Vigils in April 2013

[Brian]

Of the 15 participants in this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil, two stood out -- a mother and her son who had seen us gathered at Ocean View Boulevard and Honolulu Avenue for years. Isabella and Rick came to the corner for the first time to hold signs in honor of her nephew, who was killed in Iraq five years ago, and to celebrate his birthday this week. They said he would have been there too if he had lived, calling for the withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan and for peace with Iran.

The only death reported by the Defense Department in the past week was from a "non-combat related illness." We wish that Chief Warrant Officer Curtis Reagan had been home with his family and not stationed in Kandahar, Afghanistan. I printed the PDF attached below and Anni posted it for the vigil:

Attachments:

[anni]

This consistent vigil has always been a great place to be any Friday evening. With the addition of the Glendale Peace Vigil strong hearts AND our co-sponsorship with the Bradley Manning Support Network...a better chance to be seen and heard.
We can share here or with the Bradley Manning folks here:

orders.bradleymanning.org/support_events/montrose-peace-vigil-supports-bradley-manning-2013-04-12

...any fresh ideas/concerns...new actions we could try...as the young folks say, "Whatever!" (Not sure that's what they mean, lol.)

[Brian]

Every Thursday, Montrose Peace Vigil compiles the death announcements from the Defense Department's website in the past week. Every Friday since October 2011, we have posted them on the corner during our vigils. Because the Pentagon waits at least 24 hours after notifying the next of kin, the names of the two Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers killed in a helicopter crash on Tuesday have not yet been released.

You probably heard about the deadliest day for Americans in the past eight months in Afghanistan -- six U.S. citizens, including a foreign service officer, were killed by the Taliban while delivering donated books to a school last Saturday. The deaths of the three soldiers by that bomb are reported in the PDF attached below, along with an airman whose F-16 crashed near Bagram Airfield:

Attachments:

[Brian]

I don't comment enough on the goodwill that Montrose Peace Vigil receives on the corner from passersby. This Friday, 11 participants heard the many honks from all of the vehicles, and we thanked the pedestrians who thanked us for being there or who expressed agreement with our messages. But I also noticed more drivers who just waved quickly or gave thumbs up while paying attention to the road. Participants are easy to count, but I cannot tally the people that the vigils reach -- or even those who respond to us silently.

Montrose Peace Vigil is grateful to the good people of the Bradley Manning Support Network, who have listed our vigils every Friday through December 2014 on the main Events page of their website. This is the link to our page for the April 19 vigil, which includes a map and an opportunity to post replies:

orders.bradleymanning.org/support_events/montrose-peace-vigil-supports-bradley-manning-2013-04-19

[Brian]

Eleven peaceniks occupied the corner for this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil -- a great turnout considering that co-founder Roberta was in San Francisco, where I read the weather was much cooler than here, and co-founder Nancy was on her way see to the Janis Joplin tribute show in Pasadena, which is pretty hot, I hear. Frannie stayed for awhile, talking mostly with Jim and asking about Roberta, so I count her too.

The Defense Department reported two deaths in Afghanistan this past week. Logged in members can download the PDF attachment of the page we posted throughout the vigil:

Attachments:

[Brian]

Last Friday, I ordered a three-by-five-foot banner from the Bradley Manning Support Network. Monday, three banners arrived in the mail. Here is the link to the order page with a photo:

orders.bradleymanning.org/shop/bmsn-3x5-flag-banner

Anni's ambitious -- she's already thought of several ways to display the banner on poles, maybe even two banners back to back to show to both streams of traffic, vehicles and pedestrians.

Yes, it's huge. My only concern is finding a place to position it where it doesn't overwhelm the other signs.

[Brian]

Former Glendale Peace Vigil stalwarts Norm and Pearl again rode the bus from Pasadena to join this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil. Without them and the regular participation of Sharon and Bill since the Glendale vigil ended in January, our weekly attendance would resemble last year's numbers, instead of these:

• Apr. 5 - 15
  
• Apr. 12 - 11
  
• Apr. 19 - 11
  
• Apr. 26 - 13
  

Rounding to the nearest whole peacenik, the vigils averaged 13 participants per week in April, compared to 12 in March, in February and January as well. In April 2012, the corner averaged 10 per vigil.

My new three-by-five-foot "FREE BRADLEY/bradleymanning.org" banner wasn't as overwhelming on the corner as it seemed in our living room. Many enthusiastic drivers and passengers apparently knew about him, and some might have recognized the now iconic photograph of a much younger Pfc. Manning in uniform in front of an American flag. Anni took photos that she will share here soon.

Meanwhile, here is the PDF we posted of the death that the Defense Department announced this week:

Attachments:

[anni]

Here's only four of the thirteen folks that eventually showed up for our last vigil of April:


Pearl, Norm, Roberta (face hidden) Brian and Jim not seen but we can see his flag!


This candid shot also caught Nancy and others as they appeared to passers-by.