Local Heroes Who Inspire a Belief in the Future

Do you remembers where you were when you learned Senator Paul Wellstone had died? I do. I was on my way to a protest at Camp Pendleton. We were not protesting the military. We were protesting on behalf of the military. Most involved in the protest were opposed to the war in Iraq, but the protest was not about the Iraq War.

In 2002, Tom Calabrese, a military base housing inspector, found proof of mold, rats and other serious conditions that were making military families sick at Camp Pendleton. He reported this to Congressman Darrell Issa and told a TV audience . For this, he was placed on administrative leave and later fired for blowing the whistle on the dangerous housing situation that was harming servicemen and their families. There was mold, dry rot, fungus, rats, and worse. Children were sick with lethal diseases caused by the unhealthy conditions. Mushrooms were growing in shower stalls and the children were afraid of the large rats.

Political science professor and veteran Mike Byron and his wife Ramona (a veteran) also inspected the housing and got photographic evidence of the extreme conditions. Despite being threatened, the Byrons and the families continued to speak out. Issa claimed everything was fine and there were no mold or rats. Mike put the pictures up on his website.

Mike went further than just reporting on the situation. Every Friday, he held protests outside Camp Pendleton on behalf of the servicemen and their families, who were prevented from speaking out further on their own behalf. As the servicemen and their families would drive by, they would honk at Mike, Ramona and the growing crowds supporting the rights of these families to live in decent housing. Mike attempted to convince Representatives from the Orange County area to allow the families to move to the vacant housing at the former El Toro Marine Base, located about 20 minutes from the northern end of Pendleton.

The day Wellstone died, Mike and Ramona comforted the crowd that came to the protest. Many of the liberals in the crowd had been expecting Wellstone to run for President in 2004 and were in a state of shock, disbelief and sadness.