This letter was written by Mr. Dennard. I called and verified to make sure.

[darrels joy]

Berkeley: Individual With Strong Voice Makes Difference

It doesn’t take big organizations or big money or a big name to make a difference in this world, especially so in a democracy.

A local San Diego businessman, Brian Dennard, proved that once again last month when he wrote a letter to the mayor and council of Berkeley to protest their vote that the Marine recruiting station “is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay,they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders,” at the same time rolling out a privileged red-carpet (appropriate color) for Code Pink protestors.

Brian Dennard’s letter quickly spread, and its clarity galvanized opinion.

Below, as a guest post for Democracy-Project, Brian Dennard writes how it happened and what it has led to. I spoke with Brian this afternoon. Over the decades, I’ve often seen similar to his surprise at how America responded to his letter. It isn’t special people, but ordinary people with a strong voice who make the difference. They are humbled in gratitude to discovering the depth of patriotism in America.
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hey-hey, ho-ho, the Marines in Berkeley have got to go. That was the message from Berkeley’s City Council, which voted 6-3 tell the U.S. Marines that its Shattuck Avenue recruiting station “is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders.” Additionally, the Marines were called “war criminals, assassins, and murderers at the meeting.

On Jan 31, 2008 I wrote a letter to the Mayor of Berkeley stating my position regarding his and the City Counsel’s position on the USMC recruiting station. In that letter (posted below), I informed the mayor of my intention to pull all of my business out of Berkeley and the immediate area. I emailed the letter directly to the mayor at the address supplied on the Berkeley City Council’s webpage.

I also blind copied a couple of Marine handball buddies. They passed that email/letter to the guys who play in the Semper Fi handball tournament at MCRD, who passed it along to their buddies, who passed it along to their buddies, etc.

In my wildest dreams I never envisioned the response I have received. I spent the first three weeks answering my cell phone acknowledging that yes, I really did write “THE” letter, and receiving personal thank you calls from Generals, Majors, Colonels, SGTs, PVTs, CEOs, COOs, talk show hosts, and everyday American Patriots. I received over 3000 calls in the first three weeks. I am privleged and honored to speak with the finest and best people America has to offer.

Likewise I spent the rest of those first weeks reading emails from the same sort of people. In three weeks, I received over 15,000 emails at my business and over 3000 at my home once my personal email somehow got posted on the web. At this point if you Google my name and Berkeley you have some 13,000 sites to choose from which tell the story of “the” letter.

I am humbled to a degree that is hard to state clearly. I am emotionally overwhelmed with the positive response to my letter and want to thank everyone who has called me or emailed me to state their support.

Subsequent to that overwhelming outpouring of support, I and two friends started up the website www.BrigadeAmerica.com . In response to the huge number of emails suppporting our boycott of Berkeley, I have been doing weekly radio interviews on Intel Radio’s Outside The Wire, Stardust Radio, Chandler’s Watch, KSFO, Roger Hedgecock, and am scheduled on Laura Ingraham. We have been to two of the major rallies in Berkeley, and

I am due to be in Washington D.C. with the Gathering of Eagles on April
7th, then by invitation, on to New York for the annual USMC Law Enforcement gala at the Waldorf Astoria on April 10th.

My intention was never to shine the spotlight on me, it was to cause, to whatever degree I could, great fiscal discomfort to the city of Berkeley in retaliation to their un-American, cowardly and despicable stance that the US Marines are unwelcome, and uninvited intruders in their city.

If in my small way I helped light a fire that now appears to be blazing across the nation, I am proud of that, but I am more proud of the fact that I could , at a time when our heroes are fighting against those who would destroy us, help focus some attention to the vast debt, and undying respect, that we as a nation owe to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces.

Respectfully,

Brian G Dennard