Soon after the war in Iraq began, one lone woman started standing on a street corner in front of the museum in Lewes, DE on Sunday afternoons, holding signs protesting the war, praying for peace. In the years (years!) since that beginning, this silent vigil has grown to be a weekly event, bringing usually a small but devoted number of people. Eventually, the silent peace vigil attracted a counter-group on the opposite side of the street - a group wearing VFW caps, waving huge American flags, sporting large bellies and loud voices. Their counterdemonstration is anything but silent - they play loud music, shout obscenities, hold crude and ugly hand-lettered signs. On the most recent anniversary of this war, when I attended the vigil, the numbers on opposing sides of the street were just about equal, twenty or so.
For the Memorial Day weekend Sunday vigil, a much larger event was planned: participants spent many days lettering prayer flags with the individual names of the 1600-plus American military personnel killed in this war, then attaching them to cords that stretched between bamboo poles. On Sunday they worried that they wouldn't have enough participants to hold the poles with the names. Eighty people showed up. Including our little contingent of five: myself and G, my sister, her husband, their 7 yr old daughter. (Bear in mind that this was the middle of the day, Sunday of the opening holiday of the season, with perfect beach weather.)
The line of people stretched way past those holding the names. There were also beautifully done black and white handheld signs with merely the numbers: numbers of Americans killed, numbers wounded, numbers of Iraqis killed and wounded.
It was a group encompassing all ages, races, lifestyles, religions, levels of education, it included pacifists and military veterans (not always mutually exclusive); it was a silent group gathered to pray in whatever format, for those who have died, been injured in body, mind and spirit, for their families who grieve for them, and for those still engaged in this most foolish of wars.
The group across the street looked like this:
and sounded even worse - you can almost see the sign in the upper righthand corner, it says "Honk for Democracy." So, their homeys passing by in pickups, SUVs or really really big/loud motorcycles honked. And honked and honked. For democracy? Well, I suppose so. It is, after all, democracy that lets us stand on opposite sides of the street, giving vent to our radically different views of things.
The local paper had a group of photos, and reported Sunday's event thus:
"Each Sunday a silent vigil is held in downtown Lewes to honor those who have died in the war in Iraq. For Memorial Day, 1,600 flags were flown in honor of the war dead. This vigil is countered with a rally across the street each week. Clockwise from above right, disabled Vietnam veteran Art Wheatcraft and Kathy McCusker show support for the troops. Eleven-year-old Andrew Fagg show support for the troops along with Michael Stein and James Fagg. Vietnam veteran Peter Schultz takes part in the silent vigil to honor those who have sacrificed in Iraq. Lines weren't drawn in the sand, but Savannah Road separated the silent vigil from the supporters of the troops May 29."
The emphasis is mine, showing how, in the mind of the Cape Gazette reporter, crude signs, yelling and waving flags shows "support for the troops," whereas silently and respectfully honoring those who have died or been injured is.......what? Well, we don't know, do we?
We brought home the flags that my niece and I were holding at the end of the vigil, and they are now fluttering in the breeze by the front garden. Until the names fade and the strips of cloth turn to shreds, the wind - the breath of nature - will carry many silent prayers and blessings on its wings: the hope of peaceful rest for the dead, peace and enlightenment for us, for the world.
That's G in the tied-dye shirt on the left, M (niece) in front of her mother, who is obscured by flags, and her daddy in the blue t-shirt behind her as well.
16 comments:
Jeez! Takes all kinds I guess.
The counter-protest across the street -- "the supporters of the troops" -- seems to be on the same level as putting one of those Support the Troops magnets on the back of an SUV. A much better way to actually support the troops might be to get them the hell out of this quagmire.
At the very least, a strong letter to the editor is needed to point out the gross error perpetrated by the reporter.
yes indeed, Duane - many of us have written those letters and sent them to the Cape Gazette. another edition will be out on Friday, we'll see what they publish. here's my letter:
To the Editor:
The brief article in your paper re the Silent Vigil held Sunday, May 29, and the group that gathered on the opposite side of Savannah Road seriously misinterpreted what was happening there that day. The eighty people on the Museum side of Savannah were gathered to silently and reverently pray for and memorialize the military personnel who have been killed or injured in body, mind and spirit during the war currently being waged in the Middle East. We were holding prayer flags, each of which bore the name of one of the 1600 American personnel dead in this war. The prayer flag tradition has a long continuous history dating back to ancient Tibet, China, Persia and India. The flags use the natural energy of the wind, coupled with the intentions of those who fly them. The silent prayers are blessings spoken on the breath of nature.
How better to "support the troops" than by asking blessings on the spirits of those who have died or been injured and on the families who grieve for them, on those who are still enduring the horrors of war in an alien land. Ours was a true Memorial Day activity. We brought home the section of prayer flags that my little niece and I were holding. They are still flying in the front yard, and will until the names fade off the cloth. The wind prays for them as it blows them. The birds sing for them, the flowers bloom in sorrow for them.
Thank you for sharing this. I am both touched and embarrassed. It certainly makes me want to drive to Lewes some Sunday...to join the silent side of the street.
Support for George W Bush and his war of aggression in Iraq is not equivalent to support for the Troops -- but if you dare even suggest that the war is unwise or immoral, it is somehow unpatriotic. How sad it is that so many have died to preserve our freedoms, and yet the exercise of that freedom is denounced as unpatriotic. How unfortunate for our Troops that "support" is defined as the purposeless sacrifice of their lives.
