That report sent me to the website for Veterans for Peace, where I found a link for the New England Action Blog of the organization. It is there that you will find additional information as well as pictures, including one of 92 year old WWII veteran Paul Brailsford who had his cane taken away from him when he was handcuffed and arrested yesterday.

Rather than regurgitate the information from the sources linked above, I will let you digest them in your own time and order. I will make a personal comment. My own father, a WWII veteran, would be 92 himself right now if he were still alive. He served in the jungles of what was then called Burma and even though he was never wounded, he suffered from repeated bouts of malaria and hepatitis. He even even had a recurrence of malaria years after he returned  I think its fair to say that his health was never what it might have been as a result. The veterans arrested yesterday, like my father, earned a double helping of the same rights all of us have to free expression and peaceful protest. Although my father did not march in protest, he turned against the Vietnam war around 1970 and did not hesitate to express that to family and friends. He felt a solidarity with the troops in Vietnam because of his own service in what he called a similar "god forsaken jungle" and very clearly distinguished between a war of necessity and a war of choice.

The city of Boston and the American Legion suppressed the right of these veterans to express themselves while participating in THEIR parade. They may as well have muzzled my own father. I will never forget. If they will let me, hopefully I can march with Veterans for Peace next time.

For those who cannot show solidarity in person, perhaps I should include contact information for Mayor Menino. 18.8 million tourists came to Boston in 2006. I am sure they spent a lot of dollars, so the Mayor may actually care what you think.

Update [2007-11-12 14:24:31 by crick02478]: The people arrested yesterday will be in court later this week. Perhaps they could use some help with legal representation. Mr. Brailsford, mentioned above, belongs to the Samantha Smith chapter and I believe others belong to the Smedley D. Butler Brigade of Veterans for Peace. Contact information within those links.

Update [2007-11-12 18:42:7 by crick02478]:Here is a video shot by a Veterans for Peace member.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/11/12/124341/36