Anti-War Actions in the "Country Roads" of West Virginia

international | anti-war / imperialism | feature Thursday March 23, 2006 00:50 by J.M. Collins - Pioneers For Peace ocoileaindalba at yahoo dot com

Sarah Kidder & Jarrod, students protesting the war

"But, hark! a voice like thunder spake, The West's awake! the West's awake!" This is a first hand account of what is probably the first anti-war demonstration on the campus of Glenville State College since the Vietnam era protests. Students are fed up with President Bush and his illegal war in Iraq that is costing the lives of West Virginia's youth which are being exploited by the military in promise for scholarships. We have arisen from our slumber and shall no long stand idly by as Bush and his cronies are destroying not only our country but the world of which all of us live!

I have sat in pubs all over Ireland and I think I heard John Denver's hit song "Country Roads" being sang in nearly all of them maybe even sometimes hummed during sunday mass. Well, this is a story about the land so endeared to Denver and revered with utmost consideration by you guys.

After spending some time learning and participating with some of the prominent galway anti-war protestors, including the renowned Tommy Donnellan and the admirable "axtivist" Mary Kelly, I thought I would share some lines about a new student organization in my small american town of Glenville, West Virginia. The day of Monday, March 20 probably marked the first anti-war demonstration on the Glenville State College campus since the Vietnam era.

It was held by a newly formed group called Pioneers for Peace which is a kickoff name of our football team called the Pioneers and a pioneer wearing a coonskin cap is also the mascot. It was a good turn out considering the small town size and the lovely anti-war posters looked a bit extraneous on campus considering that West Virginia has always led the country in military recruitment. Participants were met with absolutely no resistance and spectators looked on with amazement. Sarah Kidder, a GSC student and founding member, read a speech about the illegal occupation of Iraq and recited the following quote from Martin Luther King jr. "The greatest purveyor of violence on earth is my own government." It must have been so well that King understood this considering government agents encouraged him to commit suicide.

Paul Hartmann, who is a local business owner and former vietnam war era protestor, was conveying a nice conversation with Emily Anderson, a GSC student on how stupid president Bush acted when he was in a primary school full of young children when the 9/11 attack occurred and just sat there for several minutes doing nothing. Paul continued with adding something to the tune of "had that been a democrat like Al Gore, then the american media would have been screaming bloody murder and while Clinton lied about a sexual affair that harmed no one but himself, Bush's lies are killing people." Emily went on to say how strange it was when Bush junior was first inaugurated and he sped into the Whitehouse bypassing all the people thereby breaking a strong presidential tradition.

A college professor was talking about the horrors of war and commented that americans should be allowed to see the coffins returning from Iraq. He went on to relate how the military exploits a poor economy like West Virginia has and offers money for college to lure in young people who want to increase their education after secondary school but have no money to do so otherwise.

The most poignant part of this man's impromptu oration was when he told the story of one boy who joined up to get money for college and was killed in action. The boy's parents even showed up at the college graduation ceremony on this campus just to imagine what it would have been like if their son had been alive to be there. His theory of how West Virginia's young people are joining the military to get college money but come home in a box instead with their parents placing flowers over their grave while the money Bush is wasting in Iraq could have been used to send all those students through college was well recieved.

Sure, I myself presented a speech reciting the story of Mary Kelly and some other stimulating thoughts. Students were impressed with learning of her convictions and the fact she did humanitarian work in the palestinian nation. I also presented the idea of Kaiser Wilhelm II being forced into war by the Allied powers adhering to a multicapitalistic system in total disregard for human lives. That it was through this greed for wealth which resulted in the second world war and the atrocities committed are on not only the hands of the germans but the allied countries as well. The same is true with Saddam Hussein's case today and if President Bush is not put on international trial in the hague for crimes against humanity (even if he was found innocent) then the Nuremburg trials were not about punishing the guilty but dealing with excess baggage of a defeated people by execution.

The demonstration ended as mysteriously as it began though all who participated left with a greater sense of awarness that they are not alone in the struggle of turning the tide of a dangerous tyrannical leadership currently flowing inside our white house.

Feel free to share any comments, opinions, or advice for our newly formed Pioneers for Peace and how we can raise awarness and become stronger. Visit the college website at Glenville if you desire to see the particulars of our campus or are interested in enrolling.

Students eagerly listen to the wisdom of Paul Hartmann

Local businessman and artist Paul Hartmann. His insight is very valuable for the group still in its infancy

Micheal O Coileain stands along by Jarrod holding a poster asking people to think on all the children who have died from american bombs