Army scales back Summerfest exhibit after last summer's protests
The controversial "Virtual Army Experience" exhibit that was shut down at Milwaukee's Summerfest last year after protests from peace activists and others will not be back this year.
Instead, there will be a "typical Army exhibit," an Army spokesperson said, with a dog tag machine, a Humvee and an Army dragster. She was not forthcoming with details. But there will be nothing like last summer's exhibit, which included allowing 13-year-olds to fire machine guns from a Humvee at realistic human targets on video screens.
That drew complaints from Veterans for Peace, Peace Action and others in the community. The Army responded to concerns from Summerfest by removing the Humvee and replacing the Virtual Army Experience with an exhibit using stationary targets.
Talk radio went nuts, and Summerfest Executive Director Don Smiley beat a retreat after the festival was over, saying that the decision to close the exhibit had been a mistake, and if the Army came back this year with the Virtual Army Experience he would allow it, if not welcome it. At the same time he promised a "full review" of the issue.
In January, when I met with Smiley to discuss the issue, he clearly had not changed his mind and defended the Army's exhibit as well as the presence of military recruiters on the Summerfest grounds. Peace groups believe the grounds should be free of recruiters, and that recruiting at a music festival is inappropriate.
Smiley says Summerfest needs the money that the miitary recruiters -- all branches have exhibits of some type --pay to be on the grounds, and that they are no different from commercial displays who pay to be there. He refused to say how much the military pays -- with our tax dollars -- citing confidentiality clauses in contracts with sponsors and vendors.
The decision not to bring the Virtual Army Experience to Milwaukee again is clearly the Army's decision, not Summerfest's. But the result is positive in any case.
Collecting personal information from children as young as 13 was an issue last year. The Army says it will not collect information from anyone under 16 this year, and that recruiters will only talk about Army enlistment to people 16 and older, "per the law."
The Virtual Army Experience drew protests in other cities last summer, including the Cleveland Air Show, and the Army has announced it is not returning to Cleveland, either.
The Army's Virtual Army Experience website does not list a schedule of events for 2009, but it is not clear whether that means the Army has scrapped the exhibit altogether or simply does not want to alert activists in advance when it is coming to town.
