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Our
Vigil for Peace - ARCHIVE
Vigil: Friday, July 21,
2006 at 7:00pm
07/23/06)
Well, our vigils finally made the news! In case you weren't at the
vigil, channel 13 was kind enough to send a cameraman to take footage of the
vigil. It was a quick story, but our crowd looked huge. The photographer for
the Aegis was there the entire event, so be sure to look for pix in this
Wednesday's Aegis. ANY media attention we get is a great thing... it gets
our word out to a lot more people.
There were 58
people at the vigil Friday night. That is so encouraging to see that
our group is growing and we are getting bigger and louder. We are looking
into getting a bullhorn for future events so everyone can hear better. The
bigger we get, the louder we need to be.
It was also reported to me that a young woman delivering
pizzas from her car stopped and told the crowd that she was "with
us". She said she lost her husband 2 years ago in Iraq. I wish we
knew her name, because little did she realize that we were reading his
name and honoring him shortly after she drove away. Here her life has been
shattered by this war built on lies, and she drove by at that moment to
remind us all of why we hate this war so much. How many other men and
women have lost their partners that they were building their lives with?
How many other men and women have had severely wounded partners
come home and now must figure out how they are going to make ends meet for
the rest of their lives? How many other men and women have had their
partners come home emotionally crippled by this war?
I was searching the internet and came across a blog written by Brian
Bittner about the vigil in May. He made this statement about being at
that vigil that really hit home with me... it said, "..but I felt
like being one of 40 people on the main street of the place where I grew
up was more significant than being one of 300,000 in New York City three
weeks ago. " I imagine most of us feel the same way, just never
put it to words. A wild and crazy crowd in DC or NYC isn't all that
unusual, but a group of war protestors honoring the troops in downtown Bel
Air... the home of conservatives... Now that turns heads, and
that gets noticed and we really are just as (if not more) significant. Not
to mention that we are sharing our message with our "neighbors"
in our home town. So be proud of yourselves and what we are all
doing together.
A special thanks to John Oliver and his great talk. It is always so
interesting to hear a veteran's point of view on this war. He was a great
speaker and very well received by the crowd. Thanks also to Judy Pentz for
her heartfelt talk. Thanks also to Bonnie Hummer, who registered voters.
And thanks to all of you that attended, and to those of you that will
attend in the future. Words cannot express what a relief it is to know
that we are not the only sane ones in this country! :-)
Mike and Susan
Note: We DO Respect and honor families who have lost loved
ones and may not agree with us. If they support the war; everyone must
cope and come to terms with their loss. We respect them for doing so.
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