Woo! The ball is slowly starting to roll.
As you all know, I'm new to Texas. Last weekend I was in Austin (I had heard about the culture and how great the city is - I agree!) and, wanting to see what was in town, I picked up The Chronicle. Leafing through the pages I came across an article under the headline "War Dad Comes to Austin."
Bob Watda, father of Lt. Ehren Watada, was going to be speaking! I had to be there. It was a small event at someone's house. There were maybe twenty people and a few cameras. I had introduced myself to people beforehand (anyone who knows me knows I like to mingle) and mentioned that I was an active-duty member of IVAW.
Well, that spread like wildfire. Apparently mine is the point of view that all these peace organizations have been longing to hear.
Mr. Watada did his spiel that he's been doing around the country and then said that he was happy that everyone came to hear what he had to say and then added, "But there's one person here who I want to hear from." and looked at me.
"Shazbot," I thought to m'self as I stood up and took the mike. It was a small group and I had met everyone prior to the speakings but still, I had nothing prepared! Still, I spoke for a good ten minutes and then opened up the floor for questions.
The next event was the movie showing at Cafe Caffeine where Mr. Watada was going to do his thing again and we were going to watch Sir! No Sir!
This event had between 60 and 70 people and a *lot* of media. I was nervous. The event coordinators assured me that I would get the media attention they felt I deserved, but I told them I didn't want that.
So, some people played anti war songs, Mr. Watada spoke, a few others spoke too, I got a few looks and we watched the movie. After the movie, it was almost 10pm and only the most dedicated were still there. With the media gone, they recognized me. I got applause.
So, this weekend I met mothers afraid for their sons, wives afraid for their husbands, Vietnam vets saying they want to see our generation stand up for itself like theirs did, I met soldiers asking me what we should do.
So, if you don't hear from me in a long while, I'm in shackles.
"Better to be tried by twelve than carried out by six," is the saying downrange and apparently only downrange. Soldiers these days just want to survive their year in Iraq and then pass the problem on to the next unit. I, on the other hand, want to end this war, but guess who's the "buddy fucker?" I signed up to fight for something, not just anything.
I once thought the way they did though.
Boy, who woulda thought that ending a war would be such hard work?
Edit: Oh yeah! While I was comparing theories and bashing political "leaders" I met a peace activist who pays out of pocket to go to Iraq and live with the Iraqis to prove that they don't hate Americans in general. He told me that the catalyst was Hurricane Katrina. The Iraqis watching CNN have come to the conclusion that if the US doesn't intend to rebuild one of its own cities, why should they believe the US has any intention of rebuilding their whole country? Interesting theory. Thoughts?
As you all know, I'm new to Texas. Last weekend I was in Austin (I had heard about the culture and how great the city is - I agree!) and, wanting to see what was in town, I picked up The Chronicle. Leafing through the pages I came across an article under the headline "War Dad Comes to Austin."
Bob Watda, father of Lt. Ehren Watada, was going to be speaking! I had to be there. It was a small event at someone's house. There were maybe twenty people and a few cameras. I had introduced myself to people beforehand (anyone who knows me knows I like to mingle) and mentioned that I was an active-duty member of IVAW.
Well, that spread like wildfire. Apparently mine is the point of view that all these peace organizations have been longing to hear.
Mr. Watada did his spiel that he's been doing around the country and then said that he was happy that everyone came to hear what he had to say and then added, "But there's one person here who I want to hear from." and looked at me.
"Shazbot," I thought to m'self as I stood up and took the mike. It was a small group and I had met everyone prior to the speakings but still, I had nothing prepared! Still, I spoke for a good ten minutes and then opened up the floor for questions.
The next event was the movie showing at Cafe Caffeine where Mr. Watada was going to do his thing again and we were going to watch Sir! No Sir!
This event had between 60 and 70 people and a *lot* of media. I was nervous. The event coordinators assured me that I would get the media attention they felt I deserved, but I told them I didn't want that.
So, some people played anti war songs, Mr. Watada spoke, a few others spoke too, I got a few looks and we watched the movie. After the movie, it was almost 10pm and only the most dedicated were still there. With the media gone, they recognized me. I got applause.
So, this weekend I met mothers afraid for their sons, wives afraid for their husbands, Vietnam vets saying they want to see our generation stand up for itself like theirs did, I met soldiers asking me what we should do.
So, if you don't hear from me in a long while, I'm in shackles.
"Better to be tried by twelve than carried out by six," is the saying downrange and apparently only downrange. Soldiers these days just want to survive their year in Iraq and then pass the problem on to the next unit. I, on the other hand, want to end this war, but guess who's the "buddy fucker?" I signed up to fight for something, not just anything.
I once thought the way they did though.
Boy, who woulda thought that ending a war would be such hard work?
Edit: Oh yeah! While I was comparing theories and bashing political "leaders" I met a peace activist who pays out of pocket to go to Iraq and live with the Iraqis to prove that they don't hate Americans in general. He told me that the catalyst was Hurricane Katrina. The Iraqis watching CNN have come to the conclusion that if the US doesn't intend to rebuild one of its own cities, why should they believe the US has any intention of rebuilding their whole country? Interesting theory. Thoughts?
Gothic??