[Thanks to Kevin Ramirez, CCCO, who sent this in.]

Marine Families Must Stand In Line For Charity Food Handouts Or Go Hungry:
“The Lower-Ranking Enlisted Guys Do All The Hard Work And Still Have The Stress Of Not Being Able To Take Care Of Their Families The Way They Wish They Could”
[As War Profiteers And Imperial Politicians Stuff Their Pockets With Billions]

[It was only a couple weeks ago Congress refused a requested 2.7% pay increase for active duty troops, approving only 2.2%, less than the increase in the cost of living, meaning Congress gave the troops a pay cut in terms of what their pay will really buy.

[Same old story. The politicians couldn’t care less. To repeat for the 3,465th time, there is no enemy in Iraq. Iraqis and U.S. troops have a common enemy. That common enemy owns and operates the Imperial government in Washington DC for their own profit. That common enemy started this war of conquest on a platform of lies, because they couldn’t tell the truth: this war was about making money for them, and nothing else. Payback is overdue. T]

[Thanks to Don Bacon, The Smedley Butler Society, who sent this in.]

October 13, 2006, San Diego Union Tribune

The women and children who formed a line at Camp Pendleton last week could have been waiting for a child-care center to open or Disney on Ice tickets to go on sale.

Instead, they were waiting for day-old bread and frozen dinners packaged in slightly damaged boxes. These families are among a growing number of military households in San Diego County that regularly rely on donated food.

As the Iraq war marches toward its fourth anniversary, food lines operated by churches and other nonprofit groups are an increasingly valuable presence on military bases countywide. Leaders of the charitable groups say they’re scrambling to fill a need not seen since World War II.

Too often, the supplies run out before the lines do, said Regina Hunter, who coordinates food distribution at one Camp Pendleton site.

“Here they are defending the country. . . . It is heartbreaking to see,” said Hunter, manager of the on-base Abby Reinke Community Center. “If we could find more sources of food, we would open the program up to more people. We believe anyone who stands in a line for food needs it and deserves it.”

The base’s list of recipients swells by 100 to 150 people a month as the food programs streamline their eligibility process, word spreads among residents and ever-proud Marines adjust to the idea of accepting donated goods.

At least 2,000 financially strapped people in North County qualify for food and other items given out at the center and a Camp Pendleton warehouse run by the Military Outreach Ministry.

To the south, about 1,500 individuals pick up free food, diapers or furniture at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station and several military-oriented distribution sites supported by churches and the San Diego Food Bank.

The numbers don’t include military households that frequent other charities countywide to get enough to eat.

“I cry tears of joy every week,” said Patty Dutra of the Military Outreach Ministry. “You are looking at them and saying ‘thank you’ and they say, ‘No, thank you.’ “

Some of the women in last week’s food line at Camp Pendleton were newbies like Jennifer Stocker, 25. A friend told Stocker, the mother of 7-week-old Shylah and wife of Cpl. James Stocker, about the service. She arrived an hour early to get first picks.

“It looks good,” Jennifer Stocker said as she glanced at the tables stacked with loaves of French bread and doughnuts covered with red, white and blue sprinkles.

“It looks helpful,” Stocker added as Shylah gummed her mother’s wrist. “I’m definitely going to start doing more of this.”

Also present were food-line veterans trying to make ends meet. Michelle Rankins counts herself as a reluctant regular.

“I do this for the kids,” said Rankins, whose husband is a corporal deployed in Iraq. “They need the protein from the bread. For me and my family; for a lot of the families at Camp Pendleton; this (program) is a necessity. I come every week.”

Barbara Chavez deals with many similarly challenged families in San Diego County. She is director of Military Outreach Ministries, which supplies bread and other staples to troops and their loved ones at the Miramar base, a Navy housing community in Lakeside and other locations.

“The bases are in the more expensive parts of the county and things like gas, food, insurance and rent are just higher here,” Chavez said.

“I got a call last night from a lady in need. She ran out of baby formula and diapers. She’s 22 with two kids under 3 and her husband is in Iraq. She was distraught and cried for 10 minutes. This happens more often than not.”

On the Miramar base last week, Melissa Dixon came to receive diapers, paper plates and canned goods. Her husband, John, is a lance corporal stationed there.

“Believe it or not, there are a lot of military families struggling,” said Dixon, 22, as fighter jets flew overhead.

At the Navy housing complex in Lakeside, Nicole Purselley said she wouldn’t know what to do without the donated food.

“One week we couldn’t come to get food because we didn’t have gas money,” said Purselley, a mother of three whose husband is a hull technician aboard the Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault ship based in San Diego.

Purselley’s disabled mother, Kathy Frisbie, lives with the family. Frisbie said the gracious spirit in which the food is given makes taking it easier on their pride.

“They don’t look down on us because we are here,” Frisbie said.

During World War II, the National Presbyterian Church started an outreach program for military families coast to coast. In 1968, the Presbytery of San Diego took responsibility for the local chapter.

