Americans Hold Vigils for Dead in Iraq

[callady]

Americans Hold Vigils for Dead in Iraq


Thursday October 27, 2005 12:01 PM

By CONNIE MABIN

Associated Press Writer

CLEVELAND (AP) - The cashier became emotional and speechless when war protester Joseph Mosyjowski bought 2,000 small candles a few weeks ago for a vigil he knew was bound to happen, and she realized they represented each U.S. military death in Iraq.

As she silently scanned each candle, the reality hit: ``2,000 stories of 2,000 people whose lives have been cut short through the violence of a war of choice,'' Mosyjowski said Wednesday as a series of anti-war vigils were held nationwide to mark the milestone.

The U.S. military death toll hit 2,000 on Tuesday, 31 months after the start of the war in March 2003.

For Tiphany Eckert, whose 24-year-old husband, Andy Eckert, of Whitehouse, Ohio, was killed by a roadside bomb in May, the number makes no difference.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5373254,00.html

[jarnocan]

1. Photochains on CARE2

http://www.photochains.com/view/Vigils anyone can view May add photos by joining. I only had a couple.
More related including a World Can't Wait one.
http://www.photochains.com/view.html?g2_controller=photochains:UserAlbum

[Patiod]

2. Lots of coverage on our local news

A great mix - "aging hippies", young people, middle-aged folks, seniors, moms of soldiers. They showed too tall, very elderly, white-haired men in jackets and ties who you could immediately identify as Quakers (old white guys in suits at peace rallies in Philadelphia = Quakers)

Although the news cameras first focused on the "aging hippies", I was glad to see they interviewed the mom of a dead soldier, and panned the line of candle-holders, and you could see that most of them look like your neighbors.

The only odd thing is that it was pretty much 100% white, but my guess is that black folks in Philadelphia have some more immediate and local concerns to protest, like gun violence and their kids getting shot in drive-bys...

[Mojorabbit]

3. We had a good mix

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-vigil2705oct27,0,6222636.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-orange

[uppityperson]

4. She scanned each candle by hand? wow

On the other hand, we have a jar with 1900 pennies in it, haven't gotten the last hundred in, each counted. It is a good exercise in seeing how many this is. So is printing pictures of boots (with names, ages of dead) and taping them to railings (from American Friends Service Committee website) as we did last night.