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VVAW's Midwest Region Meets

By Joe Miller

At the 1997 National Steering Committee Meeting (NSCM) in Chicago, there was much discussion about new and returning VVAW members and the need to reinvigorate our regions across the country.

It was decided the Midwest Region should have its meeting in an area that might allow for greater participation by those who find it difficult to get to Chicago or Milwaukee. The folks in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois offered to host this meeting on April 25, 1998.

In preparation for the event, a new VVAW Chapter was established in Champaign-Urbana (C-U) on February 28, at which time we discussed tentative plans for the Regional gathering. These included housing for those who needed it, food and drink for the meeting, and a public event that would follow, enabling the crew of young political activists who have been working with VVAW over the past few years to meet folks from outside C-U and Chicago.

The Regional meeting was a great success. We had sixteen folks from C-U, Milwaukee, Chicago, Eau Claire (Wisconsin), St. Louis, and Tuscola (Illinois). A solid agenda had been worked out through e-mail and other communication by the two facilitators, Lisa Dixon and Claudia Lennhoff, and it all ran smoothly for four hours straight.

In addition to the detailed and energizing Chapter reports, there was a National Office report from Barry Romo (Chicago). People were reminded that the next NSCM has been set for October 31, 1998, in Chicago, and that much of the business discussed at this and other Regional meetings should be brought forward to that gathering for further discussion and decision.

A central part of this meeting concerned The Veteran, since the editorial collective responsible for the paper lives and works in Champaign-Urbana. There was a review of the articles to be printed and the timeline of publication. Serious discussion took place concerning the problem of distribution at the regional levels, revisiting the discussion that we had at the last NSCM. This led to a review of the status of the VVAW database (to be housed in C-U) and fundraising efforts, and it was agreed that a national mailing should be attempted sometime this summer in order to check the validity of addresses we had. Also, work on a new membership card would be brought to the next NSCM, with a mock-up of the new card to be ready by July 15.

In response to the great amount of youth organizing done by the C-U Chapter, with immeasurable assistance from the Chicago Chapter, there was a discussion of the role that can be played by VVAW in training young social justice activists. The point was made that we in VVAW seem to be able to relate well with youth, perhaps because of our own arrested development.

The remainder of the meeting consisted of a broad discussion of the role of the Internet in organizing, its strengths and its dangers. Since the VVAW web page and the new e-mail lists are located in Champaign-Urbana, this was a very important issue to review. The next National meeting will be dealing with this and many of the other issues raised at this Midwest gathering.

Following the meeting, we set up for a panel discussion entitled "Keeping the Vietnam Syndrome Alive." This was meant to be a public event at which VVAW members could meet some of the local activists. We had VVAW members on the panel that ranged from World War II through Korea and Vietnam to one of our most recent members, a former Navy officer who left service in 1995 and is now doing work on the campaign to ban land mines.

Though the crowd was not as big as we had hoped, those in attendance learned just how far and how deep VVAW's experience goes. Folks were enraptured by the range of stories and the clear depth of commitment to social change reflected in those stories.

One of our members, a young woman who is a Gulf War veteran, drove three hours from her current home in Galesburg, Illinois to attend this panel. We were all glad to see her, and she knows she has a real community with VVAW. Toward the end of the panel discussion, she finally raised her hand and asked, "Does it (the pain of memory) ever go away?" Then she broke into tears. She was immediately surrounded by her VVAW comrades, all of us in tears as well. The answer to her question was our embrace, as an organization that is made up of survivors who have made it a lifetime commitment to fight back whenever young men and women like herself are sent into harm's way, then forgotten.

This is why we do what we have been doing for more than thirty years, folks. This Midwest meeting and the events following reinforced that in everyone who was there. It would be a great thing if we could have regular regional reports like this in every subsequent issue of The Veteran. There is still a lot of work to be done. Let's get to it!