Unions supplying anti-war demonstrators at Walter Reed?

By Clarice Feldman

For some time Code Pink has been demonstrating against the war outside Walter Reed Hospital, to the great distress of the wounded soldiers and their families. This is simply unconscionable. Who are these people?

Brave counter-demonstrators have shown up regularly and voluntarily to show their support for the troops, and the Code-Pink crowd has dwindled. Among the regulars holding up the line for Code Pink is Bruce Wolfe, of local 2 of the Office and Professional Employees Union, who's called the soldiers "scabs". One of the counter-demonstrators reports:

This week, one of their newbies came by our troop-support rally at the gates by mistake, and spilled the truth: a labor union had recruited this worker to show up at the lefties' phony "vigil." The worker's remarks clearly revealed that standing outside the Walter Reed Army Medical Center with anti-war signs wasn't a personal choice, but a workplace commitment demanded by a union representative.

Our rally must have looked a lot more attractive, even at a glance-in fact, that's what this unionized worker said. I'm going to avoid describing this person's looks or gender, to avoid making trouble. Why? Because this office worker's confusion appeared sincere, revealing that the decision to be there wasn't intentional; in fact, the person didn't really seem to know what either demonstration was about.

When we explained that we were there to support the mission, having kicked their anti-war demonstration away from the gates many months ago, the worker said, "I'd better go over there [to the leftist's area] - I've already committed. I can only be there a half-hour, though." And when we said, "Come back any time," the worker spoke with pride about a relative's service in the military.

One wonders if the rank and file of the AFL-CIO or of Mr. Wolfe's union know what Mr. Wolfe is up to. Surely there are AFL-CIO members opposed to the war, but is their opposition so devoid of decency that they want their members recruited in an effort to torture those who were wounded in the service and their families?