On March 8th the pro-war group, Move America Forward (MAF), staged a rally at the Lafayette Hillside Iraq War memorial that was built and is maintained by anti-war activists.  MAF awful group with horrible credentials.  Read about them at sourcewatch or a well informed comment on my home page.

Pt 3: Speeches

This video contains the Speeches from the pro-war rally.  With anger and threats they proclaim that the troops can only be supported with blind-faith in the administration.  To them appropriating our memorial of peace bolsters their self-righteous belief that their way is the true American way.  Download or link to video of speeches.

Pt 4: The Bikers

The only thing I enjoyed about the pro-war rally was the presence of about 2 dozen bikers.  Despite their politics I thought they were fun and they were the most chilled out pro-war folks at the rally.  Regarding the bikers, jimstaro posted this on dailykos:

In a CNN report on the DC actions today:

`Crowds gather to denounce, support war Veterans, some from the Rolling Thunder motorcycle group, lined up at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
“I’m not sure I’m in support of the war,” said William “Skip” Publicover of Charleston, South Carolina, who was a swift boat gunner in Vietnam and lost two friends whose names are etched on the memorial’s wall.
“I learned in Vietnam that it’s difficult if not impossible to win the hearts and minds of the people.”‘

Rolling Thunder, at least the leadership and many who aren’t Vets are running with the so called ‘Move America Forward’ group.

I won’t go into the History of ‘Rolling Thunder’ except to say that Many of the Real’Nam Veterans held this as a Great Tradition, once started, till they figured out the extreme right swing of the leadership and that many allowed to join weren’t veterans. Some still participate but stay clear of using ‘The Wall’ or any other Memorial as a Political Statement
Will also add that some of those, who are ‘Nam Vets, and run with these groups, like this ‘Move America Forward’ were in Total Opposition of even having ‘The Wall’ Built!!

Download or link to video of bikers.

More links and videos regarding the lafayette crosses can be found at lafayettecrosses.blogspot.com

Part 1: Sights and Sounds

On March 8th the pro-war group, Move America Forward, staged a rally at the Lafayette Hillside Iraq War memorial that was built and is maintained by anti-war activists. The rally was the groups first stop on a cross country caravan to DC.  They used our spatial representation of the cost of the war to serve their anger and agenda, unquestioning aproval of the Bush regime and continous warfare and attacking the peace movement as cowardly.  Many of the Move America Forward protesters have or have lost love one in Iraq and as the blogger, Insane Begger, commented on my last post, they express their pain as anger at those who want to honor the soldiers but not the war.  Perhaps, they see the Lafayette Memorial as simply an attack on the Bush war policy and not as an attempt to create a culture that is aware of what war really means.  What comes across is there agression and as one anti-war activist observeded “I’ve never seen so much machismo on International Women’s Day.”  For sights and sounds from the Pro-War rally link to or download this video.

Pt 2: Ballad of a Stollen Name

At the Move America Forward rally a Goldstar father found his son’s name on a cross.  Understandably, he became very offended that his son’s name was being used for a memorial with goals that ran counter to his own politics.  However he dealt with the situation in an agrressive and bullyish way using the situation to attack the anti-war movement and the memorial organizer.  Memorial volunteers and Goldstar Mothers for Peace had put the names of fallen Californian soldiers on various crosses on the hillside.  Among the volunteers the use of names was debated and the majority wanted them taken down.  The anger of the pro-war Goldstar father brings into perspective the problem with having names on the crosses.  The names and his anger at anti-war activists shifts the memorial to specific people and away from the policy of war in general.  The altercation between the Goldstar father and anti-war activists also reveals the problem with the pro-war rally itself, it attacked peace-activists as people and did not address their goals for government and foriegn policy.  For one story from the culture war link to or download this video.

For more videos and links regarding the Crosses of Lafayette go to lafayettecrosses.blogspot.com

3,170 crosses now stand at the Lafayette Hillside Memorial, one for every soldier who has died in Iraq. While the number of crosses will continue to meet the ever increasing number of war dead the site will now shift from a community art project in production to a space for gatherings and reflection. ABC Channel 7 News covered the event on Sunday. Link to Video. SF Gate also published a better video with voice overs of activist interviews. Link to SF Gate Video.

An article in the SF Chronicle followed on Monday. The blog eschew obfuscation has also posted about it.

