Carol Oropallo | Veteran of Peace

Photo by Marni Rothschild Durlach

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Carol had just turned 19 and was home from her first year of college when news of the 1969 Stockade Riot at Fort Dix compelled her to act. Already running in anti-Vietnam War circles, she considered this her final straw. “Now I had proof that the guys were being shockingly abused in addition to being used as cannon fodder.” So in the summer nights she made five roundtrips to the Canadian border, dropping young anonymous soldiers off and then getting her odometer turned back by handy mechanics. For decades she kept the underground railroad a secret from even her military father, leaving to live in France the following year. “I became completely apolitical and lived in a tiny village with only 167 residents. When I returned in ’81, I found that Charleston could approximate what living in Europe was like. Now I love living here and even appreciate the military presence. There’s no question that they are our protectors.”