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Memorial Day and the California Coast Chapter of VVAW

By Steve Crandall

The California Central Coast Chapter along with the Santa Barbara Chapter of Veterans For Peace attended the Memorial Day services at the Santa Barbara Cemetery. It was our first time presenting a wreath so we weren't quite sure what to expect. As we neared the presentation site we saw lots of uniforms. The uniforms were decorated with lots of ribbons and shiny medals. There were flags representing every military service and even unmilitary services like the Masons and the Elks. I felt like we were running a gauntlet as we drove by all the uniformed veterans. My VVAW bumper stickers proudly displayed for all to see.

We lifted the VVAW, VFP and IVAW wreaths out of the truck and looked for Lane Anderson, the VVAW and VFP member who suggested we do this. He and I had talked but we had never met. Finally I saw this big guy with a friendly smile and hoped the hell it was Lane. Sure enough it was him. We exchanged introductions and looked for someone in charge. We were informed that a WWII Sgt. Major was in charge of the program. He had been wounded five times as he battled across Europe. We told him we were here to present our wreaths. He could not bring himself to call out our organizations names, although he silently agreed we were right in protesting the Vietnam War and the Iraq War. We gave him his space and wrote it up as pressure from his many peers eyeing our exchange. We decided we would stand to the side and when the last wreath was presented we would call out Vietnam Veterans Against the War, march up and salute all three wreaths. After the ceremony we were approached by a woman who offered to take group pictures for us. She was a Gold Star mother of a soldier killed in Iraq. She offered to take our pictures, thanked us for our service and our stand against unjust wars. Wow!

After the ceremony we gathered our wreaths and headed to the Veteran's Memorial Building in downtown Santa Barbara for another memorial. We entered the building and set up our wreaths along with all the other wreaths that were previously at the cemetery. It didn't take long before the woman in charge approached us. She seemed eager to inform us that we were not welcome and we would not be allowed to display our wreaths. Here we go again. I thought we would be welcomed since we ran the gauntlet and skated near death at the cemetery. Lane decided to talk to her privately and inform her that we had just come from the ceremony at the cemetery and there were no incidents. Other members of the Veteran's Memorial Building committee that were at the cemetery backed us and also informed her that we should be able to present our wreaths. Later I had the opportunity to talk to the lady in charge and she told me that she was certain we were there to disrupt the proceedings. I instantly looked at all the tables and imagined myself tipping them upside down.

Each organization sent a representative up to the front of the room to salute their wreath. I wheeled Carl, who suffers the effects of Agent Orange, to the front of the room. We both, honorably and respectfully saluted the VVAW wreath. Hopefully some of the attendees will remember us and we will be welcomed next year without all the hoopla. Regardless, we will be there next year honoring the fallen and our organizations with pride.

California Central Coast Chapter with wreaths on Memorial Day