Perspectives

Standing against intolerance

Experiences of a military veteran attending UC Berkeley

By Javier Tenrio

From the May 2008 Print Edition

Being a veteran of the current war in Iraq and a student at UC Berkeley has to be one of the most awkward situations a person can find himself in. UC Berkeley’s past is very well-known for its Free Speech Movement history, images such as draft resisters marching to the Oakland Army Base to oppose the Vietnam War are a part of its culture. UC Berkeley, in my opinion, is the best educational institution in America, and was my top choice of schools to attend, but I had to really think about it before submitting my letter of intent. Transferring into the region known jokingly as the “People’s Republic of Berkeley” was not something I really looked forward to, but the unparalleled educational opportunity outweighed my reservations about Berkeley’s reputation.

Before I started classes at Cal, I was very hesitant about mentioning to anyone that I was a veteran of the armed forces. As I met new friends and became acquainted with organizations like the UC Transfer Student Center and the Cal Veterans Group, though, I began to lose this hesitancy. To my surprise, Cal turned out to be a fairly normal campus similar to any other university. It has a thriving College Republicans group, great diversity among the student population, and an unmatchable intellectual culture. We all have to admit that our campus is somewhat different in regard to the sanity of its denizens, but I consider them to be entertainment. The “Umbrella Guy” of Sproul Plaza and the treeoccupying protesters are just an example of what puts a smile on my face nearly every day.

Cal has actually been an exceptionally supportive campus when it comes to our troops and veterans. The people at the Transfer Student Center answered all of my questions about veterans’ benefits and they provided a warm welcome ceremony at the beginning of the school year. The Cal Veterans Group offers all military personnel and veterans a great support and social network like none other. These are the men and women I can turn to when the going gets tough. I am also a great supporter of the Berkeley College Republicans, whose 9/11 memorial in September and Support the Troops week last month were among the many ways they showed their patriotism and appreciation.

Walking off the campus and onto the streets of Berkeley is where the trouble begins. It wasn’t until last fall that I began to get a vibe that life in Berkeley would begin to change. Code Pink and World Can’t Wait set up shop in front of the Marine recruiting center in downtown Berkeley. They held up signs and yelled slogans, calling our Marines “intruders” and “killers.” To make matters worse, the Berkeley City Council supported Code Pink members in their efforts and joined them in calling the Marines “unwelcome intruders.” I had hoped that this would be a stage that Berkeley would soon get over, but I was wrong.

This past February, the City Council gave Code Pink a parking spot directly in front of the recruiting center, which Code Pink used to taunt and terrorize our Marines and anyone who walked through the center’s doors. Some people at Berkeley have trouble understanding why this would bother me. In simple terms, the explanation is this: My fellow veterans and I belong to a specific culture. To have a group like Code Pink taunt you and your comrades in an extremely vitriolic, highly inaccurate, and fanatical manner because of your membership in this culture, is nothing short of painful, depressing, and confusing — not to mention brutally ironic considering the genealogy of groups like Code Pink. This is especially true for the young men and women who have recently returned from the chaos of combat. The incoherence of Code Pink’s reasoning for these attacks only makes these men and women more bitter about the situation.

These protests in Berkeley are a painful reminder of the ignorance that the citizens of the Bay Area displayed when they spit in the faces of Vietnam War veterans. What reasoning could you have for spitting into the face of a person you don’t know and who fought to defend your freedom? Today, Code Pink calls us liars and traitors, and World Can’t Wait calls us murderers, rapists, and torturers — when they don’t know us at all. Since Vietnam, ignorance and fanaticism somehow have become traits of the left.

To be a student at Cal can be very stressful on its own, but to be a veteran and a student at Cal can at times be extremely difficult. I have made it a commitment to stand up for the patriotic Americans, students, and veterans who disagree with the views of this new far-left fringe element. I have joined BCR’s weekly Wednesday protests of Code Pink in front of the Marine recruiting center. At times there may be only two of us protesting Code Pink, but at the very least they will realize that the Marine recruiting center will never leave this town and that veterans and students like me will continue to stand against such intolerance. Semper Fi!

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