Here are notes I made in preparation for
a new work to be exhibited in Gwangju this month (see
catalog of work I took there from the Pacific Northwest, North America)
Notes for
Domestic Violence/The War on Terror: Military Archeology 2 (JBLM)
dimensions: 52 x 183 cm
Media: acrylic, digital print, watercolor pencil, ink on paper
date: 2012
other titles in the series:
The Destruction of Cultural Heritage Disrupts Daily Life (Iraq)
Collateral Damage: Civilian Casualties at Fort Bragg
The Destruction of Cultural Heritage . . . (Afghanistan)
When will you be all you can?
An issue of public health
State of Siege
thinking about real estate values, mental health, part militarization resistance
Where have all the Flowers gone? (song by Marina Reynolds)
soldiers' tales
Port militarization resistance
anti-war organization May 2006
organized protests at Port of Olympia to block military transports from JBLM
2004 to May 2006- shipments made with protests
May 2006 3rd brigade 2nd infantry division US Army conveyed equipment including Strikers vehicles from Ft Lewis to Port of Olympia for loading on USS Pomeroy
protests met with arrest, pepper spray, rubber bullets, Laser
March 2007
Port of Tacoma, YouTube covered
4th brigade, 2nd infantry division US army from Ft Lewis
convoyed Strikers vehicles and other equipment to Tacoma for loading on USS Soderman
protests March 3,4 through 15, mostly at night
protesters arrested, rubber bullets shot, Taser
people arrested for asking questions, videotapes, backpack confiscated
speaking at Tacoma council, people then brought backpacks stuffed with copies of the Constitution
ref: You Tube "Film is Not a Crime"
rates of the incidents in crime and violence escalate near the base
Methamphetamine use has increased in Lakewood and surrounding municipalities. Allegations of war stress treatment disparities at the base arose when we learned that the alleged perpetrator of the Khandahar massacre had been based at Ft Lewis. Sixteen Afghani people were killed, 6 wounded and 9 casualties were children. Concerns increased that the costs of trading Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are the cause of downgrading diagnoses. Since 2003, 68 base service members have suicided. Two soldiers were charged were charged with waterboarding their own children.
In July 2009, John Lowery was outed for spying on anti-war activists for at least 2 years. He was contracted as a US Army informant for a protection unit. In 2007 Lt. Ehren Watada was court martialed for his refusal to deploy to Iraq. The first officer to refuse in this war, he was discharged in 2009. Lt. Watada served in Korea before he was stationed at Ft. Lewis. His parents are anti-war activists.
JBLM deploys massive amounts of matériel, now a major export of the US. Items include Stryker vehicles and large transport airplanes, C-17 Globemaster III, made by a division of Boeing,
which makes commercial planes in metropolitan Seattle.
Beginning in 2004, people protested Ft. Lewis weapon shipments through the civilian Port of Olympia, south of base. By 2006 Port Militarization Resistance organized to block JBLM military transports through the Ports of Olympia and Tacoma, . . . including Stryker vehicles to load on USNS Pomeroy and Soderman
inspired by the massive area dominated by the US and Korean military bases in South Korea and the bid to build a nuclear submarine base in Jeju. Dedicated to activists in Western Washington, at Coffee Strong, Okinawa, Jeju-do, Subic Bay who reclaim the land for peace.
In July 2012, the FBI raided activists' homes for black clothes, literature and computers. Currently the activists are under grand jury investigation and some are in jail.
