On December 2, Ruth Fowler joined a convoy of approximately 4,500 veterans heading to North Dakota in response to a plea put out by Michael Wood Jr. and Wesley Clarke Jr. for fellow vets to support Standing Rock water protectors and provide frontline relief. ‘Veterans for Standing Rock’ was initially set up as a GoFundMe to support the several hundred vets the two believed might answer their call. No one quite thought the camps at Standing Rock would be besieged by over four thousand veterans on the same weekend.
Here’s the story in pictures – we’ll have an essay to follow by Ruth in the forthcoming CounterPunch magazine. – Joshua Frank
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Former Combat Medic Christa McDermont takes selfies with the other veterans’ wives shortly before boarding a bus at Union Station, headed to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota with a cargo of 25 veterans, five civilians and many donations.
USAF Vet Sharne Matson, a mother of four, looks rested as she takes her seat on a bus journey which was estimated to take 22 hours. After the first driver takes multiple wrong turns, nearly hits several vehicles and freezes everyone by blasting the a/c throughout the night, the journey extended into 30 hours.
Around 4am, the bus stops outside a hotel in Utah for the bus driver to swap out for a new driver. Anthony Aragon, wrapped in a sleeping bag, stretches his legs with the other vets before bedding down for the night.
The Veterans wake up the next…