ft. Drum, NY.  Out of this has grown New York State Direct
Action for Peace which has led coordinated actions opposing more war in
Iraq and demanding restoration of our Constitution.  Early in 2008 it
was decided to take this witness one step further and stage a walk May
8-17 across upstate New York to Ft. Drum, located near the city of
Watertown.  Feeder marches from Rochester, Ithaca and Utica would join
to end in Watertown on Armed Forces Day with a festival for soldiers and
their families following the annual parade.  (See nysmarchesforpeace.org
for more reporting on the event.)  It was an ambitious vision requiring
complicated organizing, and the timeline was short.  But the group felt
confident in building on connections that had already been made.

Dave and I entered the walk on the morning of its 8th day.  We walked
with this traveling community for two days to Watertown and spent the
last day, Saturday, attending the tail end of the Armed Forces Day
parade and then heading to the private campground where the festival for
soldiers and their families took place (which then migrated to the
Different Drummer Cafe in downtown Watertown after a downpour began.)

The look and feel of the march.  How we were received.

The size of our walking group varied from day to day.  People would walk
with us for a few hours or for a day or for a week.  Ages ranged from
babies in strollers to our oldest walker, a 79-year-old veteran of World
War II.  On the morning of day 8 we were about 35 walkers; by the time
we reached Watertown early Friday evening we were about 60 strong as
more people, especially veterans, joined us for the final hours.  In
addition to Iraq Veterans Against the War and our WWII vet, we also had
veterans from Korea and Vietnam.

At the head of the marching company, or sometimes behind, we carried a
large banner which read “NYS Marches to Ft. Drum, supporting soldiers
and Iraq Veterans Against the War.”  Purple flags interspersed among the
marchers had the demands of the march emblazoned in white:  Immediate
withdrawal of all occupying forces in Iraq, reparations for the damages
Iraq has suffered, stop the corporate pillaging of Iraq, full benefits
and services for returning soldiers and their families, soldiers need
our compassion.

Someone carried a large sign which read “Honk to end the war,” prompting
lots of honks from passing cars.  We did not knock on doors.  Anyone
driving a mower or getting into their car was subject to an approach by
a group member, who handed them a flyer and explained that we were
marching in support of soldiers and Iraq Veterans Against the War.  That
soldiers are not getting the support and services they deserve.  We
invited people to the festival on Saturday afternoon in Watertown.

Our somewhat nervous expectation was to find communities all across
upstate who were very supportive of the war and hostile to our
presence.  We had planned security for the march carefully, as other
groups have been harrassed by organizations such as the Gathering of
Eagles.  Members of Veterans for Peace–veterans of Vietnam and other
wars–had been called upon to accompany our feeder marches to help with
this.  We were warned especially that when we came into Watertown,  this
very pro-military community might give us a hostile reception.

Yet almost without exception we were well received along the length of
the march.  Ironically, the most hostility was displayed in a small
community near Rochester, quite distant from Watertown.  We heard
afterward that members of the Patriot Guard had been trying to recruit
people in Watertown to harrass us, but did not get any takers.  Aside
from the occasional angry word or gesture, all along the way people
thanked us for what we were doing and showed interest and support for
our message.

At one establishment where we stopped to use the facilities, the woman
in charge was so happy to find out what we were doing.  “If I had known
you were coming,” she said, “I would have gotten someone from the paper
to come out.”  I could feel her anxiety and almost desperation about the
circumstances of the soldiers.  And I could sense that this was shared
in large measure by those she knew.

Towards the end of our first afternoon, we stopped to rest in the town
square of Adams.  Our big flags and banners caught the attention of high
school students hanging out in town, and a group came over to ask what
we were doing.  It evolved into a lively discussion, and a few of them
decided to come along.  They accompanied us to our final destination for
the day, Adams Center, just a few miles away, and stayed to share a meal
with us.  One of the young women said, “If we had known you were going
to do this, we could have organized a big assembly of students to hear
what you have to say.”

A traveling community

The night of the 8th day, when we were all together, made a deep
impression on me.  We were given hospitality by a yoga center in the
small town of Adams Center.  Some members of our group spread their
sleeping gear on the meditation floor, others tented outside.  I loved
the coming and going in and out of the house, the relaxed acceptance of
each other, the mingling and changing of groupings as people got to know
each other.  Cliquishness was absent.  There was a willingness of each
to help the other.  We were surrounded by the beauty of a wooded grove
on the premises, with a circle of welcoming chairs among the trees. Yes,
there were those who had their own quirks and were perhaps a little
difficult.  But we all somehow gave each other space for this.

There were compromises that we needed to make.  This was with us from
the beginning, especially as we were deciding on security measures for
the walk.  We were only too aware of how other walking groups had been
hassled, even attacked, by organized bands of super-patriot toughs.
IVAW wanted to hire armed off-duty police to patrol the perimeter of the
festival on our last day.  Some peace people were dead set against the
presence of any weapons at all.  Wordings and logos for our signs and
literature brought up other areas of difference.  Veterans didn’t like
using the word “peace” in our handouts or on our signs.  They advised us
to put away our large rainbow-colored peace flag as we came into
Watertown and to have our large American flag at the forefront.

The handouts that we gave to people as we passed reflected this effort
at compromise.  The main slogan on our T-shirts was “NY State Marches to
Ft. Drum–Supporting Soldiers and Iraq Veterans Against the War.”  We
made an effort to express that we supported active duty soldiers as well
as the Iraq Veterans Against the War.  We were open to listening to what
families and friends of soldiers had to say about the difficulties they
face.  In this country, they are the ones who are suffering the most
from this war.  At the same time, our combined group made a clear
acknowledgment of the suffering of the Iraqi people and a need to make
reparations.

This effort at coordination and mutual support lent itself to promoting
a successful effort to address the acting commander at Ft. Drum about
the sorry state of services for returning veterans.  IVAW members
strategized a successful encounter, which was recorded by our Indymedia
cameras, as well as by local TV.  At the end of the Saturday morning
parade, about 30 veterans from four wars gathered around the reviewing
stand, and a spokesman from IVAW asked the acting base commander for
time to discuss their concerns about lack of care for returning vets at
Ft. Drum.  Someone in the crowd reminded him of the lack of beds for
suicidal returnees.  Ft. Drum, which sends the most army recruits to
Iraq of any base in the country, has gotten national attention for
trying to avoid providing services to their returning vets.  The
commander appeared surprised and did say he would meet with the men
later.  I am certain IVAW will follow up.

Final moments, and beyond

Friday evening and Saturday afternoon were times to come together, to
celebrate our joint effort, to listen to great bands, to eat and yak and
enjoy.  Walk organizers spoke, Iraq veterans spoke.  Crowds milled.  Let
me quote a description of Saturday after people returned to the cafe,
written by someone who was there until the end:  “Again, the cafe and
its attached arcade overflowed with peace activists and veterans of all
ages, talking, arguing, and generally enjoying the music.  For the rest
of Saturday until well into the night, musical performances were
interspersed with short talks by Iraq vets and peace organizers.  One
high point was when a Ft Drum soldier recited an anti war poem that he
had written for his soon-to-be-deployed soldier wife, as she sat,
holding their infant child, in the front row. . .  After twelve hours,
the Drummer was host to a small group of Iraq war vets who gathered in a
circle, surrounded by civilian supporters, and pledged renewed efforts
to end this illegal and immoral war.”