The presbytery spun off its military food program this year, with oversight now divided between the Military Outreach Ministry in North County and Military Outreach Ministries in the rest of the region.

“(Service members) struggle because of our cost of living,” said Faye Bell, executive director for the Military Outreach Ministry.

“The lower-ranking enlisted guys do all the hard work and still have the stress of not being able to take care of their families the way they wish they could.”

MORE:

The Commander-And-Chief Gets His Rations As The Marine Band Amuses Him

[Thanks to Don Bacon, The Smedley Butler Society. He writes: BUSH SAYS: “LET ‘EM EAT CAKE. WE HAD SOME PETITS FOUR LEFT OVER FROM THE PRINCE’S VISIT.” LET ‘ER RIP, T. I NEVER DID LIKE SPICED WALNUTS]

******************************************************

Dinner Menu in Honor of Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the
Duchess of Cornwall

For Immediate Release
Office of the First Lady
November 2, 2005

The menu:

Celery Broth with Crispy Rock Shrimp
Newton Chardonnay “Unfiltered” 2002
Medallions of Buffalo Tenderloin
Roasted Corn
Wild Rice Pancakes
Glazed Parsnips and Young Carrots
Peter Michael Pinot Noir “Le Moulin Rouge” 2002
Mint Romaine Lettuce with Blood Orange Vinaigrette
Vermont Camembert Cheese and Spiced Walnuts
Petits Fours Cake
Chartreuse Ice Cream Red and Green Grape Sauce
Iron Horse “Wedding Cuvée” 2002

Dinner Table Settings and Music – The State Dining Room, The White House

State Floor
Clinton China
Vermeil flatware
Gold pintuck silk tablecloths
Sprays of white phaeleanopsis orchids with camellia foliage in the historic White House

vermeil candelabras

The United States Marine Band Flute trio – The East Entrance
The United States Marine Band – The Grand Foyer
The United States Marine Band “Strolling Strings” – The State Floor

After Dinner Entertainment – The White House State Floor
Yo Yo Ma, Cellist – The East Room
Kathryn Stott, Concert Pianist – The East Room

The United States Marine Dance Band – The Grand Foyer

[Omitted from the menu list: Marine Blood Al Anbar “Unfiltered” 2006]

IRAQ WAR REPORTS

3 Baghdad Soldiers Killed By IED

Oct. 14, 2006 Multi-National Division Baghdad PAO RELEASE No. 20061015-01

BAGHDAD: Three Multi-National Division Baghdad Soldiers were killed at approximately 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, when the vehicle they were riding in was struck by an improvised-explosive device south of Baghdad.

Two Marines Killed In Al Anbar

15 October 2006 Multi National Corps Iraq Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory RELEASE No. 20061015-06

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq: Two Marines assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 died Oct. 15 from enemy action while operating in Al Anbar Province.

Baghdad Soldier Dies Of Wounds Following IED Attack

Oct. 14, 2006 Multi-National Division Baghdad PAO RELEASE No. 20061014-03

BAGHDAD: A Multi-National Division Baghdad Soldier died at approximately 7:50 p.m. Friday from wounds he received when the vehicle he was riding in was struck by an improvised-explosive device southwest of Baghdad.

Soldier Who Deployed From South Korea Is Killed In Iraq

October 6, 2006 Stars and Stripes

SEOUL: An Army military policeman who deployed to Iraq from South Korea was killed by enemy forces on Monday, according to the Defense Department.

Pfc. Michael K. Oremus, 21, of Highland, N.Y., died after being shot, according to the DOD news release.

Oremus deployed in June with fellow members of the 57th Military Police Company, which belonged to the 728th Battalion, 8th Military Police Brigade. By August, both the battalion and brigade had moved to Hawaii as part of force restructuring in South Korea. Soldiers from the 57th will move directly to Hawaii when they finish their Iraq deployment.

Oremus was a 2002 graduate of Highland High School, the Daily Freemon of nearby Kingston, N.Y., reported Wednesday.

“Mike was always an undersized person but had the biggest heart,” Michael Passante, 22, who played soccer with Oremus in high school, told the paper. “He never backed down from anything. He would never back down from players twice his size.”

Peter Watkins, the athletic director for the Highland Central School District, recalled having Oremus as a student in the sixth grade. Watkins told the Daily Freeman that Oremus was affable, somebody the other kids “really liked.”

“Mike was the kind of kid who always had a smile on his face,” Watkins told the paper.

Watkins told the Freeman that Oremus’ father died about a dozen years ago and that his mother now lives in Kerhonkson, N.Y. Oremus also has two brothers, Richard and Eric, Watkins said.

Family, Friends, Teachers Gather To Recall ‘Passionate’ Leader Killed Serving In Iraq

Oct 4, 2006 PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)

A soldier from Oregon died in Iraq when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle, according to the Department of Defense.

Army Cpl. Chase A. Haag, 22, of Portland was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas.

Haag, who was killed Sunday, graduated from Parkrose High School four years ago, school officials said. Haag’s family declined to be interviewed Tuesday, but a group of his former teachers and advisers gathered at the school to discuss a student who they say exhibited uncommon leadership.

