And the beat goes on ...

Veterans for Peace tap into their own talent for a singing anti-war rally
by Joanne Zuhl, Contributing writer

To a young Grant Remington, listening to Sean Slattery play at Portland's Café Orpheus was a defining moment in his life. It was the mid-1960s, and the chorus of cigarettes, coffee, guitars and youth could still drown out the din from Vietnam and the draft that was rising outside.

"I used to go there and hang-out as a teen-ager and that got my juices flowing on folk music," said Remington. "Sean was one of the sparks in my life to continue to play guitar and learn the words .Why I didn't take "Where have all the Flowers Gone" to heart and still joined the army, I don't know."

Slattery had left the army in 1960. Remington went in in 1967 and served '68 and '69 in Vietnam. The Café Orpheus and it's beatnik scene is long gone, but the music remains a constant in both men's life. So does war. Today, they are members of Veterans for Peace, which on Sept. 17 will draw on the talents of these two artists, and others to present "Sing Out for Peace." The event will feature five hours of folk music, old and new, at Kelly Plaza in Northeast Portland. It is an attempt by the Veterans for Peace organization to rekindle the peace movement through the music that fired them up nearly four decades ago.
"We're trying to keep them from giving up," said Remington, talking about the tens of thousands of people who protested at the start of the war but who are seldom seen two years on. "We're trying to energize them, to let them know that there are people out there who are still fighting and need their support."

Support, according to Remington, means telling the truth, providing clear guidance, and a setting a course for peace. Not more war.
"We can testify with first-hand knowledge to the uselessness of war, that it's really an obsolete action any more," Remington said. "You don't hear the outrage coming from the 'support the troops' side, the outrage on the incompetence on how this war is being waged and how our soldiers aren't equipped with proper equipment. They were sent into a mission without an exit strategy, without the proper training for the mission of nation- building and peace-keeping. They were sent in to win, and then turn it over. They haven't done that."

From Vietnam to Iraq, music remains the conduit for these emotions, says Slattery, connecting the tragedy of war to the American people. "There is a nostalgia in songs like 'Blowing in the Wind,' and having it reinforced one more time the absurdity of 'why are we doing this again?'"

By the time Remington had returned home from the army in 1970, Slattery was on the road supporting veterans and campaigning for peace. He worked with John Kerry, touring college campuses and singing songs while Kerry spoke about the war. He played guitar with folk legend Pete Seeger, his personal hero and the signature lyricist for the anti-war movement. He met and performed for Ted Kennedy and Sen. George McGovern. In 1971, Slattery was on the mall in Washington D.C. during the anti-war demonstration made famous when veterans threw their medals over the wall. It was during this event, as Slattery was on stage singing "Johnny I hardly Knew Ya," that he realized he no longer recognized the young men in the audience. They were missing legs and arms, some couldn't stand, some were concealed by wounds and bandages. He hardly knew them anymore.
"It just traumatized me," he said. "At the time, it galvanized me. And I kept saying, 'You guys are great.' And they kept saying, 'say we!' I was honored to be one of them because I didn't go to Vietnam. So I've been like a big brother and I've been with them ever since."

Today, Slattery knows veterans from World War II to the Gulf War to the current war in Iraq. Seduced by the romanticized image of war, Slattery says young men and women are heading off to war to face a disturbing and life-altering awakening.
"Someone once said it's worse than hell," said Slattery, "because in the real hell there are no innocent bystanders. Per capita, there are twice as many amputees coming back now than from Vietnam. They're getting their legs blown off, they're blind, and taking concussions from the bombs. They're just sitting pigeons driving around on those roads that are boobie-trapped. And we've got homeless kids coming back now. They're confused, they don't know the VA system, and they don't know the homeless system. They're homeless, they're bewildered and they're drugged up." "Others are coming back with a variety of diseases, including exposure to depleted uranium, exposure to chemicals and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," Slattery said.

The first casualty of war is the truth, Slattery said. "We're getting it from all sides -- the lying, the manipulation of putting our troops over there for three terms," Slattery said. "It's murderous. They'll never be the same again. They might as well have been raped. Their children will live with it for the rest of their lives. It's an absurd experience in life: We have to have an enemy now to function."
So much time is spent on the negatives, says Remington, that there is seldom time to take pause and enjoy the movement of people speaking out against the war. It is also an opportunity to raise awareness of the organization, Veterans for Peace, and bring more people into the peace movement.

"I would like them to stand up and speak out," Remington said. "However they do it is up to them. They can write letters to the editor, they can stand on the street corner with a sign, have a house party, do blogging, stand up and scream at the top of their lungs. Just do something. Be proactive instead of reactive."