[Peace-discuss] both Urbana and Champaign components of Army National Guard deploying to Afghanistan soon

[Stuart Levy]

On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 02:14:23PM -0500, Randall Cotton wrote:
> I checked with some folks privately and brought it up at the last meeting
> (where your presence was missed). In retrospect, I wish I had contacted
> you directly, Wayne.
> 
> I suggested a banner along the lines of
> 
> "We oppose this deployment. Save our troops from senseless wars".
> 
> There was no support and much opposition.
> 
> R

I was one of those speaking in opposition.  The worry is that,
at a family farewell event, it would be easy to be too insensitive.
That would (a) be hard on the families, (b) alienate them,
and (c) make AWARE look bad.

It's a very different thing to be demonstrating outside a mil. recruitment
center, where we can hope to influence what recruitees will decide to do.
But people at a farewell event (my next door neighbor among them -- she's being
sent to Afghanistan) have already made their choices -- or been pressed into them.

Though of course they are being sent to a senseless war, and some of them
(my neighbor included) likely already think so, I don't think that
telling them that will be a helpful message.

At an event like this, I *could* support leafletting.  We could say
to the families, We want to see your family members brought home
safely and soon, and invite them join with us to oppose this war.
That would have a very different tone from a banner pointing out, in effect,
that we saw their family members' efforts and risks as valueless.
That's how the above banner would look, I think.

I wanted to ask the IVAW people about how they would see this,
at last Tuesday's organizational meeting for Winter Soldier,
but there wasn't time.

> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "E. Wayne Johnson" <ewj at pigs.ag>
> To: "Randall Cotton" <recotton at earthlink.net>
> Cc: <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
> Sent: Friday, September 26, 2008 1:59 PM
> Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] both Urbana and Champaign components of Army
> National Guard deploying to Afghanistan soon
> 
> 
> : I dont recall hearing about it till now.
> :
> : I am getting so sick of these neocons.
> :
> :
> :
> :
> : Randall Cotton wrote:
> : > There are impending public deployment ceremonies for both the
> : > Champaign-based 634th Brigade Support Battalion, Company B and the
> : > Urbana-based 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team headquarters. They are
> : > headed to Afghanistan. I am disappointed to say that when I checked
> : > around, I found there was no interest in having any kind of AWARE
> presence
> : > at events like this.
> : >
> : > R
> : >
> : >
> http://www.news-gazette.com/news/2008/09/26/deployment_ceremonies_on_tap_for_guard_units
> : >
> : > Deployment ceremonies on tap for Guard units
> : > By Paul Wood
> : > Friday September 26, 2008
> : >
> : > Two local National Guard units will have deployment ceremonies where
> : > well-wishers can properly see them off to eventual posts in
> Afghanistan.
> : >
> : > A ceremony to honor about 240 soldiers of the headquarters company of
> the
> : > 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, housed at the Urbana Armory, will
> be
> : > held at the University of Illinois Assembly Hall, 1800 S. First St.,
> C, at
> : > 2 p.m. Sunday. Guests are urged to arrive early.
> : >
> : > And on Oct. 1, Bravo Company of the 634th Brigade Support Battalion,
> with
> : > about 85 soldiers at the Champaign Armory, will have its own
> deployment
> : > ceremony at 7 p.m. at Centennial High School, 913 S. Crescent Drive,
> C.
> : >
> : > The Champaign troops will provide logistical support, vehicle
> maintenance,
> : > medical and transportation support.
> : >
> : > Cassandra Wentz, the family readiness group leader for Bravo company,
> said
> : > supporters will begin a yellow ribbon campaign for the local troops
> : > starting Sunday. More information is available at 352-1274.
> : >
> : > "We want to show support in every way we can," said Wentz, whose
> husband
> : > is heading overseas.
> : >
> : > "That includes for the children," she added. "If you live on a base,
> there
> : > are many resources for families, but with the Guard, the citizen
> soldier,
> : > your children may not know any other children whose fathers are being
> : > deployed."
> : >
> : > The Headquarters company of the Urbana unit will be the command and
> : > control element of Task Force Phoenix VIII in Afghanistan, according
> to a
> : > National Guard release.
> : >
> : > The 30 units of the 33rd and two units of the 404th Chemical Brigade
> will
> : > be joined by various coalition partners and forces from other U.S.
> service
> : > components to form the remainder of the task force, it said.
> : >
> : > The Illinois National Guard will have its largest overseas deployment
> of
> : > soldiers since World War II.
> : >
> : > _______________________________________________
> : > Peace-discuss mailing list
> : > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> : > http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss
> : >
> : >
> : >
> 
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