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Cracker Swamp, Fl – A week has passed, since my friend of 26 years, Josh, and myself, returned from camping with, meeting with, and partying with, the future of the progressive Veterans movement, here in the Southeastern region of the United States. We were up on Red Top Mountain, just outside Cartersville, Georgia, a few miles north of Atlanta, for the IVAW Southeast Regional Retreat, held 7/3 - 7/5, 2009. xWe were there representing Vietnam Veterans Against The War (VVAW), in the capacity of what I refer to as elder statespersons or VVAW old schoolers, rather than as Old Folks with a lot of time on their hands. The very types, in the context of Veterans progressive grassroots activism, that are, by definition and from my perspective, those that, through their actions as VVAW members, back in The Day; laid the foundations and set the standards for the creation and development, as well as produced much of the original leadership of Vietnam Veterans Of America, Veterans For Peace (VFP), and who worked logistics and staffed security for IVAW's Winter Soldier Iraq &Afghanistan, in Silver Spring, Maryland. x
Today, VVAW's 41 year history of activism as an anti-imperialist progressive Veterans organization speaks for itself, and is the result of the political principles & ideals, strategies, and activities, that are well documented, on these pages and in historical archives all over America...pages lived and written by actions of these old school progressive movement types.
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VVAW's focus issues have aways been oriented to ending militaristic involvement in campaigns of political and capital imperialism; equally proper care and treatment of Veterans by the VA, in both the medical and mental health claims, service delivery systems, and claims processing; anti-sexism and racism with-in the military, as well as society, in general; and, GI Rights & Resistance. The folks that I refer to have been always been there, as the grass-roots impetus to the writing of VVAW's inspiring history.
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I believe that many of us old schoolers see our role, since coming together at the VVAW 40th Reunion, as that of a known quantity resource for IVAW, and also as a resource group, for the mounting of a national campaign to build a unified front of progressive Veteran and Allied groups and supporters, who are rallied around a core group of focal issues and actions.
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This is a strategy model that has emanated from the coming together of that 40th Reunion gathering. This is an effort that began in earnest with the VVAW National Coordinators West Coast Tour, this past Spring, and that is continuing as an organizing strategy, as we all move forward in the 21st century. Thus, our presence, representing VVAW at the IVAW SE Retreat. My personal take on all of this is, that VVAW's soul has always been out in the grass-roots, that it's spirit of political activism is still alive and well, and is at work in their communities (...still crazy after all these years?), and that it is that spirit which is VVAW, today. xx
There were two of us old schoolers from VVAW, there on Red Top Mountain with the IVAW, the first day of the IVAW SE Retreat; Josh (Vietnam Veterans of North Florida/VVAW), Mike Hearington (the Atlanta VFP contact), and myself (VVNF/VVAW). Mike Burke, who is the VVAW Atlanta 
contact, came out and joined us at the encampment on Saturday morning. x
Our combined VVAW mission task, was to invite IVAW's active participation in our own Southeast Regional gathering, to be held in Tallahassee, Florida, July 24th thru July 26th.
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I am happy to report that the assigned mission was a success. As a result of our outreach, IVAW Southeastern Region will be represented in Tallahassee, in the persons of Jason Hurd, the IVAW Southeast Regional Coordinator; Zach Choate, the Atlanta area organizer, along with several other Georgia IVAW members one of whom is an active duty GI. Also in attendance will be representatives from the Gainesville, Fl Chapter of IVAW. Due to mild attacks of CRS, I only recall Micah Goulet's name, from the G'ville bunch...good meeting and talking with you, Micah. (Photo, L to R; Josh M., Mike H., and your's truly)xx
VVAW was on the agenda to present to the group on Friday evening. By then, we had managed to do some "socializing" and everyone was definitely in the spirit of the event as we gathered
around the campfire in the waning light of a great afternoon of getting to know one another.
