Supporting Our Troops

Participated in an event organized by MoveOn on January 24th outside the Columbus office of Senator George Voinovich, Ohio's senior senator. We presented petitions urging the Senator to support the non-binding resolution being presented by Senator Hagel and others strongly disagreeing with President Bush's plan to escalate the conflict in Iraq by sending in 21,000 additional troops. Three of us spoke: Lance Shrefler, a World War II veteran, Karen McCoy, whose son has served in Iraq and who'll be returning, and me--representing the veterans of the Vietnam war.
Here I am, saying my piece

Lance addresses the group

And Karen, on crutches because of a sprain, talks about her son.

In the end, the resolution passed the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations with bipartisan support. Senator Voinovich voted against it, although he's criticized the President's plan (and did so after the State of the Union speech the previous night). We did get some coverage, and had a segment on the Ohio News Network (a cable network) in the evening. And the event was videotaped by one participant, and posted on YouTube by Greg Hoke, who organized it; it's at www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsWJ77H4Isk

and the text of my comments:

My name is Alan Woods. I’ve lived in Columbus for 34 years. I’m a decorated veteran of the war in Vietnam, where I served from late 1965 through late 1966. I’m also the parent of a currently-serving military person who spent much of 2004 on a Navy destroyer in the Persian Gulf and off the horn of Africa. I know about futile wars. I fought in one, and saw men die in battles over villages or territory that we had previously captured--often three or four times before. My unit spend much of that year in the same province, refighting the same battle. After returning to the United States, I watched a president escalate by sending increasing numbers of military into a sectarian civil conflict that was impossible to win. Now we are led by another president who ignores the clear will of American citizens, and the advice of many of his own military leaders. Fortunately, at least members of Congress are heeding the mandate of the last election. I ask Senator Voinovich to support the bipartisan resolution opposing this senseless escalation, and to start a responsible exit from Iraq. We need to end our involvement, not expand it.