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October, 2007, Volume
15 Nr. 2, Issue 233
Anti-War
Cadence: A Tribute to VFP Brother David Cline, RIP
Jozef
Hand-Boniakowski
"Sound
off....1-2...Sound off...3.4, Bring it on down...Sound off
1-2-3-4....1-2...3-4! I've heard and participated in the
Veterans For Peace (VFP) cadence many times. I heard it
shouted through a bullhorn on the streets of Washington, D.C. as
VFP led a million plus demonstrators against the Iraq
occupation. I heard it in the streets of Manhattan, where one-and-a-half million people said "No to
War!" months before the Iraq invasion began. This
unprecedented display of people power marched through the Big Apple even though the city refused
to issue a permit for it to take place. I heard the
cadence in Alexandria VA, Albuquerque NM, Duluth MN, San
Francisco CA, Boston MA, etc., where Veterans For Peace called
it as they saw it, "Bush and Cheney talk that talk...but
they're only chicken hawks." And each time I
heard that cadence being called out by the hoarse and
distinctive voice of the David Cline, the president (Jan 2002 -
Feb 2007) of Veterans For Peace.
David Cline passed
away on September 15, 2007 at home in his home town and that of my
childhood, Jersey City, N.J. David's body was
severely affected by Agent Orange, PTSD, the Vietnam War, and
the rigors and stresses of fighting imperialism and war
full-time for four decades. The anarcho-Judaism
web site correctly states,
- "They killed Dave
forty years ago, the government of the United States killed
Dave in Vietnam; but Dave had too much in him to die right
away. Too much heart, too much soul, too much spirit, too much
of a passion to fight for what is right and true and just; it
took him 40 years to die."
photo credit: Mathieu
Grandjean
I clearly remember
standing with Dave Cline and a few dozen VFPers on Constitution
Avenue in Washington D.C. as many hundreds of thousands of
anti-war marchers filed by. The Vets For Peace were
shouting their anti-war cadence. A skinny guy dressed in
his traditional olive drab shirt decked with Vietnam, Peace, VFP
and VVAW patches was mesmerizing the fast moving crowd by
leading the cadence. As people came into view of the VFPers they broke out into wild
cheering. As one performance of the cadence came to end a
new group of marchers would see the VFPers for the very first
time giving up a new cheer and thunderous roar. The VFPer
then started the cadence over again with Dave Cline's voice
booming. This went on for hours. David inspired tens
of thousands that day and millions throughout his activist life
to do something about the insanity of war and to stop the
neo-liberal war machine from using bombing, killing,
imprisonment, torture and war as foreign policy.
- David Cline was my
friend. I had my disagreements with him. But
David showed me that disagreements between brothers
working for peace was a desirable and healthy thing.
David was the first who instilled in me a sense of what it
means to be a brother for peace. Before David Cline
and Veterans For Peace I had no desire nor inclination to
being considered a veteran. David showed me
that there was honor and respect given to being a veteran
who opposes imperialism, militarism, war, and the illegal and criminal
behavior of those in power that make it possible and
profit from it.
I did not realize
how much he affected my life until there was no more
David Cline around to hug, no more David Cline to call me
"Bro!", no more David Cline to chant... "Heh heh
Uncle Sam. We remember Vietnam...."
- In August 2003 during the
National Veterans For Peace convention in San Francisco CA
David Cline presented a tribute to Father Philip Berrigan,
a life-long worker for peace. David presented Phil's
daughter, Katie Berrigan, with an inscribed plaque. I
wrote the tribute
contained on that plaque. Now, I write and present a
tribute to David Cline:
Whereas
David
Cline was an anti-war veteran, a lifelong activist for peace
and justice, civil-rights advocate, an anti-imperialist, a
partner, a fighter for freedom and social justice; and a
brother, and
Whereas
Veteran For Peace David Cline and thousands of like-minded
friends are building a nonviolent movement based upon the
imagery of beating guns and rifles into plowshares; and
Whereas
Neighbor David Cline lived in a big city community where he served
as the city's official liaison to local veterans, and,
- Whereas David Cline was a
persistent and reliable counselor for and on the G.I.
