La Crosse became a crossroads last week for two groups of travelers moving through the American landscape during a war.

The first group, a father and his two sons, were on their way from Queens in New York, to San Francisco, raising awareness about fatherhood and promoting changes in the law to empower men to take part in raising their children.
Florida natives Gene Floyd, 39, and his sons, Stefan, 19, and Joshua, 16, encountered the other group when they picked up the Tribune on Wed-nesday.

On the front page was a photo of war protesters walking from Chicago to St. Paul, where the Repub-lican National Convention will be held.

While Gene is an Air Force veteran, Stefan is in the Army Reserve, and Joshua plans to join the Air Force after high school, all three said they supported the protesters — not just their right to protest, but also the sentiment that the Iraq war is wrong.

“I’m against war, but I also recognize it’s sometimes a necessary evil,” Gene said. “I just don’t think the current Iraqi war is one of those times.”

Stefan, who joined the Reserves in the spring and plans to enlist after college, said there’s a rumor his unit is going to Iraq in September.

“I’m not really for the war, but since I did sign up for the military, I’m going to do what’s possible to help out,” he said.

“It’s his duty,” his father added.

The three left La Crosse on Wednesday.

Thursday night at the La Crosse Public Library, the group of 10 war protesters called for an end to further funding for U.S. military action in Iraq, for support of veterans and for funding for the reconstruction of Iraq.

In the library basement, Paul Melling, a veteran with the group, talked about firing bullets where Iraqi civilians were, and how the phrase “two in the heart, one in the mind” — referring to bullets — was repeated in his unit.

After he spoke to a group of about 50, a local Vietnam veteran approached him and the two left the room to speak in the hallway.

Don Gaunky, 25, an Iraq war veteran whose brother died in Iraq in 2005, attended the event, and contended that when people call the war “immoral” and “illegal,” America’s enemies use that as justification to kill Americans.

Renee Espeland, 47, one of the walkers, commended Gaunky for coming.

“Here’s a soldier who has served two tours and lost a brother,” she said. “It’s not about necessarily agreeing all the time as much as it’s about staying in relationship.”

The walkers emphasized they held Republicans and Democrats responsible for the war.

What I liked about these two groups passing through town is that, unlike those two parties so often are, these people weren’t totally predictable.

Gene, for instance, voted for Reagan, Bush Sr., never for Clinton, never for Bush Jr., and plans to vote for Obama.

But in encountering all of this war and anti-war activity, I’m also reminded that this sad belief, expressed by Gene, still dominates us: “This war will end like all other wars. We’ll still have a military. We’ll still have enemies to defend against.”

You can read more here: www.rideforfatherhood.org and www.vcnv.org.

Joe Orso can be reached at (608) 791-8429 or jorso@lacrossetribune.com.

.

More Columnists Stories: Larry Olson: Grumpy? Not these groovin’ guys Joe Orso: Nourishing people from Pine Ridge to WSU Curt Trnka: All I want for Thanksgiving is ... a shooting range? K J Lang: Promoting education is reason to give thanks So long, John; good riddance, Sarah Jerome Christenson: Finding the gratitude in Thanksgiving Dan Springer: Even the best programs come with a cost Larry Olson: For whom the school bell tolls Joe Orso: The Earth Charter inspires Ryan Stotts: Discovering the value of 90 minutes

Advertisement