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Our Louisville Contact ArrestedBy Marty WebsterOn Memorial Day 2007, our Louisville Contact spent 12 hours in jail. Following is a guest editorial statement that Carol presented live on TV on July 17, in Louisville Kentucky: I am a veteran, grandmother and member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Louisville Peace Action Community. On Memorial Day I was arrested for protesting the Iraq War at the Abbey Road on the River Festival. The event organizer explicitly approved my protest. I believe in law and order and fully support law enforcement. I also believe in my right to speak out against my government when it is wrong. These beliefs are part of our democracy. On Memorial Day these beliefs collided and I spent 12 hours in jail. I was peacefully demonstrating against the war. Some did not like my message because it interfered with their enjoyment. They complained and trashed my "End the War" sign. I objected. The sheriff, paid by the event organizer, removed me and a conflict occurred. Two charges were dismissed and I am completing community service to expunge a third charge. I remain proud that I stood up on Memorial Day against the war. People need to speak out against wrongs like the Iraq War. We need to remember our troops by ensuring they are not put in harm's way for a mistake. And our police and justice systems need to prevent collisions between law and order and free speech. This is critical to our way of life. I first spoke to Carol last summer when she called me and asked me to speak at a political luncheon she was hosting prior to the elections. I have had the pleasure of visiting Carol's home and the extreme privilege of joining with and her husband Harold in several mutual anti-war endeavors. Carol is 60 years old and I am 63. We are a growing number of members in that age bracket or pretty close to it and for some of us our age is beginning to take a toll and our ranks are starting to thin. Some will say that at times it is becoming more and more difficult as an organization to stand the vigil. In January of this year Carol Rawert Trainer picked up the banner and decided to form the Kentuckiana Chapter of VVAW. I traveled to Louisville to help support several of her early events and I proudly marched and demonstrated with her in DC. What I witnessed was a highly respected enthusiastic activist in action. Carol told me she was very impressed with the 40th anniversary. She said didn't know what to expect since she never attended anything like that before. But, for Carol, the event was better than she ever could have expected. "Everything was perfect," she said, "the discussion panels, the layout and the food! It was great to put a face with the names I've been seeing on the email list all this time." VVAW can be well proud of such a woman for she represents all that we could hope for in a Contact. As our ranks begin to thin I truly believe it is the Carol Trainers of the world that will keep VVAW in the vanguard of the anti-war movement. Thank you Carol for standing up and filling the gap in our ranks, and thank you for allowing me to stand shoulder to shoulder with you as we oppose this insane war and the madness that pervades the White House and our Nation's Capitol. Thank you for joining our VVAW family, and thank you again for representing us in such a more than adequate and honorable manner. Marty Webster is a VVAW National Coordinator.
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