Action & Activism: Marines And Stretching Movements

No, this is not a military-oriented guide to keeping in shape. Yet it has made some people uncomfortable if not downright sore.

It's about the peace movement and how a U.S. Marine company using downtown Toledo for "urban warfare" training provided an opportunity for activists to think and act beyond normal limits.

With barely a week's notice, an article in the local paper announced that a weapons company of the 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Reserves would spend a weekend running around our downtown, honing combat skills by firing blanks at imaginary enemies. The North West Ohio Peace Coalition (NWOPC) and local Veterans for Peace (VFP) designed a response, different from what many in the peace movement had seen or that some were even comfortable with.