Vets Say No — A Veteran's Day Wrap Up

If you have stories from dissent this past weekend or story tips, share them on my website. And please, don’t forget to like and subscribe.

---

Through the whispered words at solemn vigils to shouts echoing across highways, a call for freedom rang across the country yesterday. Thousands gathered across 150 locations to stand with veterans against the rise of authoritarianism.

Though at least 50 events were a part of the Vets Say No movement, several were organized by local groups. There were bands, marches, and speeches. Each gathering was distinct, an homage to their shared stories and struggles. Despite the distance, a thread of duty, camarderie, and honor ran through them all.

“When we raised our right hands and took an oath, it wasn’t to a politician, it wasn’t to a party, it was to the Constitution of the United States,” said Bobby LaPin, a veteran in Baltimore. “And that oath did not expire when we took off that uniform.”

In Chigaco, hundreds of veterans, their loved ones, and allies gathered at the Vietnam War Memorial near the river. Banners of yellow and black flapped in the breeze as they marched through the downtown. Bundled in thick coats, the crowd of three-hundred lifted their voices to chant, “Fight for jobs and education. Not for war and deportation.”

Across the plains and mountains, another crowd gathered in South Portland as a crisp autumn chill settled over Elizabeth Crauthers Park.

Donning coats and carrying signs, around a hundred veterans and locals gathered. Streetlights lit their path as they marched several blocks in silence. The amber glow from the windows and porches they pased shone on their green fatigues.

When they arrived at their destination, an ICE facility, they laid down flowers in honor of those being detained.

“This is wrong. This isn’t the America I know. This isn’t the America I stood up for,” shared Jim Farrel with KION 6.

Northward, a stream of cars whiz down the I-5. Across a bridge, a group of about two dozen hold red and black letters that read, “HONOR SUPPORT OUR VETERANS.” With precision, the protesters flip their signs to read “VETS SAY NO OATHS TO TRUMP.”

This is the Alphabet Resistance of Seattle. Since their first day of action in 2017, the group has met regularily to display bold messages to commuters over the State’s busiest freeway.

From sea to shining sea, veterans remind us that our allegiance lies not with a President or a Congress, but with the people and the enduring Union they still defend.