How One Coffee Shop in Washington State is Providing a Haven For War Resisters

The milk frother screams as a couple of young soldiers in camouflaged combat uniforms peruse the lit table. All around them are the familiar surroundings of a coffeehouse: posters on the wall, tables and chairs, and shelves stuffed with used books. Yet this café, just across the street from the sprawling Ft. Lewis Army Base in Washington, is not your ordinary coffeehouse.

"Support War Resisters: Iraq Veterans Against the War," reads a huge banner on the wall. GI Rights handcards sit next to the cash register and manuals about "getting out" cover the lit table. Social movement history books fill the bookshelves, and a picture on the wall shows a soldier throwing a grenade with a caption that reads, "What am I doing here?" The sign on the front window declares "COFFEE STRONG. Veteran Owned and Operated."

Opened four months ago, COFFEE STRONG provides a free Americano, as well as wireless internet and computer use, to all military enlisted persons. More importantly, it provides a space off-base for soldiers to question their service, talk about the war, and explore the possibilities of GI resistance. When GIs walk in, they are met with information about topics ranging from GI resistance to counseling and advocacy services for veterans. And they are greeted by a barista who is himself a young veteran against the war.

COFFEE STRONG follows in the tradition of the GI coffeehouse movement of the 60s and 70s, when anti-war activists and resisting GIs set up coffeehouses at several military bases throughout the U.S. -- from Colorado Springs, CO to Tacoma, WA, to Maldraugh, KY -- to provide a physical space for anti-war GIs to congregate, speak freely, and strategize their role in the anti-war movement. GI resistance during the Vietnam War was a key factor in forcing the United States to end the war.

This GI coffeehouse, 40 miles south of Seattle, joins a handful of cafes that have sprung up at U.S. military bases since the beginning of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Different Drummer Cafe, at Ft. Drum in upstate New York, aims to promote "the free and uncensored exchange of ideas and information among active duty and reserve military personnel and civilians." Under the Hood Coffeehouse in Ft. Hood, Texas, and the Off Base café in Norfolk, Virginia, also provide places for active duty troops to question their own participation in war.

At a time when the Obama Administration has announced plans to send 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan this spring and summer, in addition to the 36,000 that are already there, these GI coffeehouses reach out to a population facing the possibility of imminent deployment.

We had the opportunity to speak with two of the key organizers of COFFEE STRONG: Seth Manzel and Michael William. In this interview, Seth Manzel talks about the vision and goals of the GI coffeehouse. And Michael William discusses the nuts and bolts of getting the coffeehouse up and running. Both are active members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW).

SETH MANZEL

Courage to Resist: What was the original vision of COFFEE STRONG?

Seth Manzel: Originally we started out with the idea of having a web page, radio station, and coffeehouse. The purpose was to promote general awareness of veterans' issues and to promote GI rights and GI resistance. The radio station played music, as well as speeches by Martin Luther King Jr., Noam Chomsky, and Malcom X.

We had never envisioned that the coffeehouse would turn out so nice, because we thought we couldn't get the money for it. But it turned out pretty good.

Courage to Resist: What were some of the goals you hoped to achieve by creating COFFEE STRONG?

Seth Manzel: To give people in the military and veterans a space and voice to express themselves. The coffeeshop is supposed to be a place where they can express themselves freely.