Originally posted on Rise Up Times:
Her opposition to war and quest for peace, based in Minnesota, ranged across continents and took her from Vietnam to other parts of Southeast Asia and Central America. By Carol Masters WAMM Newsletter Volume 35, Number 6 December 2017 Marianne was gracious, kind, funny, fearless, and persistent—some of the…
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Listen to Matthew Hoh
I’ve been hoping to interview Matthew Hoh for nearly a decade, and hope to meet him next month: but meanwhile you can see this from his blog.”The most important things American veterans can do is to speak openly and plainly about what they saw during their time in the military, what they took part inContinue reading “Listen to Matthew Hoh”
For Constitution Day, a few days late
Or, what our dissenting soldiers might have thought of the 1787 Constitutional Convention. In Philadelphia that September, President Washington joined many signers of the Declaration of Independence to discuss revision of the Articles of Confederation, the document governing the way the country was put together. Many came with ideas: James Madison had drafted a “VirginiaContinue reading “For Constitution Day, a few days late”
when the big hurricane killed 400 vets
I keep wondering why, as Hurricane Irma’s storm surge barreled toward the Florida Keys, no one has thought to mention the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 — if only for the Humphrey Bogart clip, or the Ernest Hemingway article,’Who Killed the Vets?” A new bridge between two of Florida’s Upper Keys, Lower Matecumbe and WindleyContinue reading “when the big hurricane killed 400 vets”
Some loose thoughts about Jacob Ritter (1757-1841)
He didn’t speak English when he joined General Washington’s army. And by 1790, he was both a combat veteran and a torture survivor. No wonder he became and stayed a Quaker. A careful reading of his 1840 memoir (a smash in Quaker circles) yields both facts, but I confess I was too distracted byContinue reading “Some loose thoughts about Jacob Ritter (1757-1841)”
A Quaker at the Battle of the Brandywine, 1777
Originally posted on Christopher Densmore:
Jacob Ritter and a Vision of Light, 1777 The Battle of the Brandywine,September 11, 1777, was fought in the midst of a largely Quaker inhabited region of Pennsylvania, and the major clash between the British and Patriot forces took place around the Birmingham Friends Meetinghouse. While the battlefield site and…
Groundhog Day for women in the military?
When anyone asks me how I got started with all this, I invariably mention CCCO and the G.I. Rights Hotline in the 1990s. But it’s not often that I wake up and feel such a strong echo of those years, as I did yesterday upon news of sexual assault of recruits at Fort Benning. BackContinue reading “Groundhog Day for women in the military?”
How could you run, when you know?
A journo friend of mine adapted the lyrics of the song above to mark last weekend’s explosion, as well as covering those events for Souciant. Like many who weren’t there, I feel the least i can do is reflect here/ As a super-late boomer (the Obama generation), I’ve spent much of my life feeling I missedContinue reading “How could you run, when you know?”
Before Evan Thomas became an iconic conscientious objector
The summer before Evan Thomas leaves the country, 1915 smells of war. The smell sickens Thomas, a lean young man with a narrow face and alert eyes. Thomas hates living and working at the American Parish, the East Harlem immigrant settlement house pastored by his brother Norman. On every newsstand, headlines scream of battles inContinue reading “Before Evan Thomas became an iconic conscientious objector”
Who has Reality Winner’s back? We do.
I just got off the phone with Billie Winner-Davis, a clinical social worker in Texas who’s been in the press lately because of her daughter, Reality. Our chat was brief, and stayed away from the facts of Reality’s legal case. I still congratulated her on the support network she’d started in partnership with Courage toContinue reading “Who has Reality Winner’s back? We do.”
I Ain't Marching Anymore 