Women in Oakland and Fresno, California, New York City, Rochester and Albany New York, Tucson, Arizona, Lake Worth and Sarasota, Florida, and Montpelier, Vermont headed to their local military recruiting offices to try to enlist as a Valentine gift.

Over 200 people went to an Oakland army recruitment station on Tuesday, February 14th to offer to trade places with young soldiers in Iraq. The noontime crowd, which was made up of mostly elder women, called out that they were there to enlist, so that the young people could come home from the war. The demonstration was organized by the Bay Area Chapter of Grandmothers for Peace. Passersby were handed small leaflets explaining the women's mission. The Oakland recruiting office was dark and the doors locked during the action. A soldier who was guarding the building from down the block said, "The pink ladies come every Wednesday. They hold up signs of dead people and stay for about a half an hour." Report and photos

In Fresno, some 25 Raging Grannies handed out Valentines Cards and sang songs as they tried to enlist in the military. After singing for a while, the Grannies entered the military recruiters' offices. The marines, air force, and army recruiters seemed so afraid of the Raging Grannies that they closed and locked their doors. The women put their Valentine's cards through mail slots. Then, many of the Grannies entered the Navy recruiters' office and spoke with 2 recruiters. After about 5 minutes of discussion, the recruiters asked the Grannies to leave; when they exited, the Grannies saw several Fresno police officers outside of the building. Apparently the marines, air force, and army had to call in re-enforcements to protect them from the Grannies, some of whom were using canes and walkers to get around. Report and photos | Video

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