The café that's turning ex-soldiers into peace activists

[Judi Lynn]

The café that's turning ex-soldiers into peace activists
US troops returning broken turn not to the Army, but to a ramshackle café, writes Alex Hannaford
7:30PM GMT 26 Nov 2011

It's 4.30pm on a quiet backstreet of Killeen, Texas. Above the hum of rush-hour traffic you can hear a solitary bugle playing Retreat from a nearby army base.

It’s something that happens at the same time every day in this town, home to 40,000 soldiers. Fort Hood is one of the largest military posts in the world, with more of its troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan than any other in the United States. The bugle, which blares from speakers positioned all over this vast complex, coincides with the US flag being slowly lowered, signalling the end of the day. For some, that sound can’t come fast enough.

At about 5 o’clock each afternoon, Kyle Wesolowski, a 24-year-old former tank crew member from New Jersey, used to jump in his old Acura and drive the mile or so to College Street, a road just off Veterans Memorial Boulevard. Each day he passed the motorbike shop with the “Welcome Home Troops” sign outside before pulling into the driveway of a small wooden house opposite a repair garage.

Aside from the model of a coffee cup perched on top of a wooden pole in the grass, there’s nothing particularly remarkable about this place. But look closely and you’ll see signs in the windows of the little house that read “Anti-war is Pro-soldier” and “Support Iraq Veterans Against the War”. This is Under the Hood café, a coffee shop that has become an unlikely focal point for soldiers — serving and former — who oppose America’s military adventures in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

More:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/8917995/The-cafe-thats-turning-ex-soldiers-into-peace-activists.html

[Meeker Morgan]

1. So now they are cannon fodder for yet another cause. n/t

[xchrom]

2. Cannon fodder for Peace. What a terrible thing.

What a ridiculous post.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[readmoreoften]

8. Analogy fail.

[progressoid]

14. Umm...wut?

[southernyankeebelle]

4. You can bet the military is aware of them. I wouldn't be surprised if they have a plant there.

[nilram]

5. um, a plant with a microphone in it...

[readmoreoften]

9. Yes, the military is aware of them. They're not a secret organization.

UtH has been around since 2008.

[hobbit709]

6. Shades of the old Oleo Strut.

[The Wizard]

7. Long live Dave Cline (NT)

[WillyT]

10. K & R !!!

:kick:

[ClayZ]

11. K and R

[Marnie]

12. As it did with Vietnam it will take the voices of the Vets and their

families to bring our troops out of harms way in the US's wars of Empire.

[Chef Eric]

13. Good article. Thank you for posting. nt

[PETRUS]

15. Heavy. K&R