H ie
January 9, 2008
| J o r t l a t t ò (iD h s e r tte r
An Anti-W ar L egacythat Resonates
continued
from front
am from M exico, w here w om en
a r e n 't co n sid ered able to be su c­
cessfu l people and I w anted to
disp ro v e th at,” she said.
“ D uring that tim e period, I had
som e ch anges in my life that in ­
cluded m edical illness. I also had
been w aiting for six years to get
into graduate school and was fi­
nally accepted. M ost im portantly,
I thought that the w ar w as racist
and unjust. I c o u ld n ’t find one
reason to go, not in the role o f a
Non-violent resistance was how
King approached Civil Rights. He
was arrested several times waging
peaceful battles for justice, willfully
violating local laws such as protest­
ing without a permit, demonstrating,
and sitting in a whites-only restau­
rant waiting to be served.
Although A cosca was hesitant
to mention her true feelings about
the war, she supports those who
question the war.
“T hank G od for the p oliticians
that are asking questions about
w h ether this w ar is rig h t,” she
said. "A s sold iers, we do w hat we
are told to but if people d o n 't talk
about it then m istakes will be re­
peated again and again.”
A cosea says she will go back to
Iraq a third tim e if she is called, but
said she prays to God that those
who make the decisions on military
deploym ents “go to every effort to so ld ier at le ast.”
M oyola m ade three attem pts
validate the w ar before another one
to
avoid
fighting in a w ar that she
o f my friends dies, I lose a limb or,
w
as
“
spiritually
a g a in st.”
G od forbid, I die.”
She
asked
for
an ed u catio n al
A driana M oyola, 25, an ex-sol-
deferm
ent
in
O
cto
b e r 2006 and
dier from Portland has another view.
w
as
denied.
S
econ
d
ly , she asked
M oyola can now talk as she
fo
r
a
m
edical
disch
arg e. W hile
pleases about the w ar, since she
w as “o th e r than honorably d is­ her sergeants w ere rev iew in g her
ch a rg ed ” fo r refusing to deploy paperw ork, she w as sent to C am p
to Iraq and going A W O L (A b ­ P arks in O akland , C alif., w here
sent W ithout L eave) from her she w aited for tw o days until she
found out that her m edical d is­
m ilitary unit.
“ 1 had signed up for the A rm y charg e w as denied.
On Jan. 27, 2007, she put her
R eserves in F ebruary 2001 and
w a sn ’t ca lled for duty until A u­ final plan into effec t and w ent
g u st 2006 fo r ‘O peration Iraqi A W O L from C am p Parks.
“ I ju s t left the b a se ,” she said.
F re ed o m .' I signed up because I
“ I was A W O L for 187 d ay s.”
Before the unau th o rized leave,
M oyola said she had prep ared
h erself for d u ty , assu red by a
fem ale o ffic er w ho said that the
m ilitary treated w om en w ell in
Iraq. But she said her opinion
chan g ed w hen she o v erh eard the
sam e o ffic er tell a m ale o ffic er
that she had lied to her.
M oyola said she hid from the
m ilitary for fo u r m onths by sta y ­
ing w ith an o th er ex -so ld ier who
/ thought that the war was racist
and unjust. I couldn't find one
reason to go, not in the role o f a
soldier at least... I just left the base.
I was AWOL for 187 days.
— Adriana Moyola
had refused d ep lo y m en t.
“ I b eliev ed it w as my hum an
right to ch o o se not to kill in n o ­
cen t p eo p le,” she said.
“The Army was looking for me in
Portland," she said. "They even
w ent so far as to tell PSLJ, the col­
lege I was attending, that if I showed
up then to call the police.”
M o y o la e v e n tu a lly tu rn e d
h e rs e lf in to th e m ilita ry , th in k ­
ing th at she w as g o in g to sp en d
th re e m o n th s in ja il an d p o s s i­
b ly g et d e p o rte d sin c e sh e w as
an im m ig ra n t from M e x ico w ho
m oved to th e U n ited S ta te s w ith
h e r fa th e r at ag e e ig h t.
