GI Special:

thomasfbarton@earthlink.net

4.25.06

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GI SPECIAL 4D25:

 

 

[Thanks to Ward Reilly, Veterans For Peace, who sent this in.]

 

 

 

“A Defiant Anti-War Movement That Spread Among Soldiers”

“A Revealing Account Of The Anti-War Activities Of Soldiers On The Ground In Vietnam”

 

April 21, 2006 By ELIZABETH WEITZMAN, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS WRITER

 

Sir! No Sir!: Documentary about a defiant anti-war movement that spread among soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War. Directed by David Zeiger (1:24).

 

A vital new chapter in the book of protest, documentarian David Zeiger's "Sir! No Sir!" is a revealing account of the anti-war activities of soldiers on the ground in Vietnam.

 

Though their political defiance was eclipsed by civilian protests, thousands of American soldiers risked their careers, and, in some cases, their lives, to expose the truths of the campaigns they were ordered to fight.

 

Learning that their reality was far different from the one being presented to the American public, many G.I.s began contributing to underground newspapers, planning demonstrations and refusing to continue in battle.  Toward the end of the conflict, some even turned on their own officers, tossing grenades into their tents as they slept.

 

Melding historical footage with dozens of contemporary interviews from veterans (and a regrettably self-righteous Jane Fonda), Zeiger builds a poignant history of young men transformed from loyal soldiers to bitter activists nearly overnight.

 

Today, many of these men remain haunted, still unable to escape a war they never understood.

 

This is powerful stuff, offering us not only a new look at the past, but to the unavoidably relevant insights into the present.

 

Sir! No Sir!:

Tuesday, April 25, Last Showings At

IFC Center

322 Sixth Avenue, at West Third Street, New York City

 

Advance tickets on sale NOW through the IFC box office

Recording: 212-924-7771

Live box office: 212-924-5246

Online at www.ifccenter.com

 

Check out the trailer at www.sirnosir.com

 

Please contact max@riseup.net or celia@riseup.net for posters, postcards and flyers to help promote this event!

 

 

 

 

IRAQ WAR REPORTS

 

 

Former Pulaski County Man In Marine Corps Killed

 

Apr. 13 By Wayne Crenshaw, The Macon Telegraph, Ga.

 

The official military record lists Lance Cpl. Kun Y. Kim's hometown as Atlanta, but when the Marine's funeral is held April 19, it's Hawkinsville where flags will fly at half staff in his honor.

 

Kim, who attended Hawkinsville High School, was killed in Iraq on April 2, according to a release from a 2nd Marines Division Public Affairs Office. Kim, 20, and two others were killed by an improvised explosive device, the release stated.

 

The funeral service will be held at Lilburn First Baptist Church with burial in Arlington Memorial Park in Atlanta.

 

Kim's father and stepmother still live in Hawkinsville, according to a Hawkinsville Dispatch report, and Kim attended Hawkinsville High School during his freshman and sophomore years.

 

Kim was a member of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Camp Lejeune, N.C.

 

Boyertown Soldier Killed

 

Travis Zimmerman

 

2006-04-24 Maranatha Broadcasting Company, Inc

 

Terrible news from overseas this weekend for one Berks county community.  A 19-year-old Boyertown High grad was killed by a roadside bomb near Baghdad. WFMZ's Eve Tannery has more.

 

TANNERY: Flags and yellow ribbons adorn the outside of the Zimmerman family home on North Reading Avenue in Boyertown.

 

Neighbors say Travis Zimmerman had lived here all his life with his father and stepmother.

 

They say Travis graduated from Boyertown High School in June and started basic training in July.

 

And they say, in February, he went to Iraq with the Army 101st Airborne.

 

Neighbors up and down the block say Travis was one-of-a kind.....always happy, and an all-around great kid.

 

They say he was home briefly in November for Thanksgiving.

 

Two of his neighbors just got a letter from him Tuesday, they say he wrote it while he was sitting in a humvee, and that he seemed very positive, interested in what was going on in his hometown, and, very proud.

 

Indiana Marine Killed

Marine Corporal Eric R. Lueken, of Dubois, Ind. died April 22 while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was 23. (AP Photo/Marine Corps Base Hawaii)

 

Breese, IL, Soldier Injured:

Disgusting DC Politicians Refuse To Provide One Dollar For One Stitch Of Clothing For His Hospital Stay

Private James Bright

 

4/23/2006 By Ann Rubin, (KSDK)

 

An explosion near Tal Afar, Iraq injured three soldiers, including a man from Breese, Illinois.  It happened late Thursday. Sunday, his family talked about getting a phone call from the Army, they never wanted to receive.

 

Lynne Huelsmann says, "You just know.  You just have this sense.  And I just couldn't get to the phone fast enough."

 

Her son, Private James Bright, had served in Iraq for two months. Now she got word a bomb had exploded near him. He was sprayed with shrapnel.  Bright was wearing body armor at the time.  That may have been the only thing that saved his life.

