Marcia Ball: Report from Camp Casey

This from Marcia Ball, the Austin-based blues pianist and singer. Marcia and her husband, Gordon Fowler, a twice-wounded Marine veteran who served with me in Vietnam, visited Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas on Wednesday. She's on her way back this afternoon:

Dear friends,

This is a note which I hope you will pass along about Cindy Sheehan’s vigil in Crawford. As most of you know, Cindy had to leave yesterday because her mother had a stroke. Still, most of the people who had gathered around her there are continuing the demonstration.

There are Gold Star Mothers, Military Families Speak Out, Code Pink and many individuals who have lost family members in the war in Iraq or who have people serving there now. A land-owner close to the Bush “ranch” has opened his property to the Peace House movement, allowing the group to get out of the ditch beside the road.

Many people from all over the country and the world have been amazingly generous. Supplies come in regularly. Of course, funds are appreciated. Today, Sarah Brown and I are going to go play some music out at Camp Casey. My band offered to go but there is concern that this is not a celebration and that we need to be sensitive to the reasons behind the gathering. But what’s a protest without a folk-singer? If there is a stage, we’re going to hit it about 7PM. If not, we’re playing anyway.

There are rumors about Steve Earle, James McMurtry and even Joan Baez showing up during the weekend. Solid information is hard to come by. This is such a grass-roots event that people are pitching in for a day or a week, whatever they can do. It’s wonderful to see and the answer to my wish that there was something within reach that I could do that was louder than a bumper sticker on my car.

There it is.

There are quite a few websites with information including www.crawfordorbust.com and www.crawfordpeacehouse.org or you can Google crawfordorbust and get some blogs.

The real information that I can give is this:To get to Peace House from Austin, take I-35 to Belton and exit at Exit 293A, go left and follow signs for Highway 317. Take 317 north through Moody and McGregor and on up into Crawford. Once there, on 5th Street take a right and go over the railroad tracks. Peace House is on the left, hard to miss. They are shuttling people out to Camp Casey and this works quite well or they will give you directions. In the unlikely event that there’s nobody home at Peace House, go back on 5th Street which is Highway 185 and follow it west about 9 miles to Canaan Church Road. If you do this, though, parking may be a problem, there may be a long walk involved or you could be turned back.

You will notice, of course, that many of the neighbors are not enjoying our presence.

We hope that if you’ve wanted to make a statement against the war and in support of the troops, against the president and for our country you will come up to Crawford and stand with the mothers and fathers and veterans there. It may be a cluster but it’s a heartfelt expression of the will of an increasing majority of the American people and it’s in our backyard. We’re ragged but we’re right.

Thank you, Cindy.

Sincerely,

Marcia Ball