Vets Form Backbone of ‘Occupy DC’ Protest: Or do They?

Vets Form Backbone of ‘Occupy DC’ Protest: Or do They?
November 08, 2011
Military.com|by Bryant Jordan

Former servicemembers don't just make up part of Washington's population of "Occupy Wall Street" protestors -- by one measure, they make up fully half.

Veterans established one of the city's two main encampments, and it's clear from the neat layout of tents there was military planning behind it. A large white tent is clearly marked for first aid. There's also a mess tent where people can get chow, and the concrete path that runs like a main street down the center of the camp is totally clear.

"Veterans for Peace are the organizers, and we're a little older," said Bill Miniutti, a former Marine artilleryman and Vietnam veteran. He came up from Jacksonville, Fla., for the protest in early October, but the origins of the Vets for Peace camp go back even further. "They were actually working on this since March, way before [Occupy] Wall Street."

"We actually have port-o-potties -- and us old men need that," he quipped.
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