MILITARY RECRUITING GIMMICK

Last weekend Veterans for Peace held a meeting at our house in Bath to begin organizing a protest.  The A.F. Thunderbirds flight team will "perform" on Aug 25-26 at the recently closed Brunswick Naval Air Station (now called Brunswick Landing) in another air show.  I have volunteered to coordinate the organizing.

  

We believe these air shows are essentially military recruiting exercises and promotional events for the "privatization" of Brunswick Landing.  The folks who run the Brunswick Landing would be thrilled to bring a military aerospace contractor (to make drones or other war machines) to this facility.  Thousands of people, particularly young children, will be brought to the air show. 

Our theme for the protest will be Stop Recruiting Our Children for War.  Sub-themes include:  War is not a family value; Air shows - Expensive, Polluting, Propaganda, Idolatry, False Patriotism, Glorify War, Violent Entertainment.

F-16's are fighter planes that have been used in every U.S. and NATO war since 1976.  The photo above is from the U.S. attacks on Iraq.

You can watch a short video about T-bird pilot who bakes cookies with his children here

  

On Saturday, Aug 25 we will gather in Brunswick by Bowdoin College at the Joshua Chamberlain statue on Main Street at 9:00 am.  From there we will walk along Bath Road to Brunswick Landing, arriving by 9:30 am.  (Those who cannot walk are asked to meet us at the front gate of the former Navy base at 9:30 am.)  We will vigil on both sides of Bath Road as the tens of thousands of cars "scream" into the base.  We urge people to make signs/banners using the themes above.  At noon we will gather for a closing circle.

  

The planning committee will meet again on Saturday, June 16 at 1:00 pm at the Addams-Melman House (212 Centre St) in Bath to continue work on this important protest.  All are invited. 

Protest sponsors now include Maine Veterans for Peace,  CodePink Maine, Maine Green Independent Party, Peace Action Maine, Pax Christi Maine, Episcopal Peace Fellowship-Maine Chapter, and the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space.

  

Veterans for Peace is particularly motivated to organize this protest because this air show was something that burned our recently departed member/leader Tom Sturtevant deeply.  Last year he took charge of organizing the air show protest.  He was most concerned about the event as a military recruiting "gimmick" in addition to the enormous cost in tax dollars and to the environment.