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I presented on our behalf, and made three proposals to the gathering; that the SE Region attend our VVAW SE Regional meeting in Tallahassee, that VVAW, VFP, and IVAW work
together in staging a major SE Winter Soldier event; that we all rally our membership and our resources in support of the School Of The America's Vigil at Ft. Benning, Ga., this coming November.
xx At a meeting of the IVAW membership, held on Saturday morning, all three proposals were discussed and agreed to, and will appear on our VVAW SE agenda, for discussion of our mutual strategy.
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Our assigned mission was accomplished; face to face communications had been established as a first step in forming a network of Veterans' activists and resources, that are willing to work together, on pre-defined focal issues, presenting a unified front (our most powerful lobbying tool/political capital, in my opinion) to our elected representatives and self serving political power brokers. The fire to be fanned is in the hearts and minds of the American electorate; now, just the same as it was, back in the day.
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That fire of political consciousness was definitely re-ignited among the folks who were lucky enough to have been there on the mountain, together, on Independance Day. The energy was that was flowing, was palpable, and infectous. When we looked into their young faces and eyes, we were seeing another side of ourselves, from another time, and yet there didn't seem to be any time separating us, as we made friends, and talked together, late into the mountain night.
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Che Guevara once said, "You North Americans are very lucky, you live in the heart of the beast..."; Che always wanted to ride the rankest bull. Well, my friends, in the world of progressive political organizing, the Southeast, is the rankest bull in the bunch.
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Long ago, VVAW had a history here; Last Patrol & the '72 Republican Convention, The Gainesville 8 (actually 12) Conspiracy Trial, Operation County Fair in Bogue Chitto, Ala, in partnership with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) group from that area. I, and many of my friends from VVAW, who have sine re-newed their membership, were there with VVAW for these actions and operations. Since those heady times, with all of the voting rights, and civil rights headway that was made, the wave of political consciousness and Democratic party gains that were so hard won, have, somehow, long since, slipped away.
xThe Southeast, these days is, once again, the heart of the far-right conservative beast. A far cry from where we brought it to, only thirty years ago. As a result of the grass-roots political and social struggles there, it became a beacon of hope and progress, for those who believed in the power of the people. Power that they had physically seized from the clutches of Nixon's version of Republicanism...we called it fascism. Since then, the neocons re-took political ground with the Gingrich revolution, the Contract With America, and what George Lakoff refers to as re-framing the arguement in his book,
Don't Think Of An Elephant. x
Although they have suffered some serious set-backs to these initiatives, up to, and including the election of Obama. They have not given up the fight; they are just even more pissed off than they were back in the Gingrich hey-day. They've still got plenty of PAC money, Rush, the FOX News gang, and the Swift Boats in several of their manifestations, all out there stirring up the base at the grass-roots, and trying to once again re-frame the political arguement, to fit their political needs. The folks that we met with, in Georgia, certainly seemed up for the fight to re-take the political high-ground from them, here in Dixie.
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VVAW National Coordinators, Barry Romo and Marty Webster will be there in Tally to meet with us, and to participate in the dialogue, as well. If you are a VVAW, VFP, IVAW, or allied group (i.e. MFSO) member, somewhere in the Southeast, and wish to join the fight, and rally with us at the VVAW SE Regional Planning, Organizing, and Tasking Conference, in Tally, on the week-end of the 24th-26th of July, for the purposes of designing a Southeastern grass-roots strategy to attain our mutual national goals; please contact me at
windbender@rose.net, with VVAW SE Regional in the Subject field. I will get right back to you with conference location and registration info, ASAP.
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Once again we are being called to defend our land. This time it is not from a far away land but here at home. Our weapons of defense have changed from rifles to pens, laptops and protest signs. This time we are fighting over a broken promise. The promise is included in a 388-acre deed by John P. Jones and Arcadia de Baker to the United States. The deed states that this land is to be used for the “sole purpose of providing veterans a place to heal from war”. This property is now called the “VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System” and is managed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Our new battle is with the VA and the “Veterans Park Conservancy.