“I was really lucky, I w asn’tcourt
marshaled for insertion. 1 spent
five days in jail and was allowed to
return to Portland," she said.
“T he arm y told m e to never talk
to o th ers w ho had been to Iraq
w h ile I w as a c tiv e ,” she added.
“ I was really happy that I d id n 't
risk my life. I knew w hat I was
d o in g w as v ery p a trio tic and
d em o cratic."
In 1968, M artin L uther King
co m m en ted about the V ietnam
W ar saying, “ W e m ust m ove past
indecision to action. We must
find new w ays to speak for peace
in V ie tn a m a n d f o r j u s t i c e
throughout the developing w orld,
a w orld that borders on our doors.
If w e do not act, we shall surely be
d rag g ed dow n the long, dark, and
sham efu l co rrid o rs o f tim e re ­
se rv e d for th o se w ho po ssess
pow er w ithout com passion, might
w ithout m orality, and strength
w ithout sig h t."
M oyola said som ething much
sim ila r about the Iraq w ar today.
" T h e p e o p le w ith less a c ce ss
to su p p o rt are th e o n es w ho
en d up jo in in g th e m ilita ry . U l­
tim a te ly , any d ec isio n you m ake
w ill a ffe c t y ou. Y ou h av e to let
g o o f y o u r fe a r o f th e g o v e rn ­
m e n t an d look in to w hy you are
b ein g a sk e d to go to w ar and
w h o p ro fits from it. V ietn am , in
M a rtin L u th e r K in g 's tim e p a r ­
a lle ls th e w ar in Iraq to d a y .”
A co sca also is grateful for Dr.
K in g 's w ork, saying that he has
“ m ade such a d ifferen ce through
peace advocacy and we honor
him for that to d a y .”
Page A7
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Obama’s momentum
considered in this day in age to be
a candidate for president." W ard
bad,” says Floyd Cruse, who was credits O bam a’s m om entum with
his dem onstration
M inister o f Inform a­
o f integrity, experi­
tion forthe local chap­
ter of the Black Pan­
ence and com m it­
thers. “T here’s a lot
m ent to social is­
o f w eight on him for
su e s th a t co m es
across even in per­
ch an ge, and ho p e­
fully that will mean
son. During his visit
som ething when he
this past fall to the
O re g o n C o n v e n ­
takes office.”
tio n C e n te r, she
C ruse has reg u ­
larly participated in
fo u n d h im “ a p ­
im p rom ptu d isc u s­ ‘It fe e ls so good, ’
p ro a c h a b le an d
sion groups that have
real.”
- Gloria McMurtry
lately form ed at Re­
Reflections em ­
flections every morn­
ployee Tracy Bell
ing with more than a
e x p re s s e d
the
dozen people. He said
stro n g est sk e p ti­
the "hotbed o f con­
cism,saying, “Let’s
v ersa tio n and d ia ­
not get caught up in
logue" gives hope for
the c o lo r o f the
the world.
hype o f the first
Sabrina S erac, a
black president be­
former French teacher
fore seeing what he
at Portland State Uni­
can do.”
versity visiting the
W ard countered
co ffee shop before 'H e 's approachable
with the position
her current research,
that the current mo­
a n d real, ’
observed that much
ment maries the clos­
-Rev. Renee'Ward
o f Europe has also
est American soci­
fa lle n fo r O b a m a
ety has come to a
through his call for
vision of equality
peace. “ He has more
in the more than 40
presence than Hillary,
years since Martin
an d he w as a lso
L u th e r
K in g ’s
against the war, as we
M arch on W ash­
w ere,” she said.
ington speech.
Having preached in
“O bam a repre­
favor o f O bam a dur­
sents K ing’s dream
ing her outreach m in­
com ing to fruition,
istry , R ev. R e n e e ’
and that reality is
Ward said, “It’s very
based not on his
'There ’s a lot o f w eight
en c o u rag in g to see
co lo r but on the
on
him f o r change, ’
that an African-Ameri­
content of his char­
can man can even be "
Cruse
acter,” she said.
continued
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