‘Veterans For Peace’ Distribute Flyers Outside School

Posted May 16, 2007 by Vidisha Priyanka

Updated May 16, 2007 at 12:40 PM

By Crystal Lauderdale
The Tampa Tribune

Video: Veterans For Peace

ST. PETERSBURG - The sign on the gate of St. Petersburg High School warns against trespassing, so Dwight Lawton, 76, stays on the sidewalk with his stack of flyers.

Lawton is a member of Veterans For Peace. His mission is to remind students that there are alternatives to military enlistment and to share a veteran’s perspective on life in the armed forces.

“We’re not against the military because we were all in the miltary,” said Lawton, “But particularly with Iraq and Afghanistan they have a high risk of being injured and the miltary recruiters don’t discuss that.”

While military recruiters are permitted inside schools to share information with students, other organizations, including Veterans For Peace, are not afforded the same access. Lawton and other volunteers are lobbying to change that.

“If they’re going to allow military recruiters in there, then they need another viewpoint,” Lawton said.

The school is not opposed to having Veterans For Peace share information with students. They are simply waiting for the school board to establish guidelines for allowing multiple groups to distribute information. “We have such a good working relationship with the military. It just works. Now, we’re trying to figure out having both organizations on campus,” principal Al Bennett said. “How’s it going to work so it doesn’t disrupt our campus?”

Miltary recruiters would also be subject to any new guidelines set by the school board.

Until then, Lawton and his comrades are up before dawn, reaching out to sleepy-eyed students before they cross the front line.