Vigils in June 2021

[Brian]

This Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil coincided with Wear Orange weekend, promoted by Everytown for Gun Safety. Sharon and Bill came to the corner wearing orange t-shirts and bearing orange flyers headed Why We Wear Orange -- "to remember lives lost to gun violence and to raise awareness about this public health crisis."  The observance was initiated in 2013 by the friends of Hadiya Pendleton, who was shot and killed in Chicago at the age of 15 a week after performing in President Obama's second inaugural parade.  They wore orange at her funeral, then they started a movement.

Foot and wheel traffic on this mild spring evening resembled a pre-pandemic vigil, except for all of the masks.  With two of our greatest stalwarts out of town, nine regulars participated, two shy of our average attendance last month.

Since October 2011, we have printed and displayed every Defense Department news release announcing the deaths of soldiers, sailors and airmen in our many ongoing military operations. The Pentagon reported no uniformed U.S. casualties in the previous seven days.

[Brian]

This Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil took place four days before most of the Covid restrictions in California will be lifted, yet everybody demonstrating and most of the people walking by still wore masks.  The official guidance is that they haven't been required outdoors for weeks except in crowds.  What constitutes a crowd?  Despite being vaccinated, I'm still inclined to continue wearing my mask for further protection from an errant windblown sneeze or from someone who wants to get in my face to argue, which used to happen occasionally.  Breakthrough infections are exceedingly rare, but I've become conditioned to being careful.  Let's see how things develop.

Fourteen peaceniks participated this week, our best turnout since last August.

On Thursday, the Defense Department announced the death of a 42 year old Louisiana National Guard soldier "as a result of a non-combat related incident."  According to WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge, 1st Sgt. Casey J. Hart, who was a local police officer, went into cardiac arrest May 9 while running at Al-Tanf Garrison in Syria.  He died at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Tuesday.  A GoFundMe page has raised more than $28,000 to date for his medical care and his family's travel expenses.  We posted a large-type printout of this news release on the utility pole throughout the vigil:

www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2652852/dod-identifies-army-casualty/

1st Sgt. Casey J. Hart

[Brian]

For the first time, we were joined at this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil by the fantastic duo of Cory and Tom, who've been busking in Montrose but never before on a Friday between 5:30 and 7 p.m. Yet we met Cory five years ago when he demonstrated at a Montrose Peace Vigil.  They set up next to us, singing folk songs, bluegrass and originals and playing various acoustic instruments like fiddle and mandolin with Tom providing percussion while seated on an ingenious little kick drum.  There was singing and dancing and much applause on the corner.

Traffic was light, probably because school is out and people are traveling again, like many vigil regulars have been this month.  But our attendance was strong -- 13 participants -- including Justeen's friends Jim and Joe, who just happened to be in Montrose, so they stopped to hold signs.

The non-combat death of another National Guardsman from Baton Rouge, Louisiana was announced by the Pentagon, this one in Kuwait but also in support of Operation Inherent Resolve which, it just occurred to me, will be outlawed when the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force is finally repealed.  President Biden said he would sign it, then the House voted to repeal the AUMF with a lot of Republican votes.  Now we await action in the Senate.  A large-type printout of this news release was displayed throughout the vigil:

www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2655766/dod-identifies-army-casualty/

[Brian]

Gaby, an activist we've known for years, contacted Roberta and me last weekend. On behalf of local Democratic and Indivisible groups, she asked about the current situation and protocols on the corner because they wanted to take to the street to support Governor Newsom and oppose his recall.  When Anni and I arrived at this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil at 5:30, 17 demonstrators occupied three corners at the intersection of Ocean View