ABSTRACT
Driving into a Rainbow Gathering, the first thing you will probably hear is “Welcome home!” You will hear this phrase again and again as you walk through the parking lot, pass the front gate, carry your gear into the woods to find a camp spot, and throughout your time at a Gathering. After hearing it over and over, you will likely find yourself saying it to others who seem to have just arrived. For the Rainbow Family of the Living Light, these words carry great significance because when they gather, they are home. For veterans who returned home from the unpopular war in Vietnam, veterans of wars since, and all those who feel separate from or ostracized by mainstream American society, “that simple phrase carries important meaning,” according to a longtime Rainbow participant who calls himself Roadrunner, who is a Vietnam veteran. 1
