COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: War Protests: General
Marines bombarded with tea, cookies and questions
Rebekah Gordon, San Mateo County Times
October 18, 2005
BELMONT — For eight women descending on the military recruiting substation in Belmont on Monday, their arsenal included tea, cookies and questions.Members of the Peninsula and San Francisco chapters of the Raging Grannies and CODEPINK, women's groups that support the anti-war movement, planned their surprise attack from the safety of Whispers Cafe & Creperie in the Belmont Plaza shopping center.
But they feared that the military had gotten wind of their plans. Indeed, when they went next door in their floppy granny hats and pink outfits, they found the Army recruiting office locked, though a sign read "Open" and two men in uniform were visible inside.
"We brought tea and cookies. We just want to show that we support the troops," Raging Granny Ruth Robertson of Palo Alto said through the door, to no avail.
But the Marine recruiting office a few feet away welcomed the women, and they plunked down their teapot and Tupperware full of homemade gingerbread "military men" on a recruiter's desk.
"Get rid of those Doritos, please," Robertson chided Cpl. Robert Bastida.
And as they munched and sipped, the onslaught began.
Pat Gray of Burlingame, both a Raging Granny and CODEPINK member, voiced concern about her nephew deployed in Baghdad. "I'm especially concerned about the recruiting at the high schools," she said. "He learned how to kill people, which is not really a job skill."
The women examined a bulletin board with photos of new young recruits.
"They can't vote at age 17, but they can sign away their life?" Robertson asked.
Staff Sgt. Chad Inboden answered their questions.
"These are young men and women who are looking to set themselves up for a successful future," he said.
There were questions about benefits for veterans, which the women said needed to be better, and about the actual number of deaths in Iraq. Robertson picked up a replica of a training bomb, asking what it was.
Gail Sredanovic, a Raging Granny from Menlo Park, asked if she could have a copy of the contract that new recruits sign, concerned that some guarantees, such as the type of job or length of service, are anything but.
"There is no Consumer Reports for military service, so we're filling in the gap. At the very least, we should be truthful with our young people," she said. "I guess they have a private definition of what 'guarantee' means, but they don't tell you that."
Inboden said contracts cannot be altered without the individual's consent.
The visit ended amicably. "Just don't end up like this, with a leg missing," Robertson warned, as she left the recruiters some cookies — one of them broken.
"You guys should come back more often," Staff Sgt. Thomas Sanford said.
The recruiters didn't seem to mind the visit, and Robertson declared "mission accomplished" as the group of women, who ranged in age from 46 to 90, sang rallying songs outside.
"Our job here is to answer questions," Sanford said. "What makes the lady that's 90-something-years old different from someone that's 4?" he asked. "They seem like nice ladies willing to give us cookies."
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