The U.S. Navy’s Fleet Week in NYC is normally in May. But this year, to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. war of independence, it was moved to this past weekend to make some kind of a point about military power. But, as with other “Freedom 250” events organized by the fascist regime, it was underwhelming. Instead of warships lining the Hudson River, and thousands of young sailors trying to keep their dress white uniforms clean while eating dollar slices in Times Square, there were very few ships, with handfuls of sailors.
There is no clear explanation. Were the ships diverted and busy elsewhere in the Caribbean killing “drug traffickers” or massed in the Mediterranean? Or in port for repairs as is the USS Gerald Ford, reportedly damaged by frustrated sailors? Or deployed to East Asia in the push to contain China? Perhaps it’s a sign of the military begin stretched beyond its limits and, for now, unable to perform its publicity duties?
This week, Veterans for Peace organized outreach to the active duty sailors and convened a gathering of antiwar organizations. Stephanie showed several short clips of veterans speaking to students. It was great to see them on the big screen, and appreciate the knowledge and depth of conviction they bring to class. Here’s one of those clips, a compilation of a few presentations.
We Are Not Your Soldiers engaged our great crew of presenters with 60 classes and two student clubs in the past school year. We presented at two middle schools — one private and one public — both in NYC and both with very well-prepared and intelligent students. We visited 8 high schools — one in rural Oregon, one in Philadelphia and the rest in NYC. One high school was a Catholic parochial school. The others were all public schools.
We had deep discussions in four community colleges — one in North Carolina and the rest in NYC. That kind of probing conversation also took place in the 6 colleges as well — one on Long Island, NY and the rest in NYC. Two of those colleges were private and the rest were public.
Engaging in the visits were Brian, Henri, Joe, John, Joy, Miguel, Rosa, Ross, Shaniyat and Will — sharing their stories, answering questions, finding areas of agreement and questioning important ideas with students, many of whom are facing recruitment and some of whom were veterans themselves.
It is only with your support that we can keep this going and growing in the coming school year. These conversations are more important than ever as the “forever wars” not only continue but spread further and further. Please help us as students question more and more as U.S. society is falling apart and they are beginning to see more clearly the connections between domestic issues and imperialist interventions. Hearing stories directly from those who have U.S. military experiences themselves makes connections to the students that a lecture, article or book or even a movie doesn’t make.
Read more in-depth descriptions at these links, including videos.
- An active autumn
- In December
- Spring semester gets going
- WANYS presenter reflects
- While U.S. war rages
- History and nationalism
- More than lectures
We also suggest you check out these pages to hear from the educators and students themselves: What Educators Are Saying About Us, Students Speak Out and Excerpts from Student Papers.