Hotline, and,
Whereas
Witness David Cline kept a consistent and persistent vigil
against violence during his post Vietnam life; and
Whereas
War Resister David Cline was a favorite target of the Right
Wing and neo-conservative war mongers that he successfully
rebutted, and
Whereas
Seeker of Truth David Cline was an implacable inspector of the
United States foreign policy calling national and
international attention to its inherent evil nature; and
Whereas
Activist David Cline symbolically confronted the nation's war
machine by returning military honors and medals and,
Whereas
Teacher David Cline was and remains an example to the younger
generation coming of age to resist militarism and fascism;
and,
Whereas
David Cline, a long time Veteran For Peace and its president,
is a hero, and an inspiration to those who follow in the cause
of Peace; and
Whereas
it is with sorrow, regret and gratitude, that we as Veterans
For Peace, mourn the passing of our friend, David Cline, September 15, 2007,
Therefore
let it be resolved that, in order to honor and commemorate his
remarkable work and life we as Veterans For Peace, and as
people committed to social justice, honor our Brother and
Comrade, David Cline, who continues to Wage Peace!
David
Cline Presente!
I have many lapel
pins on a canvas bag that I carry with me. David Cline
gave me one of them, the Vietnam Veterans Against the War
pin. He also gave me the 25th anniversary Veterans For
Peace pin which celebrated a quarter century of educating people
against the atrocities, horror and costs of war. I wear
the 25th anniversary pin on my old Green beret which another
Veteran For Peace has given to me. A few months ago I saw
a showing of the documentary film, "Sir! No Sir!"
about the G.I. resistance movement during the Vietnam War.
David was featured in the film as he was a big part of the G.I.
resistance. Today, the Iraq occupation G.I. resistance is
taking on another illegal war. In 2004 David Cline
witnessed the founding of the anti-war veterans group, Iraq
Veterans Against the War. David knew that Iraq occupation
veterans would be instrumental in ending it. And to that
end, David Cline's cadence continues:
- HEY HEY DAVID CLINE
DAVID WAS A FRIEND OF MINE
-
DAVID CLINE TALKED THE TALK
DAVID CLINE WALKED THE WALK
BUSH AND CHENEY'S WAR IS HELL
PROFITS FOR EXXON AND FOR SHELL
BUSH AND CHENEY LEADERS FAILED
BUSH AND CHENEY BELONG IN JAIL
DAVID'S BODY HAS PASSED ALONG
BUT HE'S HERE TO SING THIS SONG
WAR JUST MAKES THE CHILDREN DIE
WAR JUST MAKES THE MOTHER'S CRY
BUSH AND CHENEY STOMP AND SQUAWK
THAT'S BECAUSE THEY'RE CHICKEN HAWKS
SEND THEM BOTH TO A CELL
PACK THEM OFF AWAY TO HELL
HEH HEH DAVID CLINE
DAVID WAS A FRIEND OF MINE
DAVID'S BODY MAY BE GONE
BUT HE SINGS THIS CADENCE SONG
AM I RIGHT OR WRONG?
AM I RIGHT OR WRONG?
SOUND OFF...1..2...SOUND OFF...3..4
SOUND OFF...1..2..3..4
BRING IT ON DOWN! 1..2..3..4....
1..2..3..4.
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If there is no
struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor
freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops
without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder
and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its
many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a
physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must
be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never
did and it never will. Find out just what a people will submit
to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and
wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue
till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both.
The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those
whom they oppress. -- Frederick Douglas |
Herein lies a
riddle: How can a people so gifted by God become so seduced by
naked power, so greedy for money, so addicted to violence, so
slavish before mediocre and treacherous leadership, so paranoid,
deluded, lunatic?
- -- Philip Berrigan
-
I love you, Dave.
©2007
Jozef
Hand-Boniakowski, PhD Return
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