It is my great pleasure to extend to you our invitation to the May 21, 2008 protest rally, march and vigil in New London CT at the USGCA. We are continuing with the goal that everywhere this administration goes we will be there to speak out. What better representative of this administration is there besides Dick Cheney, who is scheduled as the commencement speaker that day.
I encourage every one of you to use that extra personal/sick/vacation day to come join us. Last year the media was there and they seemed to focus their reporting on the gathering of eagles, even though they spewed some pretty vulgar words at the pro-peace people. This year they will undoubtedly be there as well with their bull horns and awfully stupid remarks and lewd comments, however we are trying to achieve a silent vigil and protest. That will provide the media with clear background sounds of the gathering of eagles for any interview they make.
We honestly do want this action to be a silent one. We have been silenced, over 4,071 servicemen and women are now silenced, our media is silent and tens of thousands of Iraqi men, women and children are now silent.
May 12, 2008. New London, Conn. Vice President Dick Cheney’s speech at the U. S. Coast Guard Academy commencement on Wednesday, May 21, will be the occasion for a witness against war sponsored by the Southeast Connecticut Peace & Justice Network. Following a rally at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in New London’s Union Plaza at 9 a.m., peace advocates will walk in a silent procession to the front gate of the Coast Guard Academy. Demonstrators will carry symbolic tombstones with the names of the more than 4,000 men and women in the U. S. military who have died in Iraq since 2003, and plant them in a prominent place so Cheney’s motorcade will see the results of their war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Fr. Emmett Jarrett, TSSF, a member of the Network, said the idea of the slogan: “War is Death” came from a report that two World War II veterans, a U. S. and a Japanese soldier, were speaking at high schools around America about their experiences. The Japanese man said, “After Hiroshima, the will to be a warrior went out of me. War is death.”
Other Connecticut and national peace groups will participate in the local witness. John Murphy and Connecticut Opposes the Way (COW) will stand in solidarity. Representatives of Veterans for Peace (VFP) are also expected to participate. It is anticipated that a right wing group, “Gathering of Eagles,” will heckle the silent peace march and vigil, as they did last year’s demonstration. The veterans, local and Connecticut activists, will not respond except by their silent witness to the fact that “War is death.” Connecticut College “professors for peace” are also expected.
