A Tracy man calls out the Berkeley city council and a protest group for their actions against U.S. Marine Corps recruiters.
In December 2006, U.S. Marine Capt. Richard Lund and staff moved from the old Federal Building in Alameda because it was scheduled to be torn down. He found a new location at Shattuck Square in Berkeley in proximity to the University of California, Berkeley, campus and many other colleges.
Lund is a Marine with more than eight years of service. He flew transport helicopters during most of this time, with two stints in Iraq and a tour in Sumatra, where he delivered humanitarian aid to victims of the 2004 tsunami.
He requested to come to the Bay Area to serve recruiting duty. He is the selection officer for the northern Bay Area; it is his job to recruit, interview, screen and evaluate college students and college graduates who show interest in becoming officers in the U.S. Marine Corps. Once they have formally committed to pursuing the program, his job is to help them apply and prepare for the rigors of Officer Candidate School and the challenges of life as a Marine officer.
To be eligible for the program, you have to either be a full-time college student or a college graduate. High schools students are not eligible to become officers.
Being a Marine officer is not the easiest path in the world; leading Marines requires incredible self sacrifice, and in today’s Marine Corps., succeeding in one’s quest to become a Marine officer almost guarantees a trip to Iraq.
Recently, the Berkeley City Council, in a 6-3 vote, approved a declaration proposed by council members and led by councilwoman Linda Mayo that the U.S. Marine Corps close its Berkeley recruiting center. The document went on to say that the Marines were “uninvited and unwelcome intruders.”
That same night, the council went on to approve a parking permit right in front of the Marine Corps offices and a noise permit — both free of normal fees collected by the city— to the antiwar group Code Pink.
These Code Pink folks try to characterize themselves in the media as a “bunch of grandmothers” who just want to see the boys come home from a stupid war. Nothing could be further from the truth.
They painted across the front doors of the Marine office in Berkeley: “Recruiters are traitors!” They’ve thrown animal feces at the Marines entering and exiting the building and posted signs that say things like, “Marines — the few, the proud, the insane!”
Councilwoman Mayo described Lund as a traitor in an interview on National Public Radio. She suggested that the Marines “take advantage of those in society with the fewest options … and they exploit the poor and impoverished to acquire more Marines to fight their war.”
She might be surprised to find that many young men and women seek out the Marines because they are an elite fighting group and the best amphibious assault force on the planet. They join because they want to be a part of something worthwhile and fulfilling. Often, these young people are fulfilling lifelong dreams in the pursuit of the Marine Corps.
We are an independent nation with an all-volunteer fighting force. We must maintain a military or be allied with those who do. Marines fight by order of the president. They have no power to change political policy here or abroad, so to insult them as a group or as individuals in such a hate-filled manner is misdirected at best. It’s not “their war,” and it should be remembered that they serve when and where they are asked to fight.
The Berkeley community has a tradition of respecting free speech and the rights of others. It’s a shame that those traditions have not been on display here. Instead, people with an utter disdain for the Marines, in the name of ending the war, demonized them as was done during the Vietnam era. They treat them as unwanted interlopers, and the council, in its arrogance, evidently thought endorsing this kind of message was for the greater good.
The Berkeley City Council and Code Pink are elitist, segregationist and self-righteous in both word and action.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of these United States of America, and I give my heart to the U.S. Marines and all the armed servicemen and -women who have given me the freedoms my family takes for granted each day. May God bless them all with a lifetime of abundance as they return home from active duty!
• Craig Dander is a Tracy resident.
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