I’m reporting back with mixed emotions after the OUT OF IRAQ rally and march held in Boston on Oct 27. As a Peacekeeper I was asked to keep people from getting too close to the stage. People were standing on the Common as far back as the eye could see. I was afforded a close up view of each speaker during the rally’s 2 hours: the caustic enthusiasm of the Ragin’ Grannies, the no nonsense lyrics of the young rapper, the deadened eyes of some of the returned Iraqi veterans and the tears in the eyes of a young vet probably no more than 21, the call to action and the resounding roar from students, the outrage of a Gold Star Mother showing the pin given to her in exchange for her son’s death, and Anne Diemand of Diemand Farm in Wendell telling how she simply cannot be present for people since her son went to Iraq. I looked at her face..the color drained from it, and I felt the depth of her fear. After her talk, a pair of boots of a soldier from Belchertown ( I think) was placed into the EYES WIDE OPEN exhibit. My mixed emotions are these: hope at seeing 85 year old Howard Zinn still speaking out, fear at hearing about the incessant push toward Iran and how the administration is setting events in place that will not be able to be reversed, anger at the obscene amount of money spent and lives lost. Someone asked me ”Why bother to go to those things? It won’t be reported.” My answer must be to bear witness to the pain, grief, and suffering of mothers, fathers, loved ones and now returning vets who are so very brave to speak.
Tags: Iraq, peacekeeper, Ragin' Grannies, Iraq veterans, Gold Star Mother, Howard Zinn