Bob Forrest, a video instructor who retired two years ago, said Haag was enamored with video production, direction and editing. In a class of 30, Haag produced and directed a monthly news magazine for students. Forrest remembered, “above all, his integrity.”

Forrest said he had health problems in his last years of teaching but could always count on Haag to take over the class.

“The other students looked up to him,” he said.

After Haag graduated, he did freelance video projects. Teacher Julie Romey hired Haag to produce her wedding video and said he was very professional. She said she’s in shock over his death.

Maria Fuhrmann, one of his former teachers, said it wasn’t a surprise that Haag joined the U.S. Army because he was passionate about leadership and wanted to make a difference.

“You send them out of here, and you think that their future is so bright,” Fuhrmann said. “It’s just so odd to think that he’s gone.”

Based on a Web compilation by Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s office, Haag is the 72nd Oregonian, or person with strong ties to the state, to die in action during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

U.S. Convoy Attacked:
Casualties Not Announced

A sports utility vehicle burns after a road side bomb struck a US military convoy in east Baghdad Oct. 15,2006. It was not immediately known if there were any casualties. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed )

REALLY BAD IDEA:
NO MISSION;
HOPELESS WAR:
BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW

U.S. soldiers from Alfa company 1-17 regiment of the 172nd brigade patrol in eastern Baghdad, Oct. 3, 2006. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

Ohio Soldier Killed In Kandahar

October 15, 2006 Rahim Faiez, ASSOCIATED PRESS

An Ohio soldier was killed in Afghanistan when the vehicle he was riding in was struck by another vehicle with an improvised explosive device, the U.S. Department of Defense said yesterday.

Army Spc. Jason A. Lucas, 24, of Columbus, died in Kandahar on Friday, the government said.

Lucas was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division in Fort Polk, La.

Two Occupation Troops Wounded In Kunduz;
Nationality Not Announced

15 October, 2006 Gulf Times Newspaper & Rahim Faiez, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Soldiers were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades while on patrol late Friday in northeastern Kunduz province.

Two were wounded and in a stable condition, Flight Lieutenant Euan Downie said, without giving the nationality of the soldiers. Most of the ISAF [translation: occupation] troops in Kunduz are German.

Assorted Resistance Action

15 October, 2006 Gulf Times Newspaper & (Reuters)

The governor of the eastern Laghman province, which adjoins the capital province of Kabul, said he was travelling to work yesterday when his two-vehicle convoy hit a mine.

Unknown insurgents then opened fire on the stricken convoy, killing an administration official, governor Gulab Mangal said.

“A bomb struck under our front vehicle. Then we had some shots and our friend was hit. I was in the second vehicle,” he said. A Taliban spokesman, Mohamed Hanif, told reporters: “We planted the mine. We fired the gunshots.”

In the south, a bomb struck a military vehicle in the Zhari district of Kandahar province.

“Six soldiers were very lightly injured in a remote-controlled roadside bomb,” the defence ministry said. Another car bomb exploded near an Afghan army convoy, injuring three soldiers, said Dawood Ahmadi, the governor’s spokesman.

Three policemen were killed by suspected Taliban insurgents in a pre-dawn raid in the southeastern province of Khost, near the border with Pakistan.

And in southern Kandahar city, a man riding a motorbike gunned down provincial delegate Mohammad Yunus Hosseini outside his office, police said.

TROOP NEWS

THIS IS HOW BUSH BRINGS THE TROOPS HOME:
BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW, ALIVE

The burial service for Sgt. Mario Nelson at Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, N.Y. Oct. 14, 2006. Nelson, 26, a National Guardsman who worked in search and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site after the Sept. 11th attacks was killed in Iraq on Oct. 1. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

SSG Cruelly Fucked Over:
Called Back To Duty One Day Before Retirement:
[The Dog Ate Your Paperwork. Sorry About That]

“If they would have said two months ago, we need you, I would have understood,’’ Engle said. “But to do this to me and my family one day before I was going to move home is especially cruel.’’

October 15, 2006 LINDENHURST, Ill. (AP)

An Army staff sergeant was days away from retirement after a 20-year military career when he was ordered to return to his unit, which will be deployed to Iraq at the end of the month.

James Engle applied for retirement in January and later received a retirement award from the Army during a ceremony in Texas.

On Sept. 20 he was told paperwork was missing and he should report to his unit, the 1st Cavalry Division.

Late last month, the Army denied his retirement request along with a request to exempt him from his unit’s deployment saying it was “neither compelling nor compassionate enough in nature,’’ even though a military retirement counselor had scheduled his Army release for Sept. 21.

“I feel like I’m twisting in the wind,’’ Engle said. “I keep being told that there has been a big, huge mistake. Well, this big, huge mistake has turned my life completely around.’’

Engle’s lieutenant, Frank Lyle, said he is working with Army personnel to solve the problem.

A telephone call Sunday to the Army’s public affairs office at the Pentagon for comment was not immediately returned.