More videos and links regarding the Lafayette, CA Memorial to Iraq War dead can be found at lafayettecrosses.blogspot.com

click here to watch video from lafayettecrosses.blogspot.com

The Lafayette Crosses Hillside Memorial to the US soldiers killed in Iraq manifests two phenomena within the anti-war movement. One is the prominence of aesthetic/spatial representations of the cost of the war such as the Lafayette memorial, Arlington West and the Quaker organized traveling memorial of empty boots. The other is activism in affluent suburbs.
Interestingly, these phenomena became more apparent when signs voicing their opposition to the memorial were put up across the street. The new signs protest how the memorial exposes children to death and in doing so exposes the struggle over space and values in suburbia.

This video attempts to expose how space and values are constructed together in suburban California. I hope it gives others in the anti-war movement a chance to reflect and learn.

About Lafayette Crosses:

In November of 2006 residents of Lafayette, CA and neighboring towns began to put up crosses above Deer Hill Rd acoss from the Lafayette commuter rail station and Highway 24. The crosses were meant to represent and memorialize the American soldiers who have died in the ongoing Iraqi war. A large sign above the crosses displays of the number war dead. By February 25th more than 2500 crosses have gone up on the hill.

You can find more videos and links about the Lafayette memorial at lafayettecrosses.blogspot.com

(Who would do this? – promoted by SFBrianCL)

Last night vandals desecrated the memorial to the fallen heroes in Iraq on a hillside in Lafayette, California. The vandals used black paint to cover up the tribute on the sign which read: “IN MEMORY OF 2,937 U.S. TROOPS KILLED IN IRAQ.”

Jeff Heaton developed the plan to build a memorial to the fallen U.S. troops in Iraq. The memorial of crosses is located on private property owned by John and Louise Clark near the BART station in Lafayette. The property is on a hillside and is clearly visible to commuters on BART and on Highway 24. Volunteer support for the project initially came from community peace advocates including the Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center and the Lamorinda Peace Group.

Last night vandals desecrated the memorial to the fallen heroes in Iraq on a hillside in Lafayette, California. The vandals used black paint to cover up the tribute on the sign which read: “IN MEMORY OF 2,937 U.S. TROOPS KILLED IN IRAQ.”

Jeff Heaton developed the plan to build a memorial to the fallen U.S. troops in Iraq. The memorial of crosses is located on private property owned by John and Louise Clark near the BART station in Lafayette. The property is on a hillside and is clearly visible to commuters on BART and on Highway 24. Volunteer support for the project initially came from community peace advocates including the Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center and the Lamorinda Peace Group.

Volunteers built and painted 420 crosses leading up to Veterans Day. These crosses were erected on the hillside over the weekend of November 11. A sign large enough to be read from a distance was also erected. Initially, the sign read: “IN MEMORY OF 2,839 U.S. TROOPS KILLED IN IRAQ.” The sign, in turn, became a lightning rod for controversy. On November 14, a photographer from the Contra Costa Times happened to snap a photo of Jean Bonodio, identified as a former Marine, knocking the sign down. The City of Lafayette agreed to discuss the issue of the sign at a regularly scheduled city council meeting on November 27. The meeting attracted enormous media attention and allowed citizens to express their opinions about the war, free speech, the memorial, patriotism, respect for the military and the size of the sign.

On November 30, Michelle Locke, an AP journalist specializing in free speech issues wrote a story that was picked up world wide. The goal of the memorial is eventually to have a cross for every soldier killed in Iraq. The volunteer force building, painting and erecting the crosses has grown steadily. Each Sunday more crosses are added.

And now something really ugly has happened. The crosses and the sign have meant different things to different viewers. Some see a memorial to the fallen heroes in Iraq. Others see an anti war mesaage that does not show proper respect to our troops. But what can we make of this kind of vandalism and its misguided perpetrators? And how will the community respond? I hope to see a renewed commitment to completing the memorial and to ending this tragic war.

Cross posted at Eschew Obfuscation

A few lingering election recaps are trickling in, I guess that stuff is still interesting, right?  Also, some Iraq war protests, local politics, some CA-11 stories, and education news.

Oh, and you can now see An Inconvenient Truth online, but I’m not really sure if it’s legal.  You can buy the DVD of An Inconvenient Truth here, it comes out tomorrow.