Vigils in September 2019

[Brian]

Every Friday since January 2006, we've stood for peace, love and understanding from 5:30 to 7 p.m. along the wide northwest corner of Ocean View Boulevard and Honolulu Avenue in Montrose, CA 91020, not far from the Vietnam War Memorial.

Thirteen regulars held signs during this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil.

Since October 2011, we have displayed every Defense Department news release announcing the deaths of soldiers, sailors and airmen in its official operations during the vigils. Anni taped a printout of this Pentagon news release on the utility pole:

www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/1949384/dod-identifies-army-casualty/

Several hours ago, the DoD identified another casualty in Afghanistan. We will post that news release next Friday -- and, hopefully, no more.

[Brian]

Yeah, it was pretty hot at the beginning of this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil, the next to last of summer 2019.  Thankfully -- at this time of the season -- the sun dips behind the Verdugo Hills halfway through the vigil.

Eleven regulars made it to the corner.

This week, for the first time, Anni moved the printout of the latest Pentagon casualty announcement -- the 16th U.S. military death this year -- from the utility pole next to the Honolulu Avenue crosswalk to the light pole facing the more popular Ocean View Boulevard crosswalk.  A U.S. soldier died last week when a Taliban car bomb exploded in Kabul, Afghanistan.  Trump used him as an excuse to call off the so called peace talks with the Taliban at Camp David, and mentioned that he was from Puerto Rico.  This is the link to the Department of Defense news release:

www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/1954351/dod-identifies-army-casualty/

Sgt. 1st Class Elis A. Barreto Ortiz

[Brian]

The temperature was 77 degrees when I reached the corner around 6 p.m. for this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil, the last vigil of summer 2019.  It was getting dark when 11 regulars left at 7.  After 13 years, I've also come to recognize the traffic patterns of late September -- longer lines of cars waiting for the stop light going east on Honolulu Avenue, and more pedestrians on the sidewalks, especially kids after the school year has begun to settle in.  Was it me, or did we get more enthusiastic honks and waves from the passing vehicles?  This week, we occupied three areas on the wide corner.

I've been printing out the death notices on the Pentagon's website and Anni's posted every one during the vigils for eight years now.  They're tearing me up more and more lately, perhaps because this is the 17th casualty this year, more likely because I had enough of these wars when George W. Bush was in his first term.  This week's link:

www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/1962199/dod-identifies-army-casualty/

[Brian]

Vigil co-founder Roberta returned to the corner after her travels through Russia, Mongolia and China -- wearing her Montrose Peace Vigil t-shirt -- just as two other stalwarts headed to northern California for a family event.  Still, the total number of participants in this week's Montrose Peace Vigil was one dozen, our long familiar average, and this month's attendance was better than last September's:

• Sept. 6 - 13
• Sept. 13 - 11
• Sept. 20 - 11
• Sept. 27 - 12

The weekly average for September was 12 participants -- the same as August and July -- after averaging 14 in June and May, 11 in April and 12 each month in March, February, January and December. We had 13 weekly demonstrators last November and October, and 10 in September 2018.

For the first time in four weeks, the Department of Defense reported no military deaths in Operation Freedom's Sentinel in Afghanistan, Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria or in any of the other U.S. operations underway around the world in the previous seven days.