'Raging Grannies' want to enlist, go to Iraq

gldstwmn · #1 07-22-2005, 02:12 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/07/22/rag....ap/index.html

TUCSON, Arizona (AP) -- A group of anti-war senior citizens calling themselves the "Tucson Raging Grannies" say they want to enlist in the U.S. Army and go to Iraq so that their children and grandchildren can come home.

Five members of the group -- which is associated with the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom -- are due in court Monday to face trespassing charges after trying to enlist at a military recruitment center last week.

The group has protested every week for the last three years outside the recruitment center.

"We went in asking to be sent to Iraq so our kids and grandchildren can be sent home, but rather than listening to us, they called the police," said 74-year-old Betty Schroeder. "It was their place to tell us the qualifications, but they wouldn't even speak to us. They should've said, `You're too old."'

Schroeder said her group may approach the Pentagon to see if they could be sent to Iraq.

Nancy Hutchinson, spokeswoman at the Army recruiting headquarters in Phoenix which oversees Tucson's recruiters, said people who disagree with the war should be contacting their legislators instead of bothering recruiters.

"They need to direct their frustrations at people who have the power to change things," Hutchinson said. "Recruiters don't make policy and they can't change policy. They have a job to do and they are following orders."

Schroeder said she hopes the trespassing charges will be dropped and an apology given to the group from the Tucson Police Department and from the recruiters.

"This was not a performance, a joke or civil disobedience," she said. "This was an enlistment attempt."

DrummerDeanna · #2 07-22-2005, 02:18 PM

LOL - we have a "Raging Grannies" group here too - they dress in stereotypical granny clothes and write songs about the wrongs of the death penalty etc...they're HILARIOU!!

I thought this was them at first....good to know it's another group of grannies

gldstwmn · #3 07-22-2005, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

LOL - we have a "Raging Grannies" group here too - they dress in stereotypical granny clothes and write songs about the wrongs of the death penalty etc...they're HILARIOU!!

I thought this was them at first....good to know it's another group of grannies

I can picture myself with these ladies like 30 years from now.

sara1998 · #4 07-22-2005, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

I can picture myself with these ladies like 30 years from now.

Well, it's a little more interesting then the Red Hat Society.

hayley · #5 07-22-2005, 03:56 PM

I marched next to a couple of chapters of the Raging Grannies a few years ago at the A20 gathering in D.C.- they were so awesome. Boundless energy and spirit. Good for them. A couple of them let us borrow their canes to use in our drum corps. They rocked.

**mylittledemon** · #6 07-23-2005, 08:13 PM

I think those grannies should channel their aggression into other more useful forms of expression. I've got an idea...I think they should all start doing a series of pornographic movies and call it "Gulping Grannies." ROFL!

I know that was trashy, but I just had to get it out of my system.

golddustdragon · #7 07-24-2005, 01:56 PM

Wait, if they're a peace group, then what's the point of enlisting to protect their children and grandchildren. They would still have to fight. Kind of stupid. Good intentions, but it would be better if no one had to fight in the war at all.

gldstwmn · #8 07-24-2005, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by golddustdragon

Wait, if they're a peace group, then what's the point of enlisting to protect their children and grandchildren. They would still have to fight. Kind of stupid. Good intentions, but it would be better if no one had to fight in the war at all.

They know they're not going to be inducted. They're doing this to make a point a draw attention to their cause, which is a good one.