"This is a wonderful thing," said the ramrod straight, trim as a rail, 6 foot tall late 70's man with thick brown hair as he stared at the sign. He then shook my hand.
"When you display a sign like that you remind people of something they should never forget but some of them do," he stated. "It's a nice way to call it to their attention.
"I was a Lieutenant in the Navy during the Korean war," he added. "After I left active duty I joined the Los Angeles City Fire Department and later retired as a Captain."
This man then participated in the vigil which included the 64-year-old woman who often joins.
He spoke of the Iraq war and weapons of mass destruction which he felt existed based upon Saddam Hussein using biological weapons to poison his own people, those being weapons of mass destruction. He supported President George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq.
"Some people say, 'I'm for peace,' he said with a sarcastic look and irritation in his voice as he thrust his hands out to strongly make his point. "Well duh! Who isn't for peace?
"Nobody wants peace more than military personnel and their families because when wars are fought it is they who fight them and they who pay the greatest price."
When he concluded his participation in the vigil, he shook my hand, as he looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Thank you."
Meanwhile in Iraq yesterday, six car bombs exploded in Baghdad and a U.S. patrol near the northern city of Kirkuk came under heavy fire from machine guns and grenades. In all, 73 Iraqis were killed and 116 were seriously injured, as was at least one U.S. soldier.
In the worst of the Baghdad attacks, following back to back explosions 10 minutes apart in a jam packed Sadr City market, Iraqi soldiers struggled to control the angry crowd.
Some people held in their arms the blood spattered remains of their loved ones. And they cried out to the heavens in agony. But their loved ones are gone, never to return, and this horror will now be etched in their memories for all the remaining days of their lives.
While others saw emergency vehicles rush the severely injured to hospitals in their struggle to survive. Among the victims may be a little girl who had been holding her mother's hand. Now she no longer has a mother or perhaps even her own hand as doctors fight to save her life.
As the stench of the gray acidic smoke filled the air from the smoldering cars used in the bombings, the crowd began throwing bricks and stones at the Iraqi troops blaming them for poor security. Some people claimed a few soldiers had even taken bribes from those who committed the violence.
It took nearly an hour for the Iraqi troops to finally disperse the irate crowd by firing their weapons in the air. All of this bodes badly for the credibility of the U.S. supported Iraqi government.
But thousands of miles away, in the peacefulness of the vigil, a 40 ish man on a cell phone said, "Just a minute" to his caller as he was startled to see the vigil and walked up to carefully read the sign.
"Thank you," he said with a look of surprise that such a vigil was actually taking place. Then he gripped my hand firmly and shook it for several seconds while looking me squarely in the eyes.
"Thank you for caring for these people," I replied. "I care very much," he answered as he stared at the sign and with a sigh, shook his head and then slowly walked away. For him the war and its cost in lives had become real, at least for a few moments.
There are many people in America and throughout the world that want this war and the U.S. military occupation of Iraq to end. But most of them take no action. Perhaps you will raise your voice for peace and in compassion for all those who have already paid so severe a price in this war.
Dick
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