Better Know an IVAW Board Candidate: Cameron White.
I know you’ve enjoyed the three deadbeats we have chronicled so far, Matthis, Bonehead and Kipling’s retarded nephew. (I forget his name, and am on a deadline.) Anyway, IVAW Members are getting to vote for 6 of 8, and those 3 all suck. And I know you have all been waiting anxiously for me to bash the next candidate.
Well, not gonna do it. I wanted to. But, I actually like this guy. (Except his first name, which is my middle name, and one I have always hated.) But first, a little background.
Obviously I would consider Ms. Coppa a friend. And I respect her. Yeah, the whole fluffy bunny and unicorn thing gives me a serious case of the monkey ass too, but she really is a nice girl, and a lovely person. One other IVAW member that I surprisingly like quite a bit is Logan Laituri. Logan served in Iraq, and then came to find his religious views did not conform with what he was doing. But, this is what impressed me about Logan:
Laituri hoped to return to Iraq when his unit was called back to action. He wanted to serve as an unarmed noncombatant, as conscientious objectors have in previous wars. However, his request was denied; his commanding officers thought he was being dishonest and was trying to avoid service. Laituri said watching his unit deploy with out him was one of the most difficult moments in his life.
Anyway, that strikes me as the way to go about it. Logan showed up at The Sniper one time too, so major Kudos to him for that. I also like Jenn Hogg (my new email pal), Perry O’Brien (from my home state of Maine), even former ED Kelly Daugherty. And obviously we’ve attracted our fair share of refugees here now. But look, I disagree on the war, disagree on reparations, but I absolutely agree on their third plank: Full benefits, adequate healthcare (including mental health), and other supports for returning servicemen and women.
So, I disagree with all IVAW on some issues, but the reason I *HATE* some of them is that the one point we should agree on I don’t see some of them involved in. Matthis for instance, do you think he’s helped a single one of our brothers and sisters? Hell no. Kokesh? He advises them to store piss in the fridge, and spouts crazy conspiracies when he mixes meds and alcohol. Bonomo or whatever his name is? He got schooling on our dime, and now spends his days shitting on all our friends in uniform.
Now, make no mistake, I doubt Cameron White and I would be bosom pals, going golfing together on a Sunday morning. He’s a bit….odd. Not bad mind you, I am a lot odd, but his life has taken him in a radically altered direction than mine.
He served for 4 years in the USMC, leaving as a CPL after 2 OIF deployments. Right now he is “starting a 501(c)3 dedicated to alternative forms of assisting vets in dealing with combat trauma.” And he belongs to:
Veterans for Peace, Save Darfur Coalition, IAVA, Zen Peacemakers, Iraq Veterans for Progress…Member Coordinator – IVAW-LA – Participated in several rally’s and gatherings, Camp Casey Alumni, Operation W.A.N.T and more.
So again, we might not have much in common. Here is his platform statement on his campaign:
Having been a member of IVAW since late 2005, I have seen this organization go through many changes. There have been both successes and failures. Recently, many members have felt that the organization has lost its usefulness, or purpose. I don’t see it that way. I believe that we can capitalize on our success, regroup, restrategize [sic] and emerge from this next conference with a renewed vigor to strive towards our 3 points of unity. We need sustainability and we have many fresh faces with new ideas on how to get the message out and continue the work of bringing an end to the Wars and Occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. I want to see that that happens in the most efficient and useful way possible. That is why I am running for the board.
Kind of heavy on boilerplate and light on specific points for my liking, but hard to argue with too much in there. But unlike every other candidate we have profiled so far, whether you like the means by which he goes about this or not, his dedication to his brothers and sisters in need is above reproach:
My recent board or committee experience comes from my time as a Department Service Officer for the Disabled American Veterans, where I was on the VA committee to address the issues and concerns with OIF/OEF veterans. I have also gained experience along the communication lines involved when I began the endeavor to start my own 501(c)3 and traveled to South America and began work on a project to build a Buddhist Monastery and healing center.
… I have a good amount of contacts who work for non-profits that are geared towards assisting veterans. These include the Disabled American Veterans, National Veterans Foundation, Step Up 4 Vets and the IAVA. Also, I believe that being in Los Angeles, we have an untapped resource in the wealth and celebrity that exists here.
Now, like I said, we might not go golfing together, but I would absolutely love to grab a beer with this guy some time. Sounds like he leads an interesting life, and who among us doesn’t like to enjoy a frothy Guinness with a fellow veteran? Here is his IVAW profile:
In 2007 he walked across the U.S.-Mexican Border in New Mexico on a Peace pilgrimage with his Zen Buddhist teacher Claude AnShin Thomas. (AnShin is a Vietnam Veteran, Zen Buddhist Monk, and author of: “At Hell’s Gates, A Soldiers Journey from War to Peace.”)
He’s not really a hippy, but he’s got that kinda feel to him from his writing. Sort of like the Kung Fu: The Legend Continues guy (minus the rope around his neck and junk).
