Soldiers Helping Hippies, Who Knew?

How a Group of Kind Soldiers Helped Some Rather Confused Activists Find Their Way to the Protest

We were surrounded by soldiers. I slumped in my seat, hoping not to be seen. But that wasn't really an option. Here we were, a fifteen-passenger van full of pacifists, and we'd somehow ended up in the middle of what seemed like the entire United States Army. Not how we'd planned it.

Let me tell you what we did plan. As pacifists, we believed the United States shouldn't be spending our tax dollars to train people from Latin and South American countries who often end up putting their new skills to work at home, and killing or torturing the innocent. And, in our opinion, that is what the former School of Americas (SOA), now WHINSEC, does. Fortunately for us, thousands of like-minded people get together annually at WHINSEC in Fort Benning, GA and stage a peaceful protest. It lasts about a weekend with workshops, a solidarity march, and a few people trying to raise awareness by getting arrested for illegally crossing onto a military base. Then we all go home and pressure our Senators and Representatives.

The violence that periodically pops up on either side at protests was one of the reasons I'd never been to one before. From the protesters' side, I thought it out of line with my belief in peace. And I'll confess that I was scared of getting hurt. I agreed to go this time because the protest had been occurring for over a decade and never got violent. Plus, I'd never been to a protest before. It's the kind of thing you should do at least once in your life.

So we piled into the van-bandanas, tie-dye skirts, dreadlocks all crammed together. No doubt we looked the part. That had been in the wee hours of the morning, long before sunrise. Now, fifteen hours and eight hundred miles later, we'd arrived. And that was the problem. No protest in sight, but plenty of soldiers-all in desert fatigues, the khaki opposite of our colorful band.

At the stadium across the parking lot, where the soldiers were heading, hung a huge sign: "We love you, Ft. Benning!" Though I'd heard this was a peaceful protest, that still seemed out-of-place. But I'd never been here, so I just sat in the van and looked at the others. They also had puzzled expressions.