 

His sister, Cyndi Bright, says, "I just stood there and was frozen.  I had my hands on my face and tears coming down."

 

As the hours passed, the family gathered.  They kept a half dozen phones between them, waiting for the Army to call.  His mother says, "They just crowded around and holding this phone, it was like holding a lifeline."

 

Another call and they got the news, Private Bright had been transported from Tal Afar. He had successful surgery to remove part of his lung.  He was on his way to Germany.

 

The family knows they are lucky, and that the outcome could have been much different. Lynne says, "I'm just glad I got a phone call and not a visit."

 

Jim was injured doing what he loved. He always wanted to follow in his father's military footsteps.  He got his first flight suit at age three.

 

His family knows he'll return to Iraq if he can. Cyndi says, "He's going to be here, and he's going to get better. And as soon as he gets better he's going to want to go back. And that scares me to death, because I don't want to get that knock on the door at all."

 

For now, they won't focus on the future. They just want their soldier safe. And Sunday afternoon they finally got a call from Jim. Lynne says, "He knew who we were.  And he said I just can't wait to get home."

 

Jim's father, Randal Bright, is an Air Force Colonel who transports injured soldiers. In this case, he will not be flying his son home, but he does plan to be at the base when Jim lands in the States.  The family hopes that will happen sometime Tuesday.

 

The family is now encouraging others to start supporting Operation Undergarment. It helps send clothes to hospitalized soldiers overseas.  Oftentimes, these soldiers have had their uniforms cut off to tend to their wounds and have no additional clothes or pajamas to wear during their hospital stay.

 

Jim Bright's family says this problem was brought to their attention when Jim was transported to the hospital in Germany.

 

[Right.  That makes perfect sense.  Billions for war profiteers like Halliburton, but not one fucking cent so wounded troops don’t have to go around naked.  Hey, make the families pay for it.  That’s what Imperial wars are all about: some people pay and some people don’t.  Some people get killed and maimed, and some people make lots and lots of money. 

 

[There is no enemy in Iraq: the enemy is in Washington DC running the government.  And doing very well for themselves while they’re at it.]

 

 

 

Notes From A Lost War:

Ramadi:

“The Worst Sniper Threat On The Planet”

“It Just Feels Like Someone's Always Watching You”

A U.S. Marine from the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, Kilo Company runs across a street opposite the Government Center April 17, 2006 in Ramadi.  Standing still is rarely an option. (AP Photo/Todd Pitman)

 

 

4/24/2006 By Todd Pitman, Associated Press

 

RAMADI, Iraq:  Weapons locked, loaded and ready, a U.S. Marine platoon runs through this troubled Iraqi city's war-wrecked streets, hurling yellow, gray and violet smoke grenades to shroud their path.

 

Pausing only to train gunbarrels around corners or scan rooftops for insurgents, they bound across desolate roads lined with broken glass and charred cars, and start running again.

 

Standing still is rarely an option in this insurgent-plagued metropolis beset by roadside bombs, rocket fire and, Marines here say, the worst sniper threat on the planet.

 

"Every time we go out, we run," said 2nd Lt. Brian Wilson, a 24-year-old platoon commander from Columbia, S.C.  "If you stand still, you will get shot at."

 

And most of the time, Marines shoot back.

 

Marines patrolling this city on foot do not like to stay exposed too long, preferring instead to blow front gate locks off private homes with special shotgun shells to take temporary cover in walled courtyards before moving on. They do not knock first: there is no time.

 

On one recent sweep, U.S. and Iraqi infantrymen climbed over walls between houses instead of risking the streets outside.

 

"We try to stay mobile so snipers can't aim in on us," said 1st Lt. Carlos Goetz, a 29-year-old Miami native.

 

The urban environment of walled villa rooftops and windowed buildings keeps Marines edgy.

 

"You try to take cover wherever you can, but it just feels like someone's always watching you.  It really messes with your head," said Cpl. Jason Hunt of Wellsville, N.Y.

 

"You look for dark windows, tiny holes anywhere," the 24-year-old said.  "They could be sitting back on a bench with a scope and a barrel: they see you, but you can't see them."

 

Troops from the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment aggressively patrol the blown-out district around Government Center at all hours; conducting raids and sweeps during the hazy, gritty heat of the day, and in the quiet of night when moonlight casts buildings and villas in blue hues.

 

Marines say the patrols have disrupted insurgent operations.  But the guerrillas operating in small teams are relentless, firing rockets, mortars and machine guns daily at Government Center, U.S. bases and fortified observation posts. Sometimes they attack the same targets several times a day.

 

Goetz said Marines patrol hoping to bring insurgents out into the open, where they are little match for the overwhelming U.S. firepower.  [The British wished for the same stupidity in their Imperial War of 1776.  The Lt. would be better leaving his silly fantasies back home.]

 

It usually doesn't take long.

 

"It takes about eight minutes from us stepping outside of the wire and getting across the street to the time that we start receiving contact from the enemy," Goetz said at Goverment Center.

