See the entire recap with video, pics and links at the following site:
http://www.5yearsofwar.com/militaryfair.html
In the meantime, here are even more pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anitastewart
This Military and Veterans Fair is held every year and sponsored by Congressman Bilirakis. What we saw on school grounds was military hardware, equipment and armament that children were PLAYING with or climbing into. The local Veterans for Peace Chapter was not allowed to vend at this event. War was glorified to the masses including children at this event which was on a SCHOOL CAMPUS. I find that extremely offensive as there is zero tolerance policies in place for children who bring any kind of "weapon" to school, even if it is a butter knife, they are expelled FOREVER. I and Major Deb (both of us are USAF veterans) were told by Bilirakis aids and a Pinellas County Sheriff that we were not allowed to walk on to the campus or participate in the event. When Debra asked for a directive on this, they changed their decision quickly and allowed us to walk on without signs. ARE YOU OUTRAGED YET? Be sure to watch the video and make it viral by passing it along to everyone you know. And be sure to write to your representatives and media outlets to let them know that this kind of activity cannot be promoted to CHILDREN on SCHOOL CAMPUSES.
If you are in the Tampa Bay area, see us at the following sites:
http://www.5yearsofwar.com
and
http://codepink.meetup.com/42
http://blog.myspace.com/codepinktampabay
http://www.myspace.com/codepinktampabay
http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/codepinktampabay
