"So many people have their heads up their rear ends to allow this [Iraq] war to continue," said 75 year old Korean war veteran John Fortier, who joined last night's vigil.
John is a dynamo with the energy of man 30 years younger. He stands about 5ft. 7in, with gray hair and a well trimmed gray beard, and wears brown rimmed glasses over his hazel eyes.
He is a retired school teacher, who taught math and other subjects in South Central Los Angeles and elsewhere. Today, he voluntarily teaches for various charitable organizations.
John along with 31 year old Robert, hold a vigil Friday nights at a location near this vigil. At their vigil, John quietly displays a blue sign with white lettering that reads, "War Is Not The Answer," while Robert waves a peace sign flag. Both men warmly greet those who express their support.
"I was a gunner for the Air Force in Korea," John remarked as his eyes narrowed and his facial muscles tightened. "We used to swoop down and fly at telephone pole height. We often got small weapons fire back at us that shot holes in our aircraft.
"I wish I hadn't been in Korea," he added softly and then he fell silent.
"What really pisses me," he said a moment later raising his voice sharply, "is people say 'why do you put so much time into this [his vigil].' I get something out of it but it's also payback for all the violence I committed in Korea. I feel remorse. It keeps me sitting out even in the rain.
Meanwhile in Iraq yesterday, in a town 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, a Chevrolet Caprice had been parked in front of a busy outdoor market. Ten minutes later in a deafening explosion it killed 35 people and wounded 70 more. Most of the victims were women and their babies and small children who had come to shop for groceries and other staples.
The explosive power of the blast caused blood spattered body parts to rain down on the small shops and on the streets that surround them. Mangled lifeless bodies of other people lay in pools of blood while additional victims were left to fight for their lives.
Afterward, citizens of this town began to protest, claiming no private vehicles are allowed to park at the marketplace for precautionary reasons such as this. They claimed the police ignored the vehicle and that many police were indifferent to the suffering they witnessed.
To disperse the crowd, some of which had begun to throw stones at the police, the police fired automatic weapons in the air, but wounded one of the protesters. It became a near riot finally eased by local officials calming the crowd including the announcement the police chief had been fired.
In the last two months, more than 300 Iraqis across Iraq have been killed as the level of violence continues to rise.
Also yesterday, two U.S. military convoys were attacked. One convoy was hit with a rocket propelled grenade fired by a man on a motorcycle and in the other attack, a road side bomb exploded near the convoy. No casualty reports have yet been issued.
But hours later, thousands of miles away, our vigil proceeded. "We have a fortress in Iraq we call an embassy," said John. That fortress he referred to is 80 football fields in size and is by far the biggest embassy in the world.
"People say to me," John stated in reference to his vigils, 'Thank you for doing this and thank you for being there,' and that's nice. But I wish more of them would get actively involved." As do I.
But last night we touched a lot of lives, reminding people of all those who have paid so severe a price in this war. And as John finds with his vigil, it can be hard to stop when so many people pay attention to it.
That happened last night as the vigil ran 20 minutes over, for some people do care and we were glad to accomodate them.
Dick
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