Neil
I just cannot believe how many people in this country is refusing to see the truth of this "War." Unreal.
http://journals.aol.com/chasingmoksha/WarriorHah/entries/257
I doubt if the paper is even aware of the bias they showed in that article. I'm not excusing it. I'm just saying that mindset goes so deep they don't even see it as a bias.
Thank you, good friend, for helping to spread the good word -- and good work.
What a beautiful and powerful writer you are. You captured the spirit of what we try to do each Sunday.
I will always remember you for these words:
The wind prays for them as it blows them. The birds sing for them, the flowers bloom in sorrow for them.
Love,
Joanne
What a beautiful event. You were the real supporters of the troops. I hope that paper retracts those comments. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful day with us. I love it!
dave
Allow me to extent my personal thanks to you, Gail, your sister, her husband and daughter for your witness and dedication and active citizenship.
I find those noisy protestors very disturbing. Really makes one despair for this country. Lisa :-[
Lisa - yes, they are extremely disturbing. far more so in person than on a screen. even more upsetting is the fact, which i didn't mention in the article, nor include the picture with one in it, that a couple of state troopers - in uniform - were over there with them for a while. not to act as law enforcement, they did nothing to bring them to more peaceful behavior - but as friends of the protestors, dropping by to schmooze.
i don't yet entirely despair, because there were so many more people in the peaceful vigil, than in the noisy and crass group across the street. it would be a cause for total despair if the reverse became true.
Sould we be fighting this war? Probably not. Do I mourn the loss of our soldiers and the innocent people woh have died in war? Absolutely.
IN LOVING MEMORY OF PFC. BRANDON R. SAPP
KIA IN NAJAF, IRAQ ON AUGUST 15, 2004
Do I feel that we should hunt down the terrorist? Do I agree with the sign that the only good terrorist is a dead terrorist? HELL YES! My cousin (by marriage, but cousin none the less) died fighting these people! He wanted to get rid of them as bad as I did. So yes, I mourn the loss of our boys and girls, but each one of them new that if a war would break out, they could be called to go. They knew the risks, and they were willing to go. In Brandon's case, this war was well underway when he signed on. Do I agree with the decisions that Bush made? Not all of them, but he is still the commander in chief, and I will continue to support him and every member of out military until we have destroyed anyone who tries to destroy us and the freedom that we love!
~ Stephanie M. Sapp ~
http://journals.aol.com/unicornsteph80/Welcometomylife/entries/375
the problem with this comment, Stephanie, is that the people in Iraq were not the people - identified as "terrorists" - who attacked the buildings in this country in 2001. this war was planned long before the attacks of september 11th, as seems quite clear now. those terrorist attackes only served as "reasons" to actually commence a war, which may now not end within our lifetimes. this war, in which i am sorry to hear your cousin lost his life, has served as a fertile recruiting grounds for terrorists who would never have heard the call otherwise. this war has only served to ensure that terrorist activity will be with us for a long long time.
I am a soldier who has served this country for 23+ years. I haved served in Iraq and Bosnia and other places. Thank you for your support. I also thank those across the street who support us. Whether the sign is made elegantly or crudely lettered by hand is regardless. To lend credence that one side is right or wrong is both immoral and unjust, remember this is a nation where all people have the right to show their support. I however am discouraged that it does take a war for people to show their support for something. Where was the silent vigil and the signs of support through the preceeding years? If you want to show your support, support your fellow human being. Take care of our elderly, provide for the children who have less than the standard, for food and health care. There are thousands of causes that can use both sides support. Instead of standing on the street, stand shoulder to shoulder with someone who is in the middle of the action and lend your "ACTIVE" support to the cause you choose to "GET INVOLVED" with. Thanks for your support.
I was loving this entry until I got to the newspaper line that you highlighted. If those words were chosen with purpose, then the writer has failed as a journalist and should be censured. If they were chosen by accident, that is even more disturbing, because it demonstrates that even those charged with reporting the news can't recognize when they themselves are spewing propaganda.
I suggest bringing an American flag to events like the silent vigil. In the Viet Nam era, we allowed the warmongers to co-opt the patriotic symbols. That was a mistake.
I sincerely hope that the loved ones of the dead and wounded understood your purpose. I hope that people recognize the tragedy of the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis, but I fear that this president has succeeded in branding the entire Mideast as a terrorist enclave.
Now, about that a-hole with the Bush-Dick sign. Shouldn't he have been arrested? Aren't there hate-crime laws in Delaware?
Where oh where to begin.
I am the "sister", Rosie, at the vigil, that earnest, few moments we spent rememering the dead and wounded from all wars and in particular this recent war, ongoing, in Iraq.
We are entitled to remember our American brothers and sisters who have served in the military in our peaceful manner. Those people across the street are entitled to their opinions and to voicing their opinions, but they are not entitled to attack us for our views either verbally or any other way.
I agree with the entry which said we who advocate peace should carry American flags. I couln't agree more. I said so last Sunday whilst we stood with our prayer flags. We need to assert our Americaness in a way that everyone understands.
The American troops in Irag are the relatives of pacifists as well as hawks. Surely, no one in their right mind could imagine that only the hawks are "supporting" them in love, prayer, and yeah, even tax dollars. Putting a ribbon shaped sticker on your car that says "We support our troops" might presuppose that we do not all support our troops. Such a supposition is profoundly incorrect. The women and men in Irag are supported by all of us: we fear for them, we pray for them, we want them to come home safely.
It may be the case that few in the current administration can put a real face to any of the troops and do not support them with love or prayer, because most of those in Irag are from working class families whose parents are not in the halls of Congress or in the Oval Office. The decision to send innocent men and woman to kill and die in Irag came from a ruling elite interested in power in North Africa and West Asia not from mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers grieving for their family members.
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