by
NARR: It's easy to walk by the military recruiting center at 157 Chambers Street and not notice it- its entrance is flush with other storefronts on the block and no one seems to linger outside, except for the occasional Marine or soldier smoking a cigarette. But once you are looking for it, signs emerge: A neon red 1-800-Marines sign in the window resembles a "no vacancy" sign at a motel…several cars parked on the block have government plates and "Go Army" decals on the side. War protestors have targeted this site, but military hopefuls seek it out, too. On Wednesday afternoon, a 20-year-old from the Bronx is at the center for a follow-up visit. He says his first visit to the center was about a month ago. He walks out onto the sidewalk for a break.
ACT: I'm with the Marine Corps, gettin' ready to go to basic, boot camp.
NARR: He won't give his name and is worried that recruiters inside will see that he's talking to a reporter on the sidewalk…he says his family isn't concerned about him joining the Marines.
ACT: My family came from people who weren't going anywhere with their lives, so anywhere is good, I guess, I don't know, they don't know any better, they don't watch the news, they're stuck in their own world.
NARR: He is switching to the Marines after being in the Navy Reserves, which he said wasn't intense enough. He says having a gun in the Marine Corps appeals to him, but also,
ACT: …discipline, brotherhood and camaraderie, you know.
NARR: This young recruit says doesn't judge the war and he knows he may be deployed to Iraq or Aghanistan.
ACT4: The war…we don't ask questions, it's just part of the job, you know?
NARR: He says recruiters don't mislead him about what military service- as protesters allege recruiters do- because he has already been in the service, and they won't outright lie to him…then, he sees a Navy recruiter come outside and he gets nervous.
ACT6: Ooooo, man…I think I'm going to have to cut that short.
NARR: Shortly, two Marines come outside and approach me and the recruit and ask what's going on. They say to him, "You're not saying anything for publication are you?" The recruit goes back inside…This recruitment center draws 20-somethings on OPPOSITE sides of the war debate. To counter the Marine recruit who says he's "doing his part" for the country, there are others his age trying to PREVENT him from getting in the door. Two weeks ago…more than 50 college students under the banner of Students for a Democratic Society staged a protest at this exact site- TWENTY who sat inside the recruiting center for more than two hours were arrested and charged with criminal trespass. John Cronan, a 23-year-old Pace University student, was one of them. He's been arrested NINE times for various anti-war activities and acts of protest, and says this was one of the BEST actions he's been a part of.
ACT: JOHN: It was symbolic in a way but it also had a direct effect…that day there weren't going to be any more people being lied to by military recruiters or being suckered in to go fight the war in Iraq or Afghanistan.
NARR: Cronan says HE considered joining the military- he wanted to do special forces in the Marines- but says he had an awakening about the ills of the government when he was 18- and now is FIGHTING recruitment. Another protester at the sit-in was Matt De-VLIEGER a college student visiting from Florida. Like the camaraderie the Marine recruit says he's looking for in the Marines, DeVlieger says HE felt a community among the protesters.
ACT: MATT: For some people, it was their first action, and they went to jail for 20 hours, I mean I think that's incredible, the commitment…it's not the end, it's just the beginning for these people.
NARR: Despite wanting to protest, Matt DOESN'T like being around military recruiters. He sees the recruitment centers as one of the centers of the military's KILLING MACHINE.
ACT: MATT: When I'm uncomfortable, I try to make jokes. But I am uncomfortable being in buildings like that, I'm uncomfortable knowing I'm in the headquarters of such a place.
NARR: Bruce Howard, the spokesman for the 40+ Navy recruiting centers in New York and New Jersey says protests don't affect the work that goes on at recruiting centers, though protestors say by doing a sit-in at a recruiting center, they are preventing anyone from joining at that moment.
ACT: HOWARD: We continue doing our business, you know, we're always looking for the best and brightest young men and women in the United States.
NARR: But back on Chambers Street, a security guard on the block, Curtis Sterling, says the "business" of the recruiting center can be disrupted at a moment's notice. Sterling was an eye witness to the protest a week ago- when students were arrested- and to ANOTHER protest this week, by high school students, he says. He says the mood can change very quickly in front of the recruiting center. He describes what happened earlier this week:
ACT: CURTIS STERLING: One second it's peaceful out here, next thing I know it's a bunch of kids yelling about Bush is this, Bush is that…basically they says they wanted to shut down the recruiting center because they're against the war.
NARR: John Cronan,, a PACE University organizer of SDS- Students for a Democratic Society- says the group may continue to target recruiting centers precisely because he says recruiters are targeting THEM, as students. He says further actions may include protesting at multiple recruiting centers at once. Aileen Humphreys, Columbia Radio News.