Engle, 38, of Lindenhurst joined the Army in August 1986. During his two decades with the military he spent nine years in combat zones, including Somalia, Bosnia and Afghanistan.

Engle first applied for retirement in August 2005, while working at the Military Entrance Processing Station in Des Plaines.

His request was denied and the military transferred him to Fort Hood, Texas. Engle’s wife, Claudia, and two children decided to stay in Lindenhurst, located 40 miles northwest of Chicago.

“We were finally ready to settle down and stop moving,’’ Claudia Engle said. “Our home is in Lindenhurst. We don’t want to go anywhere else.’’

While he awaits word on his retirement request, Engle said he will remain in suburban Chicago with his family while he finishes a two-month period of leave.

“If they would have said two months ago, we need you, I would have understood,’’ Engle said.

“But to do this to me and my family one day before I was going to move home is especially cruel.’’

Ambush:
How The General Blew Apart Blair’s Disastrous Iraq Policy:
“Military Chiefs Decided To Fire A Warning Shot In Public”

October 15, 2006 by Francis Elliott, Independent/UK

For a man supposedly so unversed in the ways of the media, General Sir Richard Dannatt had strong views about how he wanted to conduct his first proper newspaper interview in his new job.

Despite being the incoming Chief of the General Staff and head of the armed forces, Sir Richard had, like all soldiers, to ask for permission.

But when he raised the possibility of speaking to the Daily Mail, the Ministry of Defence press office became jittery. Wouldn’t he prefer to speak to a newspaper less opposed to government foreign policy?

After several weeks of haggling, Sir Richard raised the matter directly with Des Browne, the Secretary of State for Defence. Put on the spot, Mr Browne reluctantly agreed to his request, warning the general to be on his guard.

So it was that Sir Richard came to give an extraordinary 90-minute interview to Sarah Sands. Whatever else the interview was, it was not guarded.

He spoke about how the presence of British troops in Iraq was making the situation there worse and called for a clear commitment to an exit strategy from the country.

The general suggested it had been a “naive hope” that it was possible to install a liberal democracy in Iraq and said that we should now be aiming for a “lower ambition”.

Most damaging of all, he said that the Iraq operation “exacerbates” the “difficulties we are experiencing around the world,” a direct contradiction of Tony Blair’s claim that the UK would have been targeted whatever had happened with Saddam Hussein.

This weekend, Downing Street and the MoD are seeking to portray Sir Richard as an innocent among rogues, a plain-speaking soldier who was misrepresented by an unscrupulous tabloid.

The truth, according to those who know both Sir Richard and Mr Browne well, is rather different. Frustrated at the Prime Minister’s failure to stick to a timetable of withdrawal from Iraq, military chiefs decided to fire a warning shot in public.

“I’m quite convinced that what he was doing was part of a co-ordinated attempt to tell the emperor he has no clothes,” said one former colleague.

“I’m not saying Des authorised it but I’d bet he doesn’t disagree with much of what he said.”

Other well-placed figures suggest that the interview had been a genuine attempt by the incoming head of the armed forces to reconnect the Army with a public sickened by years of government spin.

Whatever the truth, once Sir Richard had given his interview it was immediately clear that he had put himself beyond political protection.

On Thursday night as the presses began to roll, the Chief of the General Staff, at that time in Cornwall, was required to attend a phone conference with Mr Browne, who was in Scotland, and senior media advisers in London.

Sir Richard agreed that he had used all the words ascribed to him, but complained that the newspaper had left out the “context” of his remarks.

Mr Browne said that he would have to appear in the media the next day to repair the damage, but the head of the armed forces said that he himself should face the cameras.

As Sir Richard was travelling overnight back to London, Washington was waking up to his words. The MoD flatly deny that the Pentagon was furious or that it tried to reprimand the general directly.

It is clear, however, that the MoD and the US Department of Defense agreed a media strategy that sought to agree with as much of what Sir Richard had said as they could, while ignoring the rest.

This strategy was employed by Mr Blair on Friday to great effect, when he said that he agreed with “every word” of Sir Richard’s broadcast remarks.

The omission of prime ministerial approval for those comments made in the Daily Mail but not repeated the next day on radio or television was obvious – and meant to be so.

Senior MoD figures dismiss out of hand suggestions that Sir Richard is about to sacked. They admit his remarks have been damaging – particularly those suggesting that the situation in Iraq is stoking anti-British sentiment around the world – but say they show only a lack of political polish, not a fundamental rift.

As the smoke clears from the battlefield it is clear that Sir Richard is still standing despite having strained to breaking point the constitutional convention that the Army serves the politicians.

Mr Blair, powerless to sack him, forced, even, to agree with him, may wonder whether he can really carry on until next summer if even the Army has deserted him.

Virginia National Guard Spies On Troops’ Web Sites & Blogs

Sgt. Yaphet Benton, Spc. Steven A. Roque and Sgt. 1st Class Albert T. Young monitor official and unofficial Web sites for potential security problems at the Virginia National Guard Data Processing Unit’s armory in Manassas, Va. (Maj. Pam Newbern)

[Thanks to Don Bacon, The Smedley Butler Society, who sent this in.

