How many more of these have to be flown home?
Marking yet another grim Iraq War milestone with a marathon vigil in Highland Park
By Leigh Davis
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“Hot enough for you?” was on the lips of many this past weekend, almost overshadowing the sad fact that in Iraq, the number of American soldiers killed had reached 3000 during the previous week.
When I first said I’d do the overnight shift for Central Jersey Coalition Against Endless War’s marathon vigil marking the occasion, the first thing on my agenda was to locate a generator and radiant heater to try and keep warm. After all, we were expecting the number to hit sometime in January. Little did we know that we’d actually reach that number by New Year’s Day, or that on January 7, Donaldson Park in Highland Park would be filled with rollerbladers, bicycles, people in shirt sleeves, and at least one person fishing in the pond.
Rewind to early Saturday morning, about 2 am, and across town, at the intersection of Raritan and River roads, a small group of peace activists kept the 25-hour vigil going in the misty rain, struggling to keep lit the candles lining the sidewalk in front of the Iraq Memorial Wall, and commenting on the inconvenient truth of a balmy Friday night in January.
Traffic doesn’t stop at 3 and 4 am on Highland Park's main drag, but even in the middle of the night, a few drivers felt compelled to beep their support.
Rewind further to 8 pm Friday night. After volunteers set up the Iraq Memorial Wall, the evening began with taps played by Mike Duklakis, followed by the Rev. Seth Kaper Dale of Highland Park leading the gathering in prayers and former congressional candidate Carol Gay reading the first 120 names.
Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) member Joann Sohl spoke to the group about the daily struggle of knowing that her son is in harm’s way in Iraq. Sohl’s son has been extended for “six more weeks of hell,” she said.
“The soldiers are fighting, suffering, and dying in a war in which there are no clear objectives and no end in sight, and which the majority of Americans don’t support and even most of the military over there doesn’t support,” she said.
“Lots of Americans are oblivious that our boys are getting killed and wounded there. I can’t even comprehend the pain of losing a child over there. All I know is the constant fear and nightmares I deal with. It’s too easy for those without loved ones in the military, without a personal connection to the hardships of war to become detached and begin to take for granted the efforts of our all-volunteer military force.”
She continued: “People say the military is all volunteer and they enlisted. We say yes they did, but not to fight in an illegal war based on lies,” said Sohl. “My son volunteered for noble reasons, not to fight Bush’s war.”
Echoing the peace movement’s demand to the new Congress, Sohl said, “The only way to stop this war is to defund it.”
The number of vigilers fluctuated from four at 3 am on Saturday to 50 later that afternoon. Folks from across the state would arrive and offer to read names, place stones, or ring the bell after each name.
Once the rain stopped, they were able to put out the Eyes Wide Open exhibit of fifty pairs of combat boots representing soldiers, and pairs of shoes representing Iraqi civilians, killed during the war.
Throughout the day, there was plenty of activity: Coalition poet laureate Sam Friedman reading a poem; the Solidarity Singers and local folk musician Sharleen Leahey leading protest songs; drummer Nell Sanders beating out rhythms on her djembe; and words of support from New Jersey Peace Action’s Madelyn Hoffman and Vickie White of People’s Organization for Progress (POP) Central Jersey.
White made the connection between spending on the war and the drain on the essential needs of people such as health care and education: “We’ve spent 500 billion dollars on this war. Imagine what could be done with that money. Americans deserve access to health care. Our children deserve a quality public education. Americans deserve jobs.”
Like a sort of comic relief, the occasional warmonger drove by and shouted something barely comprehensible in the group’s direction. The favorites seemed to be old standbys dragged out from under a pile of bell bottoms in a dusty part of someone’s attic: “Get a job,” and “Dirty hippies.”
Running a Marathon
Vigil organizer Mary Walworth has been a Saturday morning staple on this corner in Highland Park for more than two and a half years. Every week, Walworth updates the Iraq Memorial Wall, a 17-panel construction of silt-fence, paper, and PVC piping bearing the names of all 3000-plus soldiers killed since the invasion.
When asked what it’s like to do a marathon vigil, Walworth replied: “We’re used to marathons. How is our weekly vigil, which has gone on every week for almost three years not a marathon? What our weekly vigils and our milestone vigils have in common is that they require sustained effort and organization on the part of a lot of people.”
Every Saturday, at about 10:30 am, Walworth and coalition members load up her van with the Iraq Memorial Wall, signs, large-format photos of wounded Iraqi children, a card table, buttons and bumper stickers, petitions -- even coffee and snacks. They park in a lot around the block from the vigil site, unload, and carry everything to the top of the hill that leads up from the Albany Street bridge.
In the cold, in the heat, in the rain, and in the snow, even when Christmas and New Years fall on Saturdays, often twenty people can be found standing on the curb holding their signs, and flashing the peace sign or waving to passers-by for an hour or so. At the end of each vigil, they read the names of soldiers who have been added to the wall and observe a moment of silence.
Lately, the list has been getting longer. It’s a lot of work. It’s emotional. Some people might wonder whether the effort is worth it. Walworth’s answer?
“We’re not going to stop vigiling and organizing just because it would be easier on us," she said. "The warmongers in power would love to see us get bored and tired and start staying home, curl up in our personal lives and spend time perusing the Netflix catalogue and contemplating new bath fixtures. If this is what the powers-that-be want, then they can just conduct their own marathon waiting for it to happen.”
This vigil ended like it began, with taps, a prayer led by Rev. Kathleen Cardy Tice, the final reading of names, and a moment of silence. The secret hope in the back of everyone’s mind: that we don’t have to do another marathon vigil at 4000 dead.
Leigh Davis is a longtime peace and justice activist. She’s been a counselor, an educator, and a writer. With her son Max in his junior year at college, she now lives in Highland Park with her neurotic dog, Koz.
Attend the People’s Peace Conference at Rutgers Newark Law School, organized by the People’s Organization for Progress (City Belt is a co-sponsor) on Saturday, Jan. 20, 9 am-5 pm at Rutgers School of Law, 123 Washington Street in Newark.
ON THE WEB:
Central Jersey Coalition Against Endless War
We've just published a book with an article by Mary Walworth, "Other People's Kids." I've lost contact with her, and would like to find out if the Mary Walworth mentioned in this article is the same Mary Walworth who submitted her article to Cost of Freedom. If so, please contact me with your mailing address. My e-mail address is WritingDangerously@msn.com Thanks!
Posted by: Michael Annis, Cost of Freedom editor | 10/11/2007 at 01:37 AM