 

The safety-in-motion logic also applies to U.S. vehicles.  Drivers roll back and forth in danger zones, rather than park, to make their vehicles harder targets, particularly for rocket-propelled grenades, or RPGs.

 

One young Marine manning a machine gun in a Humvee turret outside Government Center was hit by an RPG and killed instantly just before the vehicle rolled inside.  In recent weeks, another Marine was killed by a sniper's bullet that tore through his shoulder toward his heart.

 

Two Iraqi soldiers were fatally shot manning a guard post: one as he walked out of it and one who went to save him, said Marine Capt. Carlos Barela, 35, of Albuquerque, N.M.

 

Out on the streets, troops are wary of all the spots that insurgents have used to hide bombs: heaps of garbage and rubble, mangles of wires, scrap metal, the occasional dead animal or body part.

 

"This is the kind of stuff that makes you cringe," said Capt. Andrew Del Gaudio, 30, of Mount Laurel, N.J., gesturing at a large pile of dirt near a light pole as he ran along ahead of a raid with a platoon from his Kilo Company.

 

Sprinting into the entrance of an abandoned building on another day and seeing a bag on the ground with wires sticking out, Marines quickly retreated as one shouted, "Get out!  Go! Go! Go!"

 

One Iraqi soldier bounding between two roads this month stepped on a bomb that blew off his leg.

 

It's easier to spot bombs when moving slowly, but speed is the rule for Marines in Ramadi.

 

Cpl. Scott R. Gibson, 22, of Carlisle, Pa., said his platoon had started off walking during their first patrol in the city last month, worrying about pressure-plate bombs that explode when stepped on.

 

They soon came under a hail of gunfire.

 

"After that, we started running," Gibson said. "We can't stand still here too long."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TROOP NEWS

 

 

THIS IS HOW BUSH BRINGS THE TROOPS HOME:

BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW, ALIVE

Funeral services for Army Pfc. George Roehl Jr. April 24, 2006 at the state Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen, N.H.  Roehl, 21, was killed April 21 when a bomb exploded near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Taji, Iraq. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

 

REALLY BAD IDEA:

NO MISSION;

HOPELESS WAR:

BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW

A U.S. soldier near the scene of a car bomb attack in Baghdad, April 24, 2006. (Ceerwan Aziz/Reuters)

 

“It Is Wrong To Encourage Racism, Even If It Might Make A Few Soldiers Sleep Easier At Night”

 

April 24, 2006

Letters To The Editor

Army Times

 

The letter “War dehumanizes enemy” (April 10) was a shock to read, particularly as it seems to go against established Army policy.

 

Dehumanizing “the enemy” may make it easier to pull the trigger, but it will not contribute to our long-term goals.  Nor is encouraging racism ever the right answer.

 

It might behoove us to remember that Arabs and Persians are found not only among the ranks of our enemies.  What about Saudi Arabia or Kuwait?  Also, according to the 2000 U.S. census, 1.2 million people living in the U.S. identified themselves as Arabs.

 

If our soldiers are taught to hate an ethnicity, the effects of that hate will be felt on our own citizens.  And let us not forget about Arab-Americans in the military forces, including Gen. John Abizaid, the commander of U.S. Central Command.

 

A lot of things might make a war easier.  Breaking the Geneva Convention would certainly make a war easier, for one.

 

But we don’t do that for one simple reason: because it’s wrong, just as it is wrong to encourage racism, even if it might make a few soldiers sleep easier at night.

 

War is never supposed to be easy.  That’s one of the things that makes it hard to be a soldier: knowing you may be killing someone who doesn’t want to be there or whom, under other circumstances, you might share a beer with. 

 

This has always been the case, yet we have managed.  We should be striving not for divisive hatred, lowering ourselves to the enemy’s level, but rather for the Christmas Truce, which, incidentally, did not seem to hurt our victory in World War I.

 

We will never accomplish anything if we persist in seeing things in black and white, seeing the enemy as completely evil, beyond redemption.  We may win a few battles, but we will never win the war.

 

Sgt. Selena Coppa

Fort Meade, Md.

 

Anti-War Demonstrators Force Bush To Reroute Trip

 

Apr. 21, 2006 by Sal Lood, Indybay.org/news

 

Bush was scheduled to visit the Hoover Institute, the Conservative Propaganda "Think Tank" group, at Stanford University today.

 

Students, community members and even some musicians showed up to protest and closed the roads leading to the Hoover Institute.  Bush's caravan was forced to reroute their trip and had to meet with Hoover officials off campus.

 

Some protestors were arrested; no information about the amount and identity of protestors was available to this writer at this time.

 

 

 

IRAQ RESISTANCE ROUNDUP

 

 

Assorted Resistance Action

 

April 24 AP & APF & By Nelson Hernandez and Saad al-Izzi, Washington Post Foreign Service & (CBS) & Reuters

 

:: Article nr. 22862 sent on 26-apr-2006 02:38 ECT

www.uruknet.info?p=22862

Link: www.traveling-soldier.org/ 

:: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website.

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