[He writes: I’m jealous—why can’t the US army have a blog like the British Army Rumour Service? According to milblogging.com there are over 1500 US mil blogs, and every one I’ve ever seen is pretty lame. Brainwashed troops.

[But there must be something out there—the army is cracking down. I wonder what it is. We need it. Something inside.]

Oct. 12, 2006 By Maj. Pam Newbern, Army News Service [Excerpts]

Big Brother is not watching you, but 10 members of a Virginia National Guard unit might be.

The Manassas-based Virginia Data Processing Unit activated a team in July for one year to scan official and unofficial Army Web sites for operational security violations.

The team, which works under the direction of the Army Web Risk Assessment Cell, Army Office of Information Assurance and Compliance, notifies webmasters and blog writers when they find documents, pictures and other items that may compromise security.

The team uses several scanning tools to monitor sites for OPSEC violations. The tools search for such key words as “for official use only” or “top secret,” and records the number of times they are used on a site. Analysts review the results to determine which, if any, need further investigation.

Based in Arlington, Va., AWRAC was created in 2002 to monitor official Web sites.

Its mission was expanded in August 2005 by order of the Army Chief of Staff to include unofficial sites written by servicemembers.

Lt. Col. Stephen Warnock, team leader and battalion commander of the Manassas unit, said his team combines Guardsmen, Reservists and active-duty Soldiers. It’s a combination, he notes, that is rarely seen below the division or joint level.

“It’s a full Army force – it’s a more unique force,” he said. “We have quite a flavor to it.” [Indeed. There’s an smell to it too.]

In addition to the Manassas unit, AWRAC works with members of the Guard and Reserve from Washington State, Texas and Maryland, as well as active-duty Soldiers and contractors.

“I see this expanding considerably with the communications tools that are out there now,” said Sgt. 1st Class Irwin Walters, who oversees personnel issues for the Manassas unit, and works in the IT procurement office for the IRS in his civilian life.

When a team member finds information that could be sensitive, he or she marks it for further investigation. Another team member reviews the item and determines if the webmaster or blog writer should be notified. Most notifications are made by e-mail, and the person responsible is given a few days to respond, depending on the severity of the issue.

When secret documents are found, the site owner is notified immediately by phone. Official sites are contacted through either the webmaster, or in some cases, the unit’s chain of command.

The most common OPSEC violations found on official sites are For Official Use Only (FOUO) documents and limited distribution documents, as well as home addresses, birthdates and home phone numbers.

Although AWRAC contacts Soldiers who write unofficial blogs, the team does not review sites that lack public access. Team members identify themselves as AWRAC representatives, and work with a legal counsel to ensure their actions adhere to law and Army regulations.

MORE:

Now That You’ve Waded Through The Official Bullshit, Have Some Reality:
“There Are Certain Commands Out There That Do NOT Want Me To Blog”

today
may
5th
2006
am
officially
shutting
down
my
blog

recruiterconfession.blogspot:

As of today, May 5th, 2006, I am officially shutting down my blog. There are two reasons I must do so and I feel that I should explain them to my faithful readers.

There is no reason that is the “one” reason, but added together I felt it is time.

First of all, there are certain commands out there that do NOT want me to blog. In doing some research (OK, asking some people – some friends in high places and two reporter friends of mine) I have found out that they have been trying very hard to find out who I am and shut me down.

At first I thought it was kind of funny, but realized that I really don’t want to end my military career over a blog – it has gotten THAT bad!

To the people who want me shut down, you win.

I don’t know if I posed a threat to you, or if I posted words you did not approve of, or what I did to cause you to hunt me down, but I’m sorry if I have damaged the service that I have dedicated my life to.

My intentions were never to harm anyone, only to show a corner of the world many people are not privy to.

IRAQ RESISTANCE ROUNDUP

Assorted Resistance Action

15 Oct 2006 Reuters & by Marwan Ibrahim, (AFP)

Clashes between militants and Iraqi police on Saturday night left three policemen wounded in an area between Baghdad and Kut, 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad.

An attack killed five members of an Iraqi armed security detail set up to protect goverment offices in Kirkuk.

In Baghdad, bombers targeted a convoy carrying Hala Mohammed Shakr, head of the interior ministry’s financial affairs department, killing two bodyguards.

A policeman was killed near the city of Kut.

IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE RESISTANCE
END THE OCCUPATION

FORWARD OBSERVATIONS

Declared Bill Ehrhart, a Marine in Vietnam:

“In grade school we learned about the redcoats, the nasty British soldiers that tried to stifle our freedom… Subconsciously, but not very subconsciously, I began increasingly to have the feeling that I was a redcoat. I think it was one of the most staggering realizations of my life.”

