THE VOLUNTEER, December 2001 17
By David Smith
L
ast February during the
Anniversary Dinner I promised that
if I was able to walk in November,
I would join the demonstrations against
the School of the Americas, the U.S.
training ground for Latin American mil-
itarists at Fort Benning, Georgia. On
November 18 I made good on that
promise. Together with Corine
Thornton (post secretary), Ray McGrath
(retired firefighter captain), June Spero
(retired school psychologist), and Judy
Litkey (West Coast SOA Watch coordi-
nator), a group of Californians took off
for the Georgia protest.
Although the City of Columbus
attempted to block the march through a
court injunction, Judge G. Mallon
Faircloth ruled that the march should
be allowed. "It was a question of First
Amendment rights," he stated, "and
you can't play with that. I am sworn to
uphold the U.S. Constitution. I think I
did that today." This exciting news set
the stage for the next day's celebration.
Highlighting the gathering was
Father Roy Bourgeois, long an advocate
for closing the infa-
mous School of the
Americas. He is
slated as the
keynote speaker at
the Bay Area's
VALB reunion on
February 24 and
gave a moving and
exciting speech
criticizing the government's training
program. Also impressive were the
young people who formed a major
group within the 9,000 participants.
Watching them brought tears to my
eyes, for this was the first time in many
years that I had seen so many young
people at a meaningful demonstration
not at a campus site.
On Sunday we participated in a
funeral procession honoring the many
thousands who died in Latin America
under the leadership of SOA graduates.
We carried crosses and a few Jewish
stars with the
names of the
dead as both an
alto and a tenor
voice intoned
their names and
the assembled
group respond-
ed, "presente."
The procession
took several hours as we slowly walked
to the main gate. This demonstration
had a profound effect--as the names of
the martyrs were read, many people
were grieving their loss. I returned to
California convinced that the SOA
Watch is a very important movement
deserving our support.
Bay Area Post members (l-r) Corine Thornton, Mike McGrath, and Dave Smith.
According to Smith, "The School of the Americas represents American imperial-
ism in South and Central America, and if we can stop them we will be putting a
dent in imperialism."
B
B
a
a
y A
y A
r
r
ea P
ea P
ost M
ost M
emb
emb
ers
ers
J
J
oin the SO
oin the SO
A P
A P
r
r
ot
ot
est
est
historical sites. Our intention is not
to act apart from these official bod-
ies, but to reach places that they
don't reach.
Best wishes
Angel Archilla Navarro
cartung2@terra.es
Dear Volunteer,
I would appreciate hearing from
anyone who has memories or infor-
mation of any sort about my father,
Dr. Sidney Vogel, who served at
Hospital Casa Roja, Murcia. I believe
that he arrived in Spain May 30, 1937,
with the 6th American Medical Unit
and left from Paris in February 1939.
I have looked at the relevant files
in the ALBA archives (Martin Papers;
Moscow microfilm) and have a gener-
al sense of my father's activities as
well as of the difficulties he encoun-
L
Leetttteerrss
Continued from page 16
Continued on page 23
Father Roy Bourgeois,
founder of the SOA Watch,
to speak at the Bay Area's
Annual Reunion on Sunday,
February 24, 2002.
