"WALKIN' TO NEW ORLEANS"
Veterans' and Survivors' March for Peace and Justice
Mobile to New Orleans
March 14-19, 2006

March 19, 2006 is the 3rd anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star Families for Peace, and hurricane survivors' organizations (Save Ourselves, the People's Hurricane Relief Fund, Common Ground Collective, Bayou Liberty Relief, the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance, C3, and others) are organizing a five-day march and caravan along Gulf Coast Highway 90 to demand:

(1)  the immediate return of our troops from Iraq, and to call for U.S. tax dollars to be spent on human priorities and

(2)  rebuilding of the devastated Gulf Coast, under the democratic direction of the residents of the Gulf Coast, instead of further spending for the illegal occupation of Iraq.

We will begin in Mobile, Alabama on March 14th and end in New Orleans on March 19th, the war's anniversay.

Hurricane Katrina is in the news again, as thousands of hurricane survivors who were housed at hotels in New Orleans and other Gulf Coast cities are now being summarily evicted.  In New Orleans, evictees were not even allowed to collect their belongings.  The National Guard, which was sent in at night almost as a surprise attack in conjunction with police, was tasked to collect people's meager possessions, as these serially-displaced residents were herded aboard buses to be shipped off to overcrowded shelters in other cities, or left to fend for themselves as homeless people.  This looks for all the world not like reconstruction, but a military occupation.

Concurrently, those who advise the Bush administration are not only stubbornly adhering to the disastrous course of militarily occupying Iraq, the same clique is now advocating military action against Iran, and publishing enemies lists of antiwar activists even in the midst of a domestic spying scandal.

The colonial treatment being meted out to poor people and people of color on the Gulf Coast is mirrored in the war the same administration is continuing against Arabs and Muslims, and vice versa.

Thousands of over-priced FEMA trailers sit unused, while residents are refused entry into their own homes by police.  The US government can guarantee the absentee voting of a few Iraqi expatriates in a highly questionable election in a militarily occupied nation, but make little effort to ensure that displaced hurricane survivors can vote in upcoming elections.  Some of the same contractors who have repeatedly been caught stealling publicly appropriated funds in Iraq were almost immediately offered no-bid crony contracts to rebuild the Gulf Coast, while local firms and contractors were frozen out, unless they had ties to the admnistration.  Just as camps were prepared for "detainees" who were never given a chance at trial in Guantanamo Bay, there are now camps being constructed for hurricane surviviors around the country.

Veterans and military families are uniting their call for peace with the hurricane surviviors' call for justice.

If we can build cities in the desert to wage war, why can't we rebuild cities on the Gulf Coast to deliver justice?

Every bomb dropped in Iraq Explodes from Mobile to New Orleans
Justice in Iraq and the Gulf Coast—bring the troops and survivors home NOW!

MARCH-CARAVAN SCHEDULE

13 MAR 06

3 PM – 4:30 PM
Press Conference, Stone Street Baptist Church (Mobile). This African American church is one of the oldest buildings in Mobile and is nine years older than the State of Alabama. Remarks from Paul Robinson (MOBILE CHAPTER -- VETERANS FOR PEACE); from Michael McPhearson (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR -- VETERANS FOR PEACE); from Kelly Dougherty (FOUNDING MEMBER -- IRAQ VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR); and from Vivian Felts (SAVING OURSELVES -- [SOS]).

Location and Contact for Stone Street Baptist Church: 311 Tunstall St., Mobile, AL 36603 (251) 433-3947

7 PM - 9 PM
Watch Night Service Stone Street Baptist Church: This was the service African American churches did while waiting for the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation.
***

14 MAR 06

7 AM - 9 AM
[Breakfast for March-Caravan -- Organized by Stone Street Baptist Church]
Assemble at Stone Street Baptist Church.
Benediction from the Alabama Interfaith Alliance. Administrative Instructions to participants.

THE MARCH-CARAVAN WILL CONSIST OF TEN "LEGS," THAT WILL AVERAGE 7-8 MILES.

9 AM - 12 PM
March Leg 1; Stone Street Baptist Church (Mobile) to Maitre Park (Mobile).

12 PM - 1 PM
Lunch, Interviews. 15-minute Presentation by Veteran For Peace's Mobile Chapter President, Paul Robinson on Dr. King's 1967 Riverside Church warning about the three giants of “racism, economic exploitation, and militarism.” And a call for “unity to stop the war and rebuild the Gulf Coast.”

