TONC organizers battled all odds, prevailed

Troops Out Now Coalition (TONC) organizers in Western Massachusetts fought to overcome a variety of obstacles to get to the March 17 anti-war protest and march on the Pentagon.

TONC organizers had chartered and filled two buses. But because of the winter storm, some people from Springfield, Holyoke and Northampton phoned in to cancel their reservations. Bus company officials informed organizers they were canceling all charters slated for March 16-17.

With only a few hours left before scheduled departure, the WMass TONC organizing committee searched for another bus company. They finally found one in New Britain, Conn., willing to provide transportation to D.C. To meet this company’s “payment up front,” organizers had to drain their personal savings.

Although the blizzard delayed the departure, one bus, containing nearly half of the original passenger list, left the area for D.C.

The UMass Anti-War Coalition also sent a bus to the protest.

Nick Camerota of the Western Massachusetts branch of the International Action Center and the Troops Out Now Coalition, explained, “Giving up would have been the easiest option, but it would be the worst one. Many of those who traveled to D.C. with us that night had never participated in a national protest before. They returned home happy to have gone, ready to take the next steps in moving local organizing forward.”

The following day, TONC organizers and passengers on the TONC bus were interviewed by the local ABC television affiliate. New England Cable TV News also aired the local angle of the March 17 protest.

“The lesson is clear,” Camerota concluded. “Don’t succumb to setbacks. Explore every available option and exhaust every possibility. You cannot prevail if you are unwilling to struggle.”