header

 

ARTICLES OF INTEREST

Pentagon, Big Pharma: Drug Troops to Numb Them to Horrors of War

Army Suicides Highest in 26 Years

120 War Vets Commit Suicide Each Week

Resistance in the Ranks

 

Arlington North

A tribute to the United States and Canadian soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan


Antiwar support
at Different Drummer Café

LETTER FROM A SOLDIER IN IRAQ:
WHY ARE WE HERE?

"Iraq in Fragments": A Glimpse of Life Under Occupation

Soldier's Signs of Suicide Not Acted On

Different Drummer Cafe Welcomed the IVAW Bus Tour to Ft. Drum
July 8-9!

"Purple Heart" draws audiences,
attention and acclaim

Army Drops AWOL Charges Agaiinst Army Medic
Eugene Cherry

Different Drummer Supports Appeal for Redress: Petitions Available for Signing

View video of
IVAW BBQ, Watertown July 8, 2007

vvaw picnic

Different Drummer Cafe
To Assist Ft Drum Soldiers in Filing Formal
Complaint Against Army's Effort to
Bar them from Disability Advice

 

Listen to the story on-line

 

Base Mental Health Practices Should be Investigated

Open Letter to Major General James Terry, Commander, 10th Mountain Div., Ft Drum Asking Him to Convene an Official Investigation of Base Mental Health Practices for War Veterans Considered at Risk for Suicide or Homicide


Iraq War Veteran at Ft Drum
Accused of Stabbing two other
Ft Drum Soldiers to Death

map cartoon

Suspect Joshua Hunter (right) had served a 15 month combat tour in Iraq, returning home in August.


Fun Times at Fort Drum: My Story

map cartoon

After is all said and done, its a damn shame how this all turned out. You bleed for your country and try to do your best and you just get fucked in the end.


josh barber Army suicides rise as time spent in combat increases

"He went to Fort Lewis to kill himself to prove a point," Kelly Barber says. " 'Here I am. I was a soldier. You guys didn't help me.' "


A Focus on Violence by Returning G.I.’s

...the number of servicemen implicated in violent crimes has raised alarm...


U.S. soldier seeks asylum in Germany

andre shepherd"We went to war basically for nothing," said Shepherd, of Cleveland. "There's no way I would go back for a second tour with the information that I have since received."

Germany should grant him asylum, Shepherd said, because of its strong opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

 


AWOL Afghan War Vet Trevor L. from Ft Drum Surrendered at Different Drummer December 4:
He Left in Search of Mental Health Care

View his statement to the Ithaca Common Council, requesting active support as he returns to base and potentially faces criminal charges.


different drummer animation

Our cafe is designed to provide active duty and reserve military personnel and families at Ft. Drum with an inviting, comfortable, and warm place to socialize, listen to music and enjoy other live entertainment. Soldiers will also have access to legal counselling, a bookstore, and a regular program of film showings and discussions on current issues.

Check out all the great upcoming events


Network of GI Support Grows:
Two New Coffeehouses for Soldiers to Open

spring festival march

Coffeehouse/Counselling centers for Soldiers will open near Ft. Lewis, WA and Ft. Hood, TX in the next two weeks.

The "Coffee Strong" cafe next to Ft. Lewis will provide educational programs, entertainment and GI rights counselling as well as links to psychological and legal support for Ft. Lewis personnel and their families. Coffee Strong also makes a mean cup of coffee! (Also see GI Coffee House Coming Soon next to Ft. Lewis;
Tod Ensign to speak
)

The "Under the Hood" project, adjacent to Ft. Hood TX will also offer social programs, counselling and legal referral to servicemembers from Ft Hood--the Army's largest base. (Also see Under The Hood: An Anti-War GI Coffeehouse in Texas)

These new projects join "The Different Drummer" internet cafe, a GI counselling project near Ft. Drum in upstate New York. In its third year of operation, the "Drummer" salutes the new arrivals and will actively share information and project ideas with them

All three projects plan to aid activists who're seeking to launch similar operations at other military bases during 2009.

More info: Tod Ensign, Ft Drum, N Y (212) 679-2250
Seth Manzel, Ft Lewis, WA (253) 228-8912
Alice Embree, Ft Hood, TX (512) 740-4819

 

AS THE MOVEMENT GROWS

Coming to Killeen: A GI coffeehouse in the grand tradition

The Oleo Strut Coffeehouse
And The G.I. Antiwar Movement

Did the GI Movement End the Vietnam War?
And What is the real legacy of the GI Coffeehouses?



 

different drummer animation

BRAD GASKINS ARESTED:

View Channel 9 Report on Brad Gaskins

Associated Press:
AWOL Soldier Seeking Treatment Arrested

New York Times:
Sargent Fled Army, but Not the War in His Head

THE DEVALUED CURRENCY OF TRUTH
By Robert C. Koehler
Tribune Media Service

A soldier punished for seeking help

gaskins arrested
Gaskins arrested at the Different Drummer by Ft. Drum police despite trying to surrender



WRITER LOOKING AT GI RESISTANCE
SEEKS YOUR STORIES


iraq vets rally

"Soldiers and Civilians Speak Out" rally in Syracuse drew thousands and was viewed as the biggest antiwar demonstration in Syracuse since the Viet Nam War. The event was organized by Iraq Veterans Against the War-Ft. Drum and Campus Antiwar Network.
View more pictures...


"SEND OFF" PARTY AT DIFFERENT DRUMMER

familyOn Saturday night, September 1st, active duty members of the Iraq Vets Against War chapter on Ft Drum hosted a "Send Off" party at the Different Drummer internet cafe for some of the 3,500 members of the 1st Brigade who are being sent back to Iraq for what may be another fifteen month tour. Eli, one of the IVAW members from Drum estimated that as many as 35% of the troops in this brigade are deploying on their third combat tour(!)

Several musical groups as well as individual performers made for a lively party and organizers estimated that about eighty people, many of them GIs, partied late into the night. Another brigade from the 10th Mountain is due home in November, after a fifteen month tour. IVAW members believe that they will be open to seriously questioning further deployments in the future. Arison Cain, the Drummer's coordinator concluded; "This was the most successful event we've had at the cafe since I've been involved."

ARMY MAY BRING ON A NEW BRIGAGE
Fort Drum on short list for 4,000 more troops.

ONE BRIGADE MOVES OUT, ANOTHER IN


 

Our Mission

 

TO PROMOTE
the free and uncensored exchange of ideas and information among active duty and reserve military personnel and civilians.

This includes, but isn't limited to, issues of war and peace, foreign policy, the military mission of our soldiers both at home and abroad, and the proper balance between the rights of citizen soldiers and military authority in a democratic society.

 

TO PROVIDE
accurate information, referrals, and counseling regarding the rights and duties of America's service members under U.S.
and international law.

 

TO ENTERTAIN
servicemembers, civilians, and their families with performances of music, dance, comedy, rap,

poetry, and authors'
readings reflecting a wide variety of viewpoints.

 

 


The Different Drummer Internet Cafe is a project of
Citizen Soldier
267 Fifth Ave., #901, New York, N Y 10016
(212) 679-2250 www.citizen-soldier.org

Different Drummer Cafe, 12 Paddock Arcade, 1 Public Square, Watertown NY 13601 Phone 315-782-0595


josh barber Army suicides rise as time spent in combat increases

"He went to Fort Lewis to kill himself to prove a point," Kelly Barber says. " 'Here I am. I was a soldier. You guys didn't help me.' "