1 PM - 2 PM
Shuttle marchers to beginning point for Leg 2 -- near the Alabama-Mississippi State Line.

2 PM - 5 PM
March Leg 2; Highway 90 near the AL-MS State Line to the outskirts of Moss Point and Pascagoula, MS -- home of Senator">Trent Lott and the Pascagoula Naval Station

5 PM - 6 PM
Moss Point/Pascagoula Press Conference and Survivor Speak Out. Cynthia Seawright-Wright, a hurricane survivor and recovery organizer will introduce the work of Outreach of Love; Four local survivors will tell their stories; Iraq Veteran Jesus Bocanegra will introduce IVAW and talk about the war; and Dick Underhill of VFP will introduce VFP and talk about the war.

6 PM - TC (to completion)
Supper (Organized by Bible Study Baptist Church and Outreach of Love) and Socializing
Establish camp at Moss Point; Home Stays.
*******

15 MAR 06

6 AM
First Call. (This is a general wake-up call, done with three short blasts of an air horn. It will not be followed up. It’s just a courtesy alarm clock. The goal is to have everyone on the bus by 8 AM.)

6 AM - 8 AM
Coffee, Breakfast, Hygiene, Packing. Home stays return to camp.

8 AM - 9 AM
Shuttle to starting point, Leg 3 – Old Spanish Fort & Museum, Pascagula, MS. Message at Spanish Fort, delivered to press in remarks by IVAW member, Camilo Mejia. Just as the Spanish pushed out the Native Americans, the US Government is now trying to push out hurricane survivors. We cannot let this stand, and the military must not be used this way around the world or in the Gulf.

9 AM - 12 PM
March Leg 3; from Pascagoula to City Hall in Gautier, MS (pronounced Go-SHAY).

12 PM - 1 PM
Lunch. Local speak-out with three Gautier hurricane survivors.

1 PM - 1:30 PM
Shuttle to starting point, Leg 4 -- Hwy 90/Hwy 57 Junction, Ocean Springs, MS.

1:30 PM - 4 PM
March Leg 4; 90/57 Junction to Mississippi Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Ocean Springs.

4 PM - 4:30 PM
Vigil at MS Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Dave Cline, of Vietnam Veterans Against the War and National President of Veterans For Peace, will make remarks alongside a Vietnamese immigrant and hurricane survivor now living in Mississippi; emphasis on being in another wrong war. Larger group will leave individual flowers.

4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Press Conference at Macedonia Baptist Church" Benediction and welcome from Reverend Jesse Trotter, Bible Study Baptist Church -- Speakers from SOS and the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance. Black-Brown Unity is the theme. The contractors who hire Latino's are taking advantage of the poverty the US enforces abroad to exploit immigrant labor. The same contractors seized the contracts in both Iraq and the Gulf Coast. They abuse and refuse to pay immigrants because they can, and they can't with residents. Latino's are not the enemy. Black and Brown should unite against a common enemy... and it's not in Mexico or Central America. It's in the nation's capital. Reverend Jesse Trotter from Macedonia Baptist Church will speak for SOS. Victoria Cintra will speak for MIRA. Cynthia Wright, an African American survivor who lives in Ocean Springs will tell her story. Janeth Perez, a Latina survivor and worker will tell her story, as well as Melquiades Vicente (a 16-year-old injured worker) and Santos Moran (another injured worker) (with Victoria Cintra translating). Jose Vasquez of IVAW will MC, and provide concluding remarks about the war and his decision to become a conscientious objector.

5:30 PM - TC
Supper (Organized by Macedonia Baptist Church) & Socializing, Camp Preparation, Home Stays.
*******

16 MAR 06

6 AM
First Call. (This is a general wake-up call, done with three short blasts of an air horn. It will not be followed up. It’s just a courtesy alarm clock. The goal is to have everyone on the bus by 7:30 AM. There is a long shuttle this morning.)

6 AM - 7:30 AM
Coffee, Breakfast, Hygiene, Packing. Home stays return to camp.

7:30 AM - 9 AM
Long Shuttle around Biloxi Bay to starting point, Leg 5 -- Hwy 110/Hwy 90 Junction in Gulf Port, MS.

9 AM - 12 PM
March Leg 5; 110/90 Junction (Gulf Port) to Junction of HWY 90 and Cowan Road (along the beach).

12 PM - 1:30 PM
Lunch & ad hoc Interviews. Done on the beach. A simple stop along the road. Opportunity for short nap.

1:30 PM - 4:30 PM
March Leg 6; 90/Cowan Road Junction to ruined City Hall in Long Beach.
(THIS IS AN AREA OF EXTREME DAMAGE!)

4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Survivors' Speak-out, organized by Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church. Introductory remarks by Abbie Pickett (IVAW, an Iraq combat veteran cmparing what she sees in Long Beach and what she saw in Iraq) and Reverend Robert Landoor of Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church, followed by stories from three local survivors, first being Charles Guy.

