Tracey and I (a veto majority of our little fledgling Honolulu Chapter) had made plans to attend the popular 4th of July celebration at the Marine Corps Base just down the road from our new home in Kailua, HI. Supporters from the AFSC regional office and US Labor Against War were eager to help with whatever they could. Though time consuming, our planned action was very simple: create a presence for IVAW in the local fanfare and festivities. All we did was walk around in IVAW member and supporter shirts and have fun!

The idea came to me when I realized the relevancy of the beautifully designed “We the People” supporter tee shirts to this particular holiday. Emblazoned with Constitutional calligraphy, they are very effective in linking the oath we both took and the birth of our nation with the activities of IVAW. Late last week, I got it in my head to get ahold of as many pocket sized constitutions as I could in preparation for the weekend, and my local Congressperson was more than happy to supply me with all I could hope for (I walked away with over 1,000 copies). After taking about an hour on Thursday to slap some labels on the inside cover of each, with local contact info, we were ready to hit the streets.

Our first ‘action’ was at the island’s only parade for the 4th, whose route snaked directly along our street. We were armed with our chapter’s IVAW banner, plenty of Constitutions, and some SIT-REPs and other informational material. Walking along the route to find a good public place to set up, we got a good share of disapproving stares, but lots of thumbs up and the locally popular ‘shaka.’ After we had set up, one family picked up and walked off, after shaking their heads disapprovingly. The mother, however, returned and explained their son was due to deploy in a month, taking a copy of everything we could provide her with and promising to be in touch. Our first victory.

A pleasant surprise came when the same Congressperson who (unwittingly) supplied me with the Constitutions passed by our little stand, staring at our banner as though he had just caught a glimpse of gold flakes in the streams of California. Finally, after a long moment (perhaps trying to figure out if we were real), he shot us a loud and boisterous “Thank you, we need more of you guys!” I’ll be following up with him this week.

Lots of uniformed troops passed our little group (the two of us and one supporter), including a Marine Band and the local National Guard Unit and way too many church groups with an ungodly amount of American flags taped to their floats. We stayed stationary, but got a lot of folks that doubled back after their float had reached the end to collect info and question our motives. Walking along the route, I had also found the Marshall Stand and supplied the judges with their own personal copies, “courtesy of Iraq Veterans Against the War.” The two Marine Commanding Generals were forced to take them publicly or look un-patriotic on the most hyped patriotic day of the year. Victory Two.

Later that day, we went up to my old stomping grounds at Schofield Barracks, where none other than Billy Ray Cyrus was to perform (thankfully, he didn’t achy-breaky my eardrums). Due to our compatriots escapades at Ft. Bragg earlier this year, Tracey and I took it very cautiously, as she is still a drilling reservist and could potentially get detained for ‘distributing restricted material.’ She stuck to the Constitutions, and we both prayed we could get arrested and hear that the Constitution constituted restricted material. Think of the statement that could make….

On our way to the car (exhaustion mostly), we toyed with the idea of leaving materials underneath windshield wipers. We figured it would be better than all the advertisements I was used to getting while I lived in the barracks, so we went ahead and dropped 10 of my IVAW business cards underneath wiper blades (we had close parking, surprisingly). We left Schofield happy for the confused looks and stern glances we caught, but disappointed with how few soldiers we were able to connect with. Not far down the road, I got a call from an out of state number and immediately regretted leaving my contact info.

The guy on the other line was none-too-happy that I left materials on his personal property and was politely inquiring as to where he might meet me in order to break my arm. Always the people pleaser, I asked if had had heard of IVAW and what he thought of the organization. Not interested in small talk, he again insisted he be given the opportunity to break my arm. He also suggested that I was not personally familiar with the conflicts in the Middle East, after which I illuminated the fact that my unit had seen more real estate in Iraq than most other units to date. Before he could choke on his own shoelaces, I reminded him of the process by which he could simply dispose of the material by way of a nearby trashcan, and that the organization that I represent, and the institution he is currently employed by, requires the intestinal fortitude of THINKING men and women, and that, judging by his clarity of thought (or lack thereof), the nation would be best served if he separate from the military and ensure that the wars of our day be fought exclusively by informed, intelligent, and patriotic service members, not blindly obedient pawns who outsource their cognitive abilities to the likes of Bill O’Reilly and News Corp. …I did not provide him the opportunity to respond.

On Saturday, four of us attended a festival on the Marine Corps base nearby, but it was similarly low-key. Two AFSC members tagged along and had some carnie food and went on some rides with Tracey and me. We definitely had some fun; the goal of the action was not outreach, but raising awareness, getting IVAW’s name to folks and letting them know we’re here and we mean business. None of us wanted to disrupt the festive atmosphere, but we did want to take advantage of the significance of the event. We had some conversations with a couple uniformed Marines manning the equipment on display, as well as handed out Constitutions to many guys in uniform, but the conversations were pretty lacking. One guy actually refused the Constitution when he saw our shirts, saying he was ‘of another perspective.’ I am guessing here, but could he have been of the perspective that is somehow at ease with the over 4,000 dead, the despicable managing of taxpayer funds and complete lack of oversight and accountability and who are happy to return time and again with inadequate care after separation? This is one issue I am happy to be well on the bandwagon for. I reminded him that the men that wrote our Constitution would be appalled by that perspective and that when he was in a position to take his Oath of Enlistment more seriously, IVAW would be happy to welcome him into our ranks.