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Dispatches from Firebase K.C.

By Doc Upton

Viet Med

Firebase KC member Regina Ancola-Upton, RN, CCRN, spent last Veterans' Day in Vietnam on a medical mission. Look for her article elsewhere in this issue.

Iraq Vigil

On Sunday, February 15, the day before Koffi Annan announced the present agreement with the government of Iraq, VVAW was one of several organizations that took part in a "Vigil for Diplomatic Solutions to the Iraqi Standoff" at Kansas City's J.C. Nichols Fountain. About one hundred people (representing the American Friends Service Committee, American Muslim Council, Catholics for Justice, Alliance for Democracy, Pastors for Peace, PeaceWorks, Veterans for Peace, and VVAW) carried signs, sang songs, and beat drums along one of Kansas City's busiest thoroughfares.

One speaker from each of the co-sponsoring organizations addressed the gathering, and "Diplomacy, Not Bombs" was the common theme. Other points brought forward included: "Military action will only cause loss of life and escalate the conflict"; "Military action will increase support for Saddam Hussein"; "Military action increases the risk of chemical disaster"; "Military action may end the weapons inspection program"; and "Military action will increase anti-US feelings in the region." Several speakers stressed that if the UN and the Iraqi government reached an agreement Saddam Hussein must comply with it.

It was agreed that the Vigil would continue on a weekly basis, "until the threat of U.S. bombing has ended" - and small contingents have been at the Fountain every Sunday since.

Nine Years

The Vietnam Veterans Radio Network (the Arts, Education and Service project of VVAW-Firebase KC) will mark the ninth anniversary of its weekly half-hour transmissions "from behind the lines of Hypocrisy and Revisionism" on July 14.

VVRN is currently transmitted by, and provided free of charge to, community, university, and other non-commercial FM radio stations in the United States, Canada, and Belgium...and worldwide via short-wave from Radio For Peace International in Costa Rica. Joe Bernard, RFPI's Program Director, has described VVRN as "forthright in its criticism of US involvement in the Vietnam War and those that followed. Its provocative message is interspersed with music of the era, giving life and memory to the words...a program unique and sometimes shocking in nature." For complete information on RFPI, its broadcast frequencies, and quarterly program schedule on the Web, consult:

http://www.clark.net/pub/cwilkins/rfpi/rfpi.html

VVRN is now available by subscription, produces fundraising tapes for organizations, and provides individuals with free copies of the transmissions in which we use their thoughts (recorded on full-size cassettes only).

VVRN is VVAW's voice on the airwaves. Use it, and that's an order! Send your taped thoughts to VVRN, 7807 North Avalon, Kansas City, MO 64152, or call (816) 587-5966.

Doc Upton is Midwest Regional Coordinator for VVAW.