“It Was The First Time I Saw Up-Close The Amazing GI Mutiny”

From: Michael Letwin, New York City Labor Against The War
To: GI Special
Sent: October 07, 2006

Attached is an Los Angeles Times article describing the antiwar demo near Camp Pendleton on Armed Forces Day 1970, immediately following the invasion of Cambodia, Kent and Jackson states. As a participant (at age 14), it was the first time I saw up-close the amazing GI mutiny.

**************************************************************

Thousands Watch Armed Forces Day Parades, Protests:

The march, orderly and without serious incident, included mostly students and active-duty servicemen belonging to Movement for a Democratic Military, an organization attempting to reorganize the military on a “democratic” basis.

The Oceanside marchers were joined by a few dozen off-duty Marines from Camp Pendleton and by a scattering of middle-aged residents, some of whom used the occasion to take their dogs for a stroll.

May 17, 1970, ROBERT KISTLER; BILL BOYARSKY, Los Angeles Times [Excerpts]

Thousands of Californians lined steamy — but peaceful — parade routes, waved tiny American Flags and listened to words of the generals Saturday for observance of Armed Forces Day 1970.

It was the 21st time since Americans first gathered in I950, to honor their men of war from all branches of the military on a single day.

But, Saturday, there was a difference.

Parade attendance reportedly was down in both Torrance and San Diego, traditionally. host cities to the state’s biggest Armed Forces Day festivities.

And, in Oceanside, and other places, the specter of more war brought out thousands of antimilitary protestors who, despite civic fears to the contrary, kept their peace demonstrations peaceful.

Twenty years ago, President Truman had proclaimed the day a time for paying tribute to military heritage, a day for the common man to show his respect for the fighting men who had kept his country free.

Then, only a month before the outbreak of the Korean War, Californians had eagerly displayed their blue and white “E” flags awarded to industries that had received a performance rating of “excellent” during World War II.

Then, children had become soldiers for a day, clambering over tanks, guns and aircraft on display at armories. airfields and harbors in the Southland.

But Saturday, many of the military complexes of the state and nation were closed, their Armed Forces Day festivities curtailed or canceled as a deterrent to antiwar demonstrations.

Saturday, in addition to parades and ceremonies, there were protest marches by students. active duty Marines and middle-aged citizens who sang songs, chanted ‘Out of Vietnam,’ ‘Out of Cambodia’ and generally tried to ignore the marching bands and quick-stepping drill units.

At times Saturday, the two forces brushed elbows. No problems, other than a couple of fist fights, were reported.

Torrance and San Diego held the spotlight for traditional celebrations, while Oceanside, Fort Ord and Fresno were the gathering places for antiwar activists.

Police estimated 60,000 persons lined the Torrance route in 90-degree-plus heat as the city’s 11th annual military parade stepped smartly by.

The crowd was considerably smaller than in previous years. Last year an estimated 150,000 watched.

A few demonstrators stood on the sidelines, attempting to pass out leaflets protesting US involvement in Indochina, but their presence was lost in a sea of hand-held Flags and passing military regalia.

Police said one demonstrator was ‘clouted by an irate citizen.” No arrest was made.

In San Diego, a community strongly attached to the country’s military-industrial complex, a crowd of 10,000 turned out to view the 200-unit parade.

Police Sgt. Kenneth Anderson, a traffic officer who said he has seen many Armed Forces Day parades there, reported the crowd to be ‘significantly smaller’ than in previous years. Crowds of between 30,000 and 50,000 have been on hand in other years, police said.

The only incident occurred when police arrested two men; Thomas A. Soals and Donald J. Vanderport, both 22 and both of San Diego; on suspicion of wearing an Army uniform unlawfully.

The two men sporting long hair and beards and wearing smartly pressed regulation uniforms, were among about 75 “Veterans Against the War” who stood near the reviewing stand on Broadway chanting peace slogans and waving their hands In the V-for-peace sign.

After questioning by the FBI, charges against the two were dropped and they were released, police said. Both men claimed they were wearing the uniforms legally.

In Oceanside, a seaside community near the giant Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base, a crowd of marchers, estimated by police at between 4,000 and 5,000, paraded in opposition to the war.

More than 400 police officers from Oceanside and surrounding areas were on hand in preparation for possible trouble. The city council had first refused to grant a parade permit to the protesters on the grounds that a 30-lay waiting period had not been complied with.

However, after receiving assurances from the march organizers that there would be no violence, permission was granted.

The march, orderly and without serious incident, included mostly students and active-duty servicemen belonging to Movement for a Democratic Military, an organization attempting to reorganize the military on a “democratic” basis.

The Oceanside marchers were joined by a few dozen off-duty Marines from Camp Pendleton and by a scattering of middle-aged residents, some of whom used the occasion to take their dogs for a stroll.

At one point, as the marchers passed a Marine Shore Patrol station near the beach, the crowd, seeing four MPs standing at parade rest, broke into “song.”

“M-I-C… K-E-Y,” the lyrics went. “‘M-O-U-S-EeeEEEE…”

The MP’s, their hands folded behind their backs, their eyes straight ahead, kept their faces expressionless.

