War protesters invite troops to Fort Drum fete

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.”

For more information, see differentdrummercafe.org or ivaw.org.

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