[STARMAN 352ND]

Well Code Pink got a surprise this time in my town
My father and other Vets were there to you know tell them to ...........
JP
Record Searchlight
By Jim Schultz:
A Valentine's Day Kiss-In organized by a small anti-war group was met by a much larger force of veterans and their supporters who wished the members of the Code Pink chapter would simply kiss off.

"They don't realize that we'd be eating sushi now if we had that same attitude in '41," said 85-year-old Mel Fisher, a Pearl Harbor survivor who lives in Jones Valley. "These guys have got the wrong attitude."

Donna Stobie, a 57-year-old Redding artist who helped coordinate the Kiss-In with 61-year-old Melita Bena, a Redding resident and Web site designer, admitted they were caught a little off-guard by the flak they received from some of the in-your-face veterans and their supporters who made clear their displeasure with the anti-war group.

"Someone told me to kiss her bottom," Stobie said.

The Kiss-In was designed to oppose military recruitment and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but the event only angered local veterans and others, some of whom were still seething about Code Pink's involvement in a much-publicized anti-war, anti-recruiting controversy in Berkeley.

"Why do you hate America?" shouted one veteran in a group of about 50 who surrounded about a dozen Code Pink members clustered outside the Churn Creek Road Army recruiting station. "Go back to Berkeley where you belong."

Stobie tried to make it clear that Code Pink is not anti-American. The local chapter was formed about a month ago, she said.

"We support the troops, but we do not support the Bush administration policies," Stobie said. "This is a war about profit. It's so obscene."

"We do not want our troops in this illegal war," Bena agreed, saying that she has a deep respect for the military and simply wants all the U.S. troops to come back home. "We want them home safe."

Retired U.S. Army Special Forces Maj. John Cleckner, 70, of Redding said no one, especially soldiers, wants war.

But, he said, America's troops need total support.

"We're talking about national defense," he said. "Without it, we don't have a country. I don't know what they (Code Pink) don't understand."

Capt. Delia Ihasz and 1st Sgt. Kevin McDonald, who runs nine Army recruiting stations in Northern California and Southern Oregon, were delighted by the strong show of support from the veterans.

"I think it's great," McDonald said. "I'm so proud of the people who came out in support of our soldiers."

They said they were not disturbed that the recruiting station was targeted by the Code Pink chapter.

"It's good to get discourse," Ihasz said, adding that both sides were simply exercising their First Amendment rights during the event. "That's a good thing."

[no4mkit]

RIGHT ON! Well done to your dad and the other vets, starman!!

Code Stinkers say they support the troops... don't make me laugh. Why then have they sent over a half million US$ to the insurgents in Iraq?

[Captain Eddie]

Thanks for posting that, Starman. Just goes to show that, amid all the turmoil and problems, there are plenty of right-thinking people in this country! I salute your Dad and all of the other vets.