"I did two tours of duty in Iraq," said a 35 ish man with blond crew cut hair, from his light blue pickup truck. "I spent 10 years in the Infantry." And he proudly held up his wallet to display his military identification.
"I lost one of my men there," he added with anguish in his voice as his body went limp and then he fell silent for an instant. "I just want everyone to come home safely. God bless you."
Last night's vigil was well received with horn honks, waves and two fingered peace signs. And portions of it were joined by the 63 year old Haitian man who often joins and by 75 year old Korean War veteran John Fortier, who conducts a vigil nearby on Friday evenings.
Meanwhile in Iraq, the violence is escalating sharply. Over the weekend in Kirkuk, at least 75 people were killed and another 200 were severely injured when a truck bomb exploded.
On Monday, bombings across Iraq killed 43 Iraqis and severely injured 114 more. As bad as this is, the news got worse.
Yesterday, the day of the vigil, a bomb was hidden in a vegetable cart in a Baghdad market. Its explosion killed at least 76 Iraqis and severely injured well over 100 more.
As for the American soldiers, eight of them have been killed to date in June and 25 were killed in May. Many more were severely injured.
Yet these statistics tell only a part of the story. Every man, woman and child who was killed or injured has a family who was devastated by what happened to them. And many of the injured will need multiple surgeries and a lifetime of care or function missing one or more of their arms and legs or can longer see or hear.
Abruptly, some families lose their principle provider, the person who paid the bills and put food on the table. While children lose one or both of their parents and some of those children are orphaned. In other cases, parents bury their children.
And when a bomb explodes in a crowded area, it makes an ear shattering noise and causes everything near it to tremble as if it was just struck by an earthquake. Its victims' body parts rain down and blood splatters on anyone near. It is a living nightmare for the survivors, many of whom will suffer from what is called post traumatic stress disorder.
After that, no one feels safe, as they are traumatized and frightened for the next explosion, which may come seconds later or maybe tomorrow.
What is the U.S. government's answer to the Hell it brought to Iraq and to many of its own soldiers and their families? It passed yet another war funding bill, this one for $106 billion to pay for the next three months of war in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, for costs that have long spiraled out of control, as America raises to moral and financial bankruptcy.
But thousands of miles from Iraq, the vigil continued. "I flew for the Air Force for 18 years," said a 50 ish man with close cropped graying blond hair, as he stopped his bike to talk. "I flew over Iraq many times.
"That was an idiotic decision to invade that country." Then as he thought about it, he added loudly, "Worse than idiotic," with irritation ringing in his voice and he turned away in disgust. "Now we're stuck there!"
While the situation may seem hopeless, this war could end now if only the U.S. would call for a cease fire and invite the combatants in to to resolve their differences. But instead, the U.S. continues the war and as it does, the vigils continue as well so that its victims will not be forgotten.
Dick
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