Peace Talk — Autumn 2006
The Quarterly Newsletter of Peace Action MaineWhile, the politicians continue to appropriate more funds for the war in Iraq and the insurgents increase their numbers and their murderous activities, our congressional representatives continue to turn a deaf ear to their constituents’ call for an end to this illegal and immoral war.
In an effort to enhance awareness of the terrible toll this war is taking on Iraqis and American servicepeople, members and friends of Peace Action Maine and Veterans for Peace gathered in Tommy’s Park in Portland on July 7 to read the names of all the U.S. soldiers and an equal number of Iraqis killed in Iraq thus far. When we first began the reading of the names, a year and a half ago, it took four hours. This time it took a full eight hours to complete the reading.
As the reading began, the sounds of the passing traffic seemed to fade into the background. The endless intoning of names created the sense of a cathedral, the trees overhead our skylit ceiling, the grass our carpet, our heads bowed. After each name was read, participants painted a cross on the Cloth of Chaos, a 12 x 15 painter’s cloth‹red for each U.S. name, black for each Iraqi name. Other participants sounded a bell to commemorate the person slain. The readers took turns until some voices became hoarse.
A woman came by at 1:00 p.m., and listened for a minute. When she came back at 6:00 p.m., she was amazed that we were still reading the names. Tears welled in her eyes as she realized the significance of our continued reading.
Victoria Hershey, a columnist for the Portland Press Herald, came by late in the day. “When I see you all here,” she said, “I know there is still sanity in the world.”
A young woman came early in the afternoon with her two children. She paused before leaving to read a few pages of names, her children crowding near her. But the gravity of the event pulled her back to the park at 7:00 p.m. She was saddened when she found us still there, still reading. She stayed for more reading, her voice ringing out across the park to the passersby.
One elderly gentleman, who until recently would not have been seen with us, spent the entire day with us. He stood holding signs on the sidewalk, or sat and patiently created the crosses on the Cloth of Chaos, or read the names.
A hero from the struggle of South Africa, Ken Carstens, stopped by to cheer us on.
An African American man on a bicycle, came close and told his young son what we were doing. He explained that this war is similar in so many ways to the Vietnam War, and that the lies of our president were the major reason we are losing our men and women in Iraq.
A veteran of the Vietnam war stood listening to the reading. He seemed lost in thought, his brown eyes sad, as he remembered what he did not want to remember.
Another Vietnam veteran stood for hours on the sidewalk with the sign that explained what we were doing. He remembers the Tet Offensive only too well.
Dexter Kamilewicz was there most of the day. He read the names of American GI’s who had been stationed with his son, Ben, in Ramadi. As a member of the Vermont National Guard deployed to Iraq, Ben escaped death several times. Dexter read the familiar names of Ben’s comrades. There was heartbreak in his voice as he was reminded of the agonizing year he spent closely following every report of casualties from units in Ramadi.
Bruce Gagnon, Executive Director of Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, noted that, though many people were thoughtful and compassionate about the significance of the event, many others went about their Friday business or pleasure. He commented, “Entertainment is always a good salve for the aching soul of a nation at endless war.”
A one-page explanation of the reading was handed out to almost 1,000 people as they passed by or stopped to listen. During the day, contingents of participants visited the offices of Senators Snowe and Collins and Representative Tom Allen. The staffs remembered the times when we had occupied their offices and read there. Our message to them is, “Stop funding the war. Support the troops by bringing them home by the end of 2006. Don’t let this war drag on for seven more years like the Vietnam War did, when everyone knew the war was wrong.” As Jack Bussell, a member of Veterans for Peace, told Cheryl Leaman, Senator Snowe’s aide, “War was wrong yesterday, war is wrong today, and war will be wrong tomorrow.”
Currently, this war is costing U.S. taxpayers $8.5 billion per month, and Maine’s share of that is now over $870 million. Meanwhile, the world is facing global warming disasters, our children need better-equipped schools and better-paid teachers, our infrastructure is crumbling, and the national debt rises to unknown heights. Where is the logic? How long before masses of people demand an end to the senseless slaughter? When that happens, this war will end.