Charlie's Address:
Charlie Liteky
#83276-020
Federal Prison Camp
3705 West Farm Road
Lompoc, CA 93436
Suggestion: When sending letters to Charlie, also send the letter to media, Representatives, Senators, or political candidates.
(2) CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE TRAINING
Kathleen Murphy and Ted Sexauer reported on the discussions at SOA Watch Civil Disobedience Training in Chicago. They met with people from local groups from throughout the U.S. They talked about the November event at Ft. Benning. There will still be a large Funeral Procession, but other kinds of engagement will express affinity group decisions. These may challenge past definitions of nonviolent civil disobedience.
Kathleen (kathleen_murphy@yahoo.com) and Ted (tsexauer@vom.com) will continue to promote discussion about Bay Area participation in the November action. Who will participate in the large procession? Are there persons who want to form an affinity group? A major question to reflect upon is, "How do we define nonviolent action?"
Decision: We will have longer meetings from now through November to allow for in depth discussion. Everyone planning to go to Ft. Benning in November is urged to participate in the monthly meetings: Sept. 7, Oct. 5, and Nov. 2.
(3) FT. BENNING GEORGIA ARRANGEMENTS
LODGING
Midge Donalds (madamedonalds@yahoo.com) has reserved 10 room at the Howard Johnson Express Inn. Please contact Midge if you decide to make a reservation. Midge wants to keep a list of people from California who decide to stay at the Howard Johnson Express. The hotel asks that individuals call to reserve their rooms and make a deposit by September 1. They cannot guarantee us rooms if we do not reserve by that date. Howard Johnson Express Inn (1-800-697-7293). Rooms with one double bed are $59.00 per night, rooms with two double beds are $69.00 per night. The inn is located on the main thoroughfare 6 miles from Ft. Benning so we will need to carpool. There is a request that everyone stay over Sunday night. The mass exodus on Sunday took some of the energy out of the Sunday action last year.
AIRLINE - DELTA
Call Delta Meeting Network (1-800-241-6760) and identify code 165045A.
Current price: $360 for SFO to Atlanta, GA to Columbus, GA and return.
Some have booked these flights:
#1798-#4081 leaving SFO at 8:35 am on Nov. 17 (Friday) and arriving in Columbus at 8:05 pm.
#4086-#1169 leaving Columbus at 10:03 am on Nov. 20 (Monday) an arriving SFO at 2:07 pm
(4) DECEMBER 2 MEMORIAL SERVICE for the four North American women killed twenty years ago in El Salvador: Jean Donovan a lay missionary, Maura Clarke and Ita Ford who were both Maryknoll sisters, and Dorothy Kazel an Ursuline sister. They were killed by soldiers trained at the SOA. We are planning a procession and an ecumenical prayer service at 7 pm at Union Square on Saturday, December 2.
HELP NEEDED! If you would like to be on the planning committee, e-mail Sr. Laetitia Bordes (lbordes@jps.net) or John Savard (savard@usfca.edu).
(5) LONG RANGE PLANNING ideas from Dr. Teri Karl, a professor at Stanford, who spoke with SOAWW members on Aug. 14. She urged that we continue our focus and commitment to close the SOA. First of all, the protest is working. The army has taken notice, attempting to change the name and create a window by re-defining the mission of the SOA. The vote in May should be seen as a success in that we came that close. Secondly, while building upon past atrocities, we need to show how the school will continue to fail as long as soldiers go back to their countries and are co-opted by the military culture that uses their training to work against democracy and human/civil rights. Thirdly, this specific focus against militarism is concrete. Dr. Carl believes that there are a number of Representatives who are against the SOA emotionally, but whose vote has yet to reflect that sentiment. Fourthly, Colombia may be an area where we can focus on the SOA today. SOAWW needs to keep up with Colombia and the drug trade, oil, and U.S./Colombian military connection to both. This fall in Florida, there will be trials of two Salvadoran officers involved in the 1980 murders of the four American church women. We will be watching this closely.
SAN FRANCISCO – SOAW-W met Thursday, July 6.
Topics included:
Refocusing after the vote: Defining a strategy for this coming year.
August 4-6: Civil Disobedience Training at Loyola University, Chicago in preparation for Nov. 18-19 at Fort Benning. SOAWW hopes to send a delegate.
Update our mailing list: We would like members to make calls to individuals on our mailing list to check for any changes, especially if they have an e-mail address now. This would make it easier and less costly to be in touch with this constituency.
Charlie Liteky: Update on his sentence and appeal.
Barbara Trott: Update on her visit to Chiapas.
A possible update on Vieques from Vieques group.
