I have heard many people say, and I agree with them, that the moment that elevated Wisconsin's spring 2011 protests from a labor dispute to a historic event was the decision by union firefighters to join the protests. It's still early in the Occupy movement, but I have a feeling that when we look back a year from now, we will say the same things about the U.S. military veterans who have joined the occupations as we in Wisconsin now say about our firefighters.
There were many reasons why the support of the firefighters was critical in Wisconsin. First, they didn't just issue a statement. They joined the protests, in uniform, with flags, bagpipes, kilts, and drums. The firefighters were photogenic, both on video and in still photography. Their presence sent ripples of pride through the crowds that generated more visuals of joyful and determined public employees and their supporters standing tall together.
The firefighters didn't have to join the dispute. The changes in collective bargaining laws being debated at the time did not apply to their contracts. They didn't start the fight, as their association president put it at the time, but they volunteered to help finish it. They came out of choice, at great risk to their own contracts and their reputations, and that made it OK for others who were not immediately affected to join in simply because it was the right thing to do. The story went from labor versus management to neighbors helping neighbors.
It's not an exact parallel. The veterans are part of the 99%. Unlike Wisconsin firefighters, they have an immediate stake in their fight. Their concerns are routinely ignored by the powerful and their sacrifices too easily forgotten by many, but from what I've seen, the presence of veterans young and old, especially when they identify themselves as such with uniforms, pins, and flags, reassures the rest of the protesters. The veterans lend some extra legitimacy to the occupations.
Wisconsin firefighters brought energy, enthusiasm, and confidence to their protests. Veterans bring calm to the Occupy protests. They bring perspective. They've been through it before. They are leaders by example.
One thing the veterans at Occupy Boston did not have to do, but chose to do, was form a wall between police and peaceful protesters early in the morning of October 11, 2011. That took courage.
Thank you to the veterans who have made the struggles for peace and economic fairness their priorities. I know I always feel a little safer, a little prouder, and I yell a little louder when the Veterans for Peace and other veterans are marching nearby.
Inside the Wisconsin State Capitol, February, 2011
Freedom Plaza, Washington DC, October 2011
Near the Martin Luther King Memorial, Washington DC, October 2011
At occupy Boston 10/10/11, photo by Holly Ladd
At occupy Boston 10/10/11, photo by Holly Ladd
At occupy Boston 10/10/11, Photo by Jason Pramas for Open Media Boston, www.openmediaboston.org. Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2011 Jason Pramas.
In Madison, Wisconsin 5/14/11
The First Amendment, The Newseum, Washington DC