Soldiers Helping Hippies, Who Knew?

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.

The driver and navigator fumbled with maps. They couldn't figure out just where we were or where we were supposed to be. We were obviously close to right-the sign said "Ft. Benning." But the "We love you" meant we weren't there yet. Our trip leader sighed and put on her Birkenstocks, "You all stay in the van," she said. "I'm going to get some directions."

She was a lovely young woman, with short curly hair and a bright, swirling peasant skirt (homemade, not store-bought). Everything about her, as she stepped out of the vehicle, chirped "Hippie!" But unlike some of our larger guy-hippies with their dreads and beards, she didn't intimidate people. It made sense to have her as our ambassador to the Army.

I watched as she half-skipped over to the nearest group of men and waited for someone to get angry. Surely an annual protest would cause hard feelings. Yet as she spoke to them, the soldiers appeared at ease. One young man pointed to the road and drew a map in the air. I saw her flash them a big smile before hurrying back to the van.

"Everything's ok," she said. "We're at the counter-protest. We just need to turn right, go around the bend for another mile and then find a place to park. He said we'd see it easily."

"It's that simple?" I thought, incredulously. Apparently it is. The soldiers didn't even watch us leave.

Over the years, I later learned, a truce has developed between the Ft. Benning protesters and the soldiers stationed there. Since the protest isn't really about the US military (though many people there also wanted the US out of Iraq), the two have learned to peacefully coexist. During the SOA protest, military families hold a festival on the other side of town to entertain and appreciate the soldiers. As we drove out of the parking lot, I thought I saw a kids' baseball game going on, as well as some carnival equipment. It looked like a good time.

As for us, we made it safely through three nonviolent days of the protest. Police officers watched us from the sidelines, but never intervened. And the soldiers? Well, I hope they had a weekend of fun at their carnival. Especially the ones who were kind enough to give directions to a rather lost group of pacifist hippies.