Local National Guard recruiting efforts draw war protesters

IU senior Brett Hershey is one of nine Indiana National Guard soldiers to have left the Hoosier heartland to serve the his country, only to return home as one of more than 1,500 soldiers who have died in the Middle East.\nWishing to avoid mourning another Hoosier war casualty, about 40 students, Bloomington residents and guests gathered Thursday at the Sample Gates to protest the Indiana Army National Guard recruiting post on Kirkwood Avenue, which opened for business March 7.\n"We are here today to oppose military recruiting on our campus," said graduate student Sandrine Catris, a member of the IU student group Against the Occupation of Iraq. "They send e-mails and letters to classes asking permission to come in to share their military experience, luring students into joining. We are opposed to our country's illegal and unlawful war -- a crime against humanity."\nSeveral protesters spoke about the role of Hoosier National Guard troops serving overseas, the financial burden of war and the possibility of a draft. The group then marched along Kirkwood Avenue, past the recruiting station, then to Dunn Street, before circling back to Indiana Avenue to begin the loop again.\nSgt. First Class Roy Hughes, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the Kirkwood IANG location, said past, current and future Hoosier National Guard soldiers "spend our days, weeks and months" giving Americans -- including war protestors -- the opportunity to voice their opinions in the streets.\n"My goal in this recruitment station is to recruit as many people as want to be here," Sgt. Hughes said. "I think it's picking up every day. People are starting to notice us and ask us questions. There's a lot of benefits and opportunity, depending on how (a student) is qualified and depending on what they want to do."\nHughes said he is a 21-year career soldier for the IANG, serving the last nine years in various Hoosier recruitment stations from Anderson to Bedford. About 9,500 Hoosiers have served, or are currently serving, active duty in either Afghanistan or Iraq, according to the Indiana National Guard Web site. \n"We are all human, whether we realize it or not," yelled Brown County resident Timothy Baer, a member of the Bloomington Peace Action Coalition, into a bullhorn's microphone. "No military recruiting in Bloomington. Don't feed the war machine. Don't join the Indiana National Guard. Stop recruiting for the death machine. No more Hoosiers in Iraq."\nThe student and community protesters were swarmed by counterprotesters as they passed Kilroy's on Kirkwood, where groups of students had congregated for food and drinks behind the front porch gates. Some students heckled the protesters with chants of "four more years" and "go home and smoke some dope," and suggestions like "get a job" and "God bless the Republican party."\nPacks of protesters fired back repeated verses of: "Hey, George Bush, what do you say? How many kids have you killed today?" and "No justice, no peace. U.S. out of the Middle East."\nProtester and Owen County resident Glenda Breedon said she traveled to Bloomington in opposition of young people being killed and young families being torn apart by U.S. military conflict on foreign soil. \n"I believe when we go over there and occupy a country, go over there and drop bombs, violence begets violence," Breedon said with peace symbol earrings dangling from her ears. "My sign says 'Remove the Feeding Tube.' I think we need to pull the plug from the Pentagon and learn what it means to be human."\nSgt. Hughes said Hoosier men and women can benefit from joining the Army National Guard, both personally and financially. He said IANG soldiers serve the country, state, neighboring communities and the needs of local people, depending on where duty calls.\n"If (students) qualify, we can help them with their educational expenses -- they can get up to a 100 percent of tuition paid," Hughes said. "There are several benefits (of enlistment), specific to the person. We are going to provide the opportunity to learn motivation, leadership and confidence, regardless of the financial benefits they receive from us."\nBaer said the BPAC is dedicated to serving the best interests of the Bloomington community, and thinks those joining the Guard are impressionable young people who might literally sign their life away to the military.\n"We are here because we mourn the recent death of an IU student, and we want the military recruiters to stop preying on the students and community members in Bloomington," Baer said. "Students should not have to learn to kill to earn money for an education."\nCatris said Students Against the Occupation of Iraq is dedicated to mobilizing the student population against the war since international governing bodies like the United Nations perceive the conflict as illegal. She said SAOI representatives are willing to assist students with determining nonviolent means to pay for tuition, nonmilitary career opportunities and nonviolent ways to serve America and the Bloomington community other than enlisting in the National Guard.\n"We as students, as members of this community, as members of this world, we have a responsibility to this country to raise awareness about (military recruitment)," Catris said. "Apathy is criminal -- indifference is criminal -- we can no longer be silent because war crimes are being committed in all our names."\n-- Contact City & State Editor David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.