Later, at a rally in Beach Bowl, a seaside amphitheatre near downtown Oceanside, Tom Hayden, a founder of the Students for a Democratic Society and a Chicago Seven conspiracy trial defendant, was one of several persons to address the crowd.

Hayden said the purpose of the march and rally was to express sympathy with those who are moving toward ‘mutiny in the armed forces.”

There was a gathering of about 60 young men, many of them marines out of uniform, who tried to heckle those attending the rally, but police and ‘monitors’ supplied by the demonstrators worked together to keep the two groups apart.

At the Marine base nearby, Armed Forces Day activities were sharply curtailed, a spokesman said, but several pieces of military equipment were on display in an open field.

In other activities:

About 2,500 antiwar demonstrators marched to the main gate of Fort Ord near Monterey. but were told the base was closed to the public. After shouting slogans, the marchers went away.

In Fresno, about 700 protesters marched through the downtown area

Do you have a friend or relative in the service? Forward GI Special along, or send us the address if you wish and we’ll send it regularly. Whether in Iraq or stuck on a base in the USA, this is extra important for your service friend, too often cut off from access to encouraging news of growing resistance to the war, at home and inside the armed services. Send requests to address up top or write to: The Military Project, Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657

Same As Now:
As Civilian Organizers Whined, Dithered And Despaired,
The Troops Acted:
“This Movement Not Only Finally Brought Down The U.S. Venture In Vietnam But Nearly Shattered The U.S. Armed Forces An Institution”

[This books has one of the finest, clearest histories of the GI movement that ended the war on Vietnam yet written, with emphasis on how Vietnam GI and other underground papers helped propel that movement to victory. It’s worth every penny. Full disclosure: There are several mentions of yours truly in the book: T.]

From: THE UNDERGROUND GI PRESS & THE VIETNAM WAR in People’s Movements; People’s Press, Bob Ostertag; Beacon Press; Boston 2006

************************************************

By the early 1970s, civilian antiwar activists were reeling. The Nixon administration’s “Vietnamization” strategy had sapped the movement’s strength on campuses. Efforts by student radicals to develop a social base in factories had gone nowhere. Organizers felt their movement was collapsing.

The movement did not collapse, however. It changed form. The same Vietnamization that took the wind out of the student movement sent the GI movement into overdrive.

What’s more, the increasing reliance on the air force and navy implied by Vietnamization (U.S. bombing missions from both air and sea increased dramatically as U.S. ground troops withdrew) caused the crisis in the U.S. military to spread from the army and marines to the air force and navy.

This movement not only finally brought down the U.S. venture in Vietnam but nearly shattered the U.S. Armed Forces an institution.

Here was the militant, working-class, multi-issue, and inter-racial movement student radicals had hoped for, but activists hardly noticed.

In part, this was because the GI movement was largely invisible to civilians. Much of the information contained in this chapter was simply not available at the time. But a lot of it was available – through the GI press.

Apparently very few people, other than the GIs themselves and those spying on them, were reading the GI press.

MORE:

“I’ve Been Looking For a Book Like This For a Long Time”

September 12, 2006 Ben H. Bagdikian, author of The New Media Monopoly

People’s Movements, People’s Press: The Journalism of Social Justice Movements
Author: Bob Ostertag; Beacon Press: ISBN: 0807061646; Price: $23.95.

Bob Ostertag has written widely on political subjects, particularly those concerning Latin America. He is an associate professor of technocultural studies at the University of California at Davis and lives in San Francisco.

*******************************************************

America was born in an act of rebellion, and protest and dissent have been crucial to our democracy ever since.

Along the way, movements for social justice have created a wide array of pamphlets, broadsides, newsletters, newspapers, and even glossy magazines.

In People’s Movements, People’s Press, Bob Ostertag brings this hidden history to light, examining the publications of the abolitionist, woman suffrage, gay and lesbian, and environmental movements, as well as the underground GI press during the Vietnam War.

This fascinating story takes us from the sparse, privately owned media environment of the nineteenth century to the corporate media saturation of the present.

Within these publications, we find powerful debates about the direction of a movement; impassioned cries for rights and civil liberties; lonely voices reaching out to others after being alienated by the mainstream press and the unaccepting world around them; and demands that now seem surprisingly reasonable but were at one time quite revolutionary.

With both plain language and rigorous scholarship, Ostertag tells the story not only of the publications but the many colorful characters who created them.

The story of the social justice movement press is deeply intertwined with the story of the movements themselves.

In fact, Ostertag shows how reliance on the printed word fundamentally shaped what we now know as social movements. People’s Movements, People’s Press, then, offers a new view, from the ground up, of social transformation in America and raises the question of how social movements will change as they move from print to the Internet as their primary means of communication.

As large corporations take over every media outlet available, People’s Movements, People’s Press reminds us of the great value and historical importance of independent, activist-driven media.