Currently he is in South America coordinating efforts to build a spiritual center for healing and transformation. He is also working on a project in the United States to teach veterans alternative ways to deal with PTSD, such as meditation, yoga and art.
When I got back from A-stan I went on vacation with a fellow squad leader to Belize. We went to Tikal and Guatemala, and climbed on the rocks in a blinding rain storm with the jungle all around. It was incredibly spiritual in a non-religious sort of way. And, in a weird way, I felt like that day sort of cleansed me. I know that sounds weird, but I really would love to go back and spend a week just walking around that jungle.
And I am totally down with other cultures and religions, particularly the various philosophical under-pinnings. Now, I might not go to an Ashram or anything, but I do like the thought that if someone needs help, and a higher being provides that comfort, or even a belief in a different source of inspiration, I welcome that aid to any of our wounded comrades.
I tried to see if I could get some more info on some of the projects Cameron is running. I honestly am interested. Again, might not be the way I would deal with things, but this isn’t really about me. So, Cameron, if you do read this, pitch in some of your stuff in the comments.
But, if you are a IVAW member out there, I don’t know that you could do any better than with Cameron on the board. He obviously has a depth of character and empathy about veterans which is sorely lacking in the other asshats we’ve discussed already.
Category: Politics
“but I absolutely agree on their third plank: Full benefits, adequate healthcare (including mental health), and other supports for returning servicemen and women.”
That’s the biggest problem with that organization, they have done absolutely NOTHING when it comes to pushing for full benefits or adequate healthcare. You would think they would have backed the New GI Bill, but they didn’t come out for it until it was even passed, I bet these fools had no idea what it was about.
That third blank is just for show, to make them look alittle legitimate, but its really a joke. They don’t give a shit about vets.
Agreed, and if you actually pushed that plank, you would have a lot more viability I believe. When the wars end, you will ONLY have that plank. You can always argue for reparations, but actually basing a movement on that won’t work. So, if IVAW is going to continue to exist, they are going to have to finally take that plank seriously, and not just in the “yeah, but we hug each other at WSI” way.
The ISO inclined members don’t really care about that plank. They’re more for the Matthis type stuff where they shift focus and start talking about racism, Palestine, and sexism. That is how a large portion of IVAW’s membership sees the organization being relevant in the future. Those members who hold that point of view, it should be noted, are the ones with prominence and name recognition in IVAW. Those who want to see a focus on the third plank have some battles ahead.
I think that when this board election is over and they start making moves, we’ll see whether they decided to focus on taking care of vets, or whether they decided to focus on bitching about what they think is wrong with capitalism and American society.
Jeff, you know I agree with you on a lot of things, but this is one of the ones I have to come out swinging on. IVAW has absolutely taken on the plank of veterans care, and I know because I’ve been personally involved with it.
1) Creating a mental health database of providers all over the country who are willing to work with veterans for free or cheap-cheap-cheap
2) Homefront Battle Buddies
3) We absolutely campaigned for the 9/11 GI Bill even before it was public. I remember personally lobbying Senators and Congresspeople, and was even talking to them in the months right before when they were being all coy about “Webb’s got something you would like….I can’t tell you what…call this guy…”
When it became public, there was a spread in SITREP explaining precisely why the post 9/11 GI Bill was the best of the bunch. Members continued to lobby and call Congress, and I believe the DC guys visited them. Some of us continued slogging even when other supposed veteran supporters were bitching that Jim Webb just wanted to steal away military strength by making the benefits so good everyone would want to get out.
4) The papers we presented to McCain included a lot of really important veterans care planks that we were trying to get him to, if elected, commit to. Granted, he wasn’t elected, and granted, we didn’t realize Obama had no intention of committing to that stuff, but that’s more a stupidity error than a lack of caring error.
5) Warrior Writers and the various other creative projects dealing with combat trauma?
Also, TSO, those hugs totally creep you out, don’t they? 🙂
Well, since the conference has now come to and end, I feel I can comment on this page.
I was elected to the IVAW board, and I thank the voting members for their support. With that said, I have already begun a dialog with another board member, Adrienne Kinne, whom is a VA employee, and we are going to be working on formulating some strategies that are specific to the issues with Veterans healthcare and benefits. One strategy in particular is the electronic transfer of records between the DOD and the VA. They are already talking about this issue, which would ease the burden for veterans of registering at the VA. The biggest hurdle seems to be that the VA likes the current system because it allows them to save money and be the “gate keepers”.
Another project that I am helping foster is being spearheaded by a fellow IVAW member. This is a project to train and place service dogs with veterans.
This issue (Benefits and Healthcare for Vets) is very close to my heart and I can GUARANTEE you that I will be pushing IVAW to take a more defined and visible stance on how they are willing to help correct the current problems.
I am a direct action person. You can present ideas to legislators until you’re blue in the face, but it is much more effective to just have Vets come up with their own projects and establish programs to fill the gaps. Then we can do much of the work ourselves while we wait for the government lackey’s to catch up and follow our lead.