With April and Dane Somdahl waiting with open arms at Alien Art Tattoo, it was reassuring to stand on the sturdy ground where Iraq Veterans Against the War has already established a foothold. April described how much comfort IVAW's work brings her and reminded us of the annual base tour's importance. After loosing her brother (a Marine and Iraq veteran) to PTSD, April felt completely alone. She claims that IVAW has given her hope towards the future in much of the same way it has for me.

The Somdahls have established Alien Art Tattoo as a venue for IVAW members to practice with their bands, a distribution point for Sit-Rep and a place where IVAW can get discounted tats. With thousands of Marines on Camp Lejeune looking for custom art every day of the week, Alien Art has not only become the home away from home of members and allies, but the very foundation of our outreach in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

Running behind schedule and recovering from the RV break-in the night before, we had just a few hours to set up at Fast Freddy's--a pool house frequented by enlisted Marines. The local media beat us there and cameras were rolling as we pulled into the parking lot of the pool hall. Fast Freddy's owner approached us concerned that the show might turn off her regulars, and she knew that the media could make or break her business.

We decided to make our message completely obvious to the media--we were there for the Troops. The media too commonly labels us an "Anti-War Group" or as "protesters" when first and foremost we are Veterans who are exercising the very freedoms which we swore to protect and defend. When she saw Bill Perry set up shop with his VA Benefits Counseling table, the owner of Fast Freddy's realized we were there for the right reasons.

On a Friday night, this show would have our biggest turnout to date. The night started with some real heavy riffs as local band Crew Served Carnage--a bunch of IVAW supporting Marines--opened for the show. Throughout the night dozens of Active Duty Marines came out for the free show and approached us looking to learn more about IVAW and its mission.

During Rebel Inc.'s performance, a man came in and stood before the stage with a one finger salute on display towards the band. Being more than familiar with military bars and smelling the excess of testosterone and alcohol, I expected disaster. But Rebel Inc. frontman "Strong" handled it perfectly; he thanked the young man for being courageous enough to express his free speech. After the song ended, a few Marines who we had just met stood in front of the stage and verbally defended Rebel Inc and IVAW. The situation turned out to be highly positive for us. No one was beaten to a pulp, no one was arrested and the owner of Fast Freddy's saw that the local Marines were all about supporting IVAW.

The night ended on a high note as we announced the formation of the new Camp Lejeune chapter of IVAW-- the second chapter that's been created during this tour. Fast Freddie's told us we were welcome back any time, and thanked us for Supporting Our Troops. Upon returning to the RV park, the crew split up to hang out with our friends (the Somdahls, Rebel Inc. and local supporters) and to set up the RV for the night.

Sometime after midnight, fire ants attacked Jason Washburn and I as we set up the sewage tube in the dark. Marlisa watched and laughed. The next morning I woke up with a tiny piece of glass in my eye from the broken window, resulting in a scratched cornea and excruciating pain for days.

The next morning started pretty bad for Marlisa. Kharma got even with her for laughing at my fire ant incident: she got splashed with raw sewage from the RV septic system. Extremely sensitive to light and miserable as hell, I buried my head for most of the morning. With Marlisa dry heaving, a broken window, no air conditioning and my eye feeling like it had an icepick in it, we moved back to Alien Art Tattoo for the Veterans Benefits Workshop.

By the time we got to the tattoo studio, a line of active duty Marines from last nights concert were waiting for tats and benefits information from Bill Perry. Honestly, I felt strange seeing so many active duty guys feeling comfortable enough to speak their minds anywhere in a military town. My entire time in the service, I never felt like I could discuss war policies and the like with civilians in a public place. Camp Lejeune must be ready for some serious GI organizing!

With the buzz of the needle in the background, a few of us felt compelled to get new tattoos. Steve and Jay-Wash both got custom work inspired by the Constitution. Jay's Greek lettering across the scroll roughly translates to "take it over my dead body," representing his continued will to fight for our Nation's birth certificate. Steve's scroll shows his Combat Action Badge and the Cross Sabers of the Cavalry, reclaiming the time he spent in the service as a dedicated combat soldier. My tattoo, drawn up by myself and inked by "Great" Dane, is a Soldier's Cross and a ribbon with the words "Not In My Name - Never Again - Never Alone" surrounding it. The tatoo represents my promise to the fallen, and to those who still serve in uniform. Never again will one more soldier die in my name for a cause I don't believe in without me fighting to save him. Never will another American troop struggle alone against tyrannical leadership.

In agonizing pain and with a ridiculous looking pirate patch on my right eye, the crew got ready to leave Lejeune and head towards Fort Stewart, Georgia. We had more of a successful stop here in North Carolina that surpassed all of our expectations. With a new chapter formed and dozens of Marines warmed up to IVAW, we knew the Base Tour had changed Jacksonville for the better. Now on to the place I had been stationed for my entire time in the Army. I swore to myself, when I ETS'ed on August 16th, 2007 that I would never return to the state of Georgia. But thinking back to the first time I saw a couple of "Iraq Veterans Against the War" t-shirts donned by Sholom and Adam from the last Base Tour, I knew I owed it to my fellow Marne Soldiers to be a part of this crew by breaking my promise to myself. Being the only one on the crew who knew guys still in the Third Infantry Division, I have a duty to fulfill--a duty to my friends that I used to work with. Its time to face my old nightmares and deal with "The Rock of the Marne".

-Kristofer "K-Goldy" Goldsmith
writing on behalf of the State of the Union Base Tour Crew