If they call you a traitor, tell them, 'Yes, I am a traitor, a traitor
against King George II."
THE DALLES, Ore. (AP) - It's something not often seen in The Dalles: a line
of protesters, mostly middle-age or beyond, marching behind an inverted
flag, a harmonica and some drums, intent on closing down the armed forces
recruiting station.
The tune hinted at ``Yankee Doodle,'' but not too hard.
``We don't see it here,'' said a bystander who gave his name only as Jim.
``We have a parade sometimes, a rodeo or something...''
But when the marchers got to the recruiting station in a shopping center
next to a K-Mart, it was closed, apparently because of advance notice.
The Army Oregon National Guard recruiter at the armory also had closed up
shop.
``They told us to make ourselves invisible,'' said Sgt. 1st Class William
Smith.
The 35 or so marchers carried signs demanding American troops be brought
home from Iraq. Their ranks included many veterans.
There was Don Shaw, 85, of Hood River, who flew 35 B-17 combat missions
over Europe in World War II and sports what may be the most magnificent set
of white whiskers in the Columbia River Gorge.
``I'm here to do civil disobedience in the tradition of Gandhi, Martin
Luther King and Henry David Thoreau,'' he said. ``This war doesn't make
sense. It never did make sense.''
There was David Duncombe, 75, of White Salmon, Wash., who served in World
War II and was called back for Korea.
``I feel these young men and women have not been given the full story,'' he
said. ``In Korea, they told us we were up against some tin-horn dictator
who would run when we came after them, and that we would be home by Christmas.
``They were right about one thing, we were home by Christmas. In body bags.
We lost 90 percent of our unit in two weeks. I can't forget that.''
He said he figures he has nearly 100 arrests under his belt from decades of
demonstrating, and counseled marchers on nonviolence.
``If they call you a traitor, tell them, 'Yes, I am a traitor, a traitor
against King George II,''' he said, referring to President Bush.
But as Duncombe and his fellow marchers blocked the locked doors at the
center, a crowd of residents from this blue-collar town of about 11,500
gathered to protest the protest.
``Remember 9-11,'' shouted Annette Rysham. ``They can protest but they're
not bringing home the troops no matter how long they stay here,'' she said.
``They should support the troops until they come home.''
She said she lives in The Dalles ``and I'm a 100 percent American citizen.''
``This is a joke,'' said Jeannie Barker, whose son's Boy Scout troop works
with the recruiters. ``They should support our troops. I don't want to live
in a country like that (Iraq). I enjoy my freedom.''
A few police stood by, with more waiting in reserve.
``Since the recruiters went home and locked their doors, they aren't
interfering with that business,'' and were not breaking the law, said The
Dalles Police Capt. E. L. Goodman.
Mark Nykanen, 51, of Hood River, who helped organize the march by the
Columbia River Fellowship for Peace, said the station was targeted because
it was the only one in the Columbia Gorge and should not operate as if it
were business as usual.
``It's not business as usual when one country makes the decision to invade
another,'' he said. ``We're not going to be good Germans and sit back and
watch it happen...I mean Germans in the circa 1939 sense.''
Nykanen declared the effort a victory, since it closed the recruiting
station. He said some of them might try again on another day.
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