To Whom It May Concern:

In November of 2004, being the mother of an active duty Marine, I wanted to do something to show support for those serving in the military. An article was published in the Sentinel regarding families of those serving on active duty participating in the First Night Parade in Santa Cruz. When the article was printed, I received over 60 phone calls from parents of deployed children, veterans and those that support our troops and veterans.

The application that I submitted to Blake Smith (chair of the First Night Committee) to show support for our troops was rejected. I then received a letter from the First Night Committee Board of Directors stating that we were a "divisive group that would spark anger in our community". When an article was printed in the Sentinel that we were rejected, anger was sparked by those in Santa Cruz who do support our troops and honor our veterans, regardless of their personal and varied thoughts on our national policy. Many of them responded by calling the First Night headquarters and writing letters to the editor of the Sentinel.

When the First Night Committee saw that many people in Santa Cruz do indeed support our troops, two days before the parade, the First Night Committee changed their decision and asked us to participate in the parade.

Many of us had already decided to show our support outside of the parade, by gathering at the town clock in Santa Cruz at the same time as the parade. The First Night Committee's offer was declined. Forty-three citizens showed up in the rain and simply showed their support in a non-political, non-partisan way. Out of that gathering, the grassroots, non-profit 501c3, Not This Time Vets came to life.

On January 4, 2005, the first official meeting of Not This Time Vets was held and a board of directors was set. The board of NTTV is headed by both civilians and veterans. Our goals are to put into place programs to help our troops returning from the current conflict and not have them suffer what many of our troops did on their return from Viet Nam. We also strive to show that the majority of Viet Nam veterans came home to become very successful in their families, careers and communities. We also wish to celebrate the service of all veterans from all conflicts.

At the end of February, 2005, Blake Smith contacted NTTV and offered his help in organizing a parade to show support for our troops and vets. The first military holiday after the offer was Armed Forces Day. That is how the parade came to be on Armed Forces Day. This holiday had not been celebrated in Santa Cruz in nearly 50 years. No single individual or community organization (outside of veteran's organizations) had done anything in all that time on a community level to support our veterans, past and present.

The city of Santa Cruz is known for many things, being in support of the military has never been one of them. Last year, an outstanding job was done in putting together the guidelines for the 2005 NTTV Armed Forces Day Parade that allowed us to have a successful day, free of protest. It would be wonderful to expand the parade with more military participation this year. But, the focus should remain on our troops and veterans to keep the event protest-free.

Not This Time Vets is not just about the parade. That is one of the things we do. The other programs we are starting are very important - every day of the year, not just once a year.

We have done an excellent job of keeping our word of being non-political. To be successful with all our programs, we must not stray from that course in our community.

Not This Time Vets is proud of what we have done and proud of the community that put their differences aside and compromised to celebrate our veterans and troops. I hope this year, we are able to do the same.

With All Respect,
Donna Jacobs, President, Not This Time Vets