5:30 PM - 6 PM
Shuttle to Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church, Long Beach, MS.

6 PM - TC
Supper (Prepared by Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church) & Socializing, Camp Preparation, Home Stays.
*******

17 MAR 06

6 AM
First Call.

6 AM - 7:30 AM
Coffee, Breakfast, Hygiene, Packing. Home stays return to camp.

7:30 AM - 9 AM
Long Shuttle to starting point, Leg 7 -- Zapporo's Bay Plaza, Washington St. & MWY 90, Waveland, MS.

9 AM - 12 PM
March Leg 7; Waveland to end of HWY 90 Service Road on right (app 8.5 miles).

12 PM - 1 PM
Lunch in the middle of nowhere. (No event – no pressure)

1 PM - 1:30 PM
Short Shuttle to starting point, Leg 8 -- Shamrock Drive/Hwy 90 Junction.

1:30 PM - 4:30 PM
March Leg 8; Shamrock/Hwy 90 to Camp Land-o-Peace, Slidell, LA. (This takes us up 190B to Slidell, left on HWY 11 [aka Front Street], turning right on Bayou Liberty Road.)

4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Press Conference with Bayou Liberty Relief. Niki Wilson makes opening remarks, emphasizing the failures of FEMA. (Native American spokesperson) follows with remarks. Two more local survivors will tell their stories. Final remarks by Geoffrey Millard (IVAW) and Darlene Williams (an Iraq Vet's Mother).

5:30 - TC
Press Conference (continued) & Cajun Cookout. Camp & Home Stays.
*******

18 MAR 06

6 AM
First Call.

6 AM - 8 AM
Coffee, Breakfast, Hygiene, Packing.

8 AM - 9 AM
Shuttle to Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge at end of Hwy 11 bridge over Lake Ponchartrain.

9 AM - 10 AM
Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge Press Conference. Environmental Justice advocates will join this, with a representative (Monique Hardin) who talks about saving the earth, and about Cancer Alley. Frank Corcoran, a Vietnam Veteran, will speak about Agent Orange, and Iraq Veteran Rafael Naboa about Depleted Uranium. Opening remarks from Monique Hardin (Advocates for Environmental Human Rights).

10 AM - 11 AM
Shuttle to starting point, Leg 9 -- 11/90 Intersection near Lake Ponchartrain.

11 AM - 12 PM
Early Lunch. No event.

12 PM - 3 PM
March Leg 9; 11/90 Intersection to Joe W. Brown Park, New Orleans, LA.

3 PM - TC
Veteran's Art Collective Event and camping in the park. Visual art displays, spoken word, music, drama, etc., from vets and hurricane survivors. Opening remarks by Cindy Sheehan (Gold Star Families for Peace), Michael Cuzzort (Iraq Veterans Against the War) and Dave Cline (Vietnam Veterans Against the War).
*******

19 MAR 06

6 AM
First Call.

6 AM - 7:30 AM
Coffee, Breakfast, Hygiene, Packing.

7:30 - 9 AM
Shuttle to starting point, Leg 10 (New Orleans) – Chalmette National Military Cemetery/Jean Lafitte Park (commemorating the Battle of New Orleans... we are inaugurating the Second Battle of New Orleans).

9 AM - 10 AM
A veteran each from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Covert Wars (Stan Goff), Gulf War I (Michael McPherson), and today's war (Alex Ryabov), each will give a brief bio, followed by remarks on the military and civilian casualties from these wars. Remarks by Cindy Sheehan (GSFP). A hurricane survivor advocate (Kali Williams?) will commemorate those who died in the storms or of neglect, hostility, and incompetence later.
*******

10 AM - 12:30 PM
March Leg 10; Chalmette Cemetery to Treme Community Center, New Orleans, LA.

12:30 PM
Enter the rally at
St. Augustine Church (New Orleans), already in progress.

NOTE: Rally begins at 10:30 AM with music and speakers. Tentative speakers list includes:

• Father Jerome LeDoux, St. Augustine's Catholic Church
• Paul Robinson, President, Veteran's For Peace (Mobile, Alabama Chapter)
• Michael Cuzzort, Iraq Veterans Against the War -- New Orleans Chapter)
• Vivian Felts, Saving Ourselves (SOS)
• Ward Reilly, Veterans For Pece & Vietnam Veterans Against the War
• (Baton Rouge)
• Ishmael Muhammad, People's Hurricane Relief Fund
• Stan Goff, Military Families Speak Out
• Malik Rahim, Common Ground Collective
• Cindy Sheehan, Gold Star Families for Peace
• Victoria Cintra, Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance
• Niki Wilson, Bayou Liberty Relief