posted by C for T

hello folks,

this will be brief, as there is much to do here and little time to do it.

i have grown quite used to living in the ditch. i like it here now. i have a great tan, and get plenty of exercise. i have lost seven pounds at last check.

all our food and water is donated from people all over the world. today we received over 3500 roses that were sent from mothers all over the world to place at the crosses in the ditch.

i have a photo of me and lt. sid franklin. who would ever have believed that i would have made such a good friend in a small town sheriff. when i get my stuff downloaded, i'll send you all a photo of us with our arms around each other.

i have had the opportunity to spend nearly a week in close proximity with joan baez. i have a photo of us together. i also gave russell means a tour of our ditch just the other day.

today we had two weddings, one in the big top tent at camp 2 and the other at down in the ditch.

the folks in the ditch refer to me as either sergeant major, or the ditch witch, depending.

i spend much time with the young vets that come in from the ivaw (iraq vets against the war) they don't seem to like it up at the big tent at camp 2 much, they love it down in camp casey... i've been trying to get one that used to only visit at night to come in the day, and just the other day, he was here for a few minutes. all of his fingers are blown off, one of his legs is, one arm is twisted, as is the other leg. his torso is a mass of burn scars.

his name is adam. the first time he came he would not allow me to touch him. he would not say his name and only stayed a short while. the second time, he told me his name and that his wife left him because he was too ugly now. the third time he came he said that wanted to talk to one of the vets. none of the young ivaw were there, but i got a vietnam vet for him. he only stayed a few minutes. 2 days ago, he came during the day, he touched my hand and let me hug him and kiss his check. he gave me his phone number. he was going to come back on saturday, but did not, and when i called him, i found him in the hospital recovering from seizures and let him talk to cody camacho of the ivaw on the phone.

while you guys are out searching for stuff about this action, please look for the work of cody camacho. he is a 23 year old iraqi vet who is a profound speaker, who says that he has healed more in the 10 days he has been with us than he has in all the therapy he has done since his return.

in particular he delivered a blistering speech yesterday at the big tent rally (attended by more than 2500 people) in the form of a letter written to the troops still in iraq.

now for the big news. i am leaving crawford on the bus tours that you will soon here more about. we currently have 3 routes, with a potential 4th. i am not sure what route i will be on. we will be doing rallies, speaking events, drive throughs and all sorts of stuff all the way to dc where we will meet up and come in to the city together.

on each bus there will be a representative from military families speak out, ivaw, vets for peace, gold star families for peace and a publicist, organizer, support staff.

we have had thousands of visitors to camp casey. we know that thousands more would have liked to come. many came and stayed, and we have made this event work on the backs of a group of very dedicated volunteers that work over 16 hours a day, for nothing other than food, love and a tent space in our ditch. we have put together traffic teams, security details, public utility managers, medic teams, cooks, dishwashers and the most amazing set of shuttle drivers. all these systems have been honed, and just watching the machine move is wonderful. this effort is held up by the glue of faith, with determination as our guide.

all it takes is to hold just one of these young ivaw vets in your arms as they cry to know that we are doing the right thing.

be well.

ps the buses will have computers.

love,

t~85,441