"I was in the U.S. Navy," said a crew cut 30 ish man, an eight year Navy veteran from a large truck as he looked me in the eye. "Thank you."
"I'm in the private sector now," he added as he offered me a bottle of water. "Here's my card. Please email me if you accept donations." I emailed him that I do not accept donations but recommended to him New Directions, an organization that provides services to troubled U.S. soldiers. www.newdirectionsinc.org/.
A little later, in a particularly touching moment, two 25 ish ladies in a Jeep type vehicle pulled up and the passenger handed me two beautiful pearl white, six inch tall, two inch wide candles, as both of them smiled. "This is for our friends," said the driver.
It was obvious this was no spur of the moment act. These ladies planned to present these candles at the vigil and the candles will serve to remember those who have paid so severe a price in the Iraq and Afghan Wars.
Meanwhile in Iraq on Sunday, a series of car bombs in Baghdad and Fallujah killed 33 people and wounded numerous others. While in Afghanistan, nine NATO troops were killed in a helicopter crash, which brings the military death toll since the U.S. 2001 invasion to 2,097 NATO troops, 1,298 of them Americans. The Afghan military and civilian death count is far larger but imprecise and also rapidly growing.
It is being reported Bob Woodward's new book, "Obama's Wars" to be published Monday, claims the CIA has a secret army, of 3,000 which are death squads killing U.S. enemies in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
If that claim is true, it raises many disturbing questions, including how far will the U.S. sink in its so called "War on Terror," and at what point does the U.S. recognize that it too has become a terrorist.
But thousands of miles away, our candlelight vigil drew numerous horn honks, waves and two fingered peace signs, including waves from firemen and bus drivers. "Thank you for adding Afghanistan," called out a 25 ish woman from her car, aware we recently updated the sign to include Afghanistan after President Obama escalated that war.
Some day when the U.S. is driven out of Iraq and Afghanistan either by force or by bankruptcy, TV cameras will show Americans the horrors their government committed. No one will want to be associated with it.
Those cameras will also help tell Americans the stories of some of the dedicated U.S. soldiers who were killed or seriously injured in these wars while serving their country and the price they and their families paid. For years they have been hidden from sight so the American public does not have to relate to the ugliness of war.
But today it is heart warming to see people support those who raise their voices against these wars and that was the nicest part of last night's vigil, knowing that there are many people who care.
Dick
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