Chuck Winant: Veteran rabble-rouser

Arts editor Bill Forman profiles antiwar activist Chuck Winant, 41, co-author of a resolution to make Madison a sanctuary for war resisters as Bush I's Gulf War begins. "There's nobody who's got more contempt for the soldiers of this country than George Bush and his cronies," the 20-year Vietnam Veterans Against the War member tells the Madison Common Council, which defeats the resolution by one vote. A former Goldwater Republican, Winant enlisted in 1967, survived repeated ambushes and grew convinced the Vietnam conflict was "a crock and a disgrace." He was eventually thrown out of the Army ("fine by me") and ended up in Madison. "I would just as soon ride motorcycles all the time and not have to stick my neck out," Winant says. "But one of the things I'm trying to do...is smash stereotypes," by showing that opposing war is "not just for pacifists." Recently relocated from San Diego to Toronto, Winant maintains a VVAW website at vvawsandiego.angelfire.com. "Gotta change that to Toronto," he notes, via email.