Dear Reader, the following summary was written by Korean War veteran John Fortier who conducts a peace vigil every Friday evening along Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach, California. John has held his vigil since shortly before President Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq which began on March 20, 2003.
As best I can recall though, I did have a couple of noteworthy experiences.
A teenager biked up, approved of my WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER sign's sentiment and said something about his forming a group of RB [Redondo Beach High School] students.
I can't recall the name of it, but I understood its primary concern to be peace. His regrets about the wars was primarily the loss of the lives of all concerned.
Before he left I gave him three peace sign pins I had made from poker chips. He said that he had people in mind that would really appreciate them.
Later in the day a couple in their 30s came by with a pair of little kids in a two-passenger stroller and smiled pleasantly. The fellow asked how's it going, and that started a conversation with him, his wife and me. He was informed and thoughtful, but he differed from the young student of earlier in that he named the dollar waste as the tragic loss in the wars.
Had I been asked which person would have identified which loss, people or treasure, was more significant, I think I would have had it just the opposite. I'm sure the 30ish fellow would have rued the loss of human life more than the loss of money if given the choice. But without multiple choice, he spontaneously chose the money. Interesting.
Before they left I, being out of peace sign pins, gave them two little heart-shaped erasers with the peace signs molded in them. They thought they were clever and gave one to each of the kids in the stroller.
That's about it. The general over-all response from foot and car traffic was more plentiful and enthusiastic than usual.
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