Bob Ostertag has written a book that reminds us that while the journalism world watches daily deals involving billions of dollars, and circulation wars highlight global battles between giants like Rupert Murdoch and William Randolph Hearst, the movers and shakers of major social change have come as often as not from tiny specialized journals that have sneaked under the radar on real issues like the start of women’s rights, the gay and lesbian revolution, and early voting rights in the South. People’s Movements,

People’s Press tells this neglected story of dramatic personalities and the historic birth of our modern rights.

Monster Contest

From: Z
To: GI Special
Sent: October 13, 2006

As we approach Halloween, here are 3 portraits with possible captions. Solidarity, Z

Jack the Ripper, a late 19th century psychopath who murdered at least five impoverished prostitutes. Reviled throughout the world.

Vlad the Impaler, a 15th century nobleman alleged to have sadistically killed thousands. Reviled throughout the world.

Dubya the Butcher, a 21st century politician who — along with powerful henchmen — has orchestrated deaths of hundreds of thousands. Reviled throughout the world. (In his country of origin, flies about at taxpayers’ expense and is greeted by bands playing ‘Hail to the Chief’)

Exactly Right

From: JP
To: GI Special
Sent: October 15, 2006

I am an American and I say soldiers stop the war. Stop fighting.

Do it as a group.

Say No More War.

If the ass holes want the war they can go.

Sorry, I don’t usually swear.

What do you think? Comments from service men and women, and veterans, are especially welcome. Send to contact@militaryproject.org or write to: The Military Project, Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657. Name, I.D., withheld on request. Replies confidential.

[Thanks to Tim Goodrich, Iraq Veterans Against The War]

www.ivaw.net

OCCUPATION REPORT

“American Snipers May Deal With You As Terrorists And Shoot You Without Any Hesitation”

16 October 2006 By Maher Al-Jasem in Al-Anbar province, Aljazeera

In Ramadi, members of armed groups (the Iraqi resistance) distributed fliers asking parents to keep their children at home until all US security checkpoints had been removed from the city.

Mohammed Noor, an Arabic language teacher at one of the secondary schools, told Aljazeera that the fliers also said that US military personnel had occupied some of the schools in the past few months and that schoolchildren should refrain from registering for classes “until the people of Ramadi are rid of their presence”.

Ramadi is a city virtually under siege as it has been the battleground between armed groups and US forces.

Fierce fighting has kept many of the streets closed to all traffic – in some districts the city looks deserted.

Streets such as Al-Maarith, Muhafatha and Al-Iskan, on which many schools are located, have also been cordoned off by US forces, leaving families with no choice but to keep their children at home.

Noor said: “When you want to pass these areas you have to carry a white banner, otherwise American snipers may deal with you as terrorists and shoot you without any hesitation … they are perched on the buildings over the streets.”

Further exacerbating the situation, many teachers have not been paid wages, a school director told Aljazeera on the condition that his name not be published.

He said: “US forces are everywhere – on the streets, manning checkpoints, the former police headquarters – it is dangerous.”

He explained that it had become a challenge having someone distribute wages in Ramadi, Hiyt and Haditha, as well as other cities in the western Anbar province.

“The person with our wages could be hijacked on the roads or killed by US forces.”

Roads to and from Ramadi have been so dangerous that the results of final exams taken by Ramadi secondary school students have yet to arrive from the Al-Selakh district of Baghdad’s Rusafa region.

For now, for the students of Ramadi at least, school’s out for the rest of the year.

“When I’ve Asked People In Baghdad What They Think Of Their Government, They Often Reply: ‘What Government?’”

15 October 2006 Patrick Cockburn, The Independent.co (UK) [Excerpts]

When I’ve asked people in Baghdad what they think of their government, they often reply: “What government? We never see it. It does nothing for us.”

In the eyes of Iraqis, the occupation goes on despite the supposed handover of power to Iraq in June 2004.

Baghdad is full of signs of this. For instance, the main government intelligence service, essential in fighting a guerrilla war, has no Iraqi budget because it is entirely funded by the CIA.

One former Defence Ministry official defended himself from the allegation that he helped steal the entire military procurement budget of $1.3bn by arguing that his ministry was run by American officers, without whose say-so he could not move a machine gun from one side of the Tigris to the other.

The White House and Downing Street have never recognised how the deep unpopularity of the occupation among Iraqis has generated resistance. The Government’s picture of Iraq is not so much a tissue of lies as a tissue of fantasies.

It is absurd to say that American and British forces will stay until Iraqi security forces are trained to take their place. What soldiers and police lack is not training but loyalty to the Iraqi government.

OCCUPATION ISN’T LIBERATION
BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW!

Telling the truth – about the occupation or the criminals running the government in Washington – is the first reason for Traveling Soldier. But we want to do more than tell the truth; we want to report on the resistance – whether it’s in the streets of Baghdad, New York, or inside the armed forces. Our goal is for Traveling Soldier to become the thread that ties working-class people inside the armed services together. We want this newsletter to be a weapon to help you organize resistance within the armed forces. If you like what you’ve read, we hope that you’ll join with us in building a network of active duty organizers.  www.traveling-soldier.org/  And join with Iraq War vets in the call to end the occupation and bring our troops home now! www.ivaw.net

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