Yountville veterans warn the militarization of cities will ‘end in tragedy’
A crowd of some 40 veterans and supporters gathered in Yountville on Saturday, Sept. 20, to rally against President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles and Washington D.C. and his threats to send troops to more cities across the U.S.
At the rally, locals greeted each other, discussing politics as folk songs played from a small sound system. Many held signs, some reading “stop this regime” and “veterans against stationing troops in our cities.”
“As a veteran myself, I can say: we don’t belong out there. Innocent people could very well die,” said rally organizer and veteran David Boone.
The rally was an array of voices and forms of protest combined into one hot afternoon at Veterans Memorial Park. Locals heard words from veterans and a speech from U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, (CA-4), and Yountville Vice Mayor Robin McKee who led the crowd in a rendition of The Youngblood’s 1967 peace ballad “Get Together.”
Saturday’s message was: Trump’s decision to bring trained soldiers to city streets spells trouble, and the time for complacency is over.
“Our democracy is slipping away,” John Doernbecher, a Yountville resident and veteran, told the crowd. Doernbecher was 24 years old when he served in the Vietnam War. “Today, I’m older and wiser,” he said. “Having troops in our cities will likely end in tragedy.”
In June, Trump sent some 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles to intervene in anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protests and what he called “third-world lawlessness.” Nearly 300 of those troops remain. In August, the president cleared the way for the deployment of more than 2,500 National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., where they continue to patrol the streets.
Recently, a federal court ruled that Trump’s deployment of troops to Los Angeles was illegal.
“The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 makes it illegal to [deploy the National Guard] except in very special, extreme situations,” Doernbecher said. “And, it typically requires congressional consent. Those conditions do not apply today.”
For Boone, seeing the National Guard’s presence this summer on city streets compelled him to put together the event. “Troops need to be watching out for our national interest, not walking the beat,” he said. “That’s not what they’re trained to do. It’s a show of force.”
Boone is part of a group of outspoken local vets known as Yountville Veterans. Most of them live at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville, the largest facility of its kind in the country, housing some 800 veterans. Many of those in the group got their start protesting the Vietnam War during the 1970s, even after serving multiple tours.
For each of the vets, the deployment of National Guard troops to select U.S. cities harkened back to one specific horrific memory.
“Kent State,” said Boone. “They put a bunch of National Guards out there – armed. They didn’t have the slightest idea what they were doing. When they felt threatened, one guy started shooting.”
In May 1970, the National Guard was summoned to Kent State University to quell ongoing protests against the Vietnam War. National Guardsmen opened fire, killing four college students and injuring nine others.
“That’s the sort of thing that can happen when you have untrained people doing something they shouldn’t be doing in the first place,” Boone said.
This summer, Trump threatened to send National Guard troops to cities across the U.S., including Oakland, Chicago, New Orleans and New York City. Notably, said Rep. Thompson, all these cities have Democratic mayors.
“You don’t just pick out cities that are governed by the party that is not your party and send the military in to make elected officials in those areas look bad,” the congressman told the crowd. “It is outrageous.”
Thompson, who lives in Washington, D.C., told the American Canyon Current that he sees National Guard troops around the city. Not only are they not trained in day-to-day police matters, he said, they are also away from their families for seemingly no reason.
“There were three National Guard troops walking up a residential street on Capitol Hill near my house talking to each other. It’s catty-corner from a police satellite station,” Thompson said.
“It’s not a high crime area. They’re just walking up the street. And they’re away from their families. Every time I see them standing around, I just have to ask: ‘Why?’
“Remember,” added Rep. Thompson, “this is the guy who wouldn’t call out the National Guard on January 6.”
Yountville Veterans are gearing up for a big turnout for the “No Kings” protest coming next month, Oct. 18.
