Candlelight Vigil No. 242, 10/27/10

Dear Reader, Last night's vigil brought one of the warmest responses of any of the vigils. Horn honks, waves, two fingered peace signs and positive comments came from drivers and pedestrians throughout the hour.

John Fortier and I asked ourselves why so many people felt compelled to respond, a question we could not answer. Perhaps it was the recent WikiLeaks release of nearly 400,000 secret U.S. military documents from the Iraq War. The documents tell us not only has the U.S. military killed or tortured Iraqis, it stood by as Iraqi officials subjected prisoners to electric shock, beatings, burnings and sodomization. In gross terms it reminded Americans of the ugliness of war, one in which each of us is a participant.

When the vigil began, from a bright blue SUV a 40 ish woman with a big smile gave us a two fingered peace sign held up until she was sure we saw it. And her 12 ish son waved heartily. They then appeared to discuss the vigil. This is important because it instills in the young an understanding of war and why nations must find ways to peacefully resolve their differences.

The vigil was joined by the early 50's couple who often do, and while I was speaking with them, John stepped into the street to speak with a 40 ish driver in a white truck. He had called out to us wanting to talk. He told John his brother served two tours in Iraq and when he came back, he was suffering from Crohn's disease, sometimes called inflammatory bowel disease. Its symptoms may include abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, skin rashes and tiredness. In medical science, the cause of Crohn's disease is unknown and John assured him at least his brother returned.

A bit later, a police officer called out his support from his black and white squad car as he stopped at a red light and he turned out to be an old friend of my middle son Kevin, also a police officer.

Late in the vigil, a 20 ish woman walking for exercise, wearing pink gym clothes stopped in her tracks and carefully read the sign. She then raised her right hand to her heart. "Thank you," she whispered.

"A lot of people are being hurt over there," said a 50 ish woman who walked up and read the sign right after the 20 ish woman left. She then lowered her voice and repeated, "a lot of people are being hurt over there!" She stepped back and added, "thank you" to us.

When the vigil ended, John and I expressed out mutual satisfaction with all the attention the vigil attracted and we said goodbye. But it turned out the vigil had not quite ended.

As I got in my car, a 28-year-old Haitian man, the son-in-law of a 64-year-old Haitian man who used to join the vigil walked up and said, "I wish I had seen you earlier. I would have hung out with you guys (joined the vigil)." He then smiled and we shook hands.

And as he walked away, another 28-year-old man who on occasion has joined the vigil came over to the car. We talked about the WikiLeaks Iraq documents and he said, "Everything over there is secret," as he shook his head from side to side. He shook my hand twice before leaving and he too likely would have joined us had the vigil still been going.

It is a wonderful feeling knowing there are so many people who care about those who have paid so severe a price in these wars and that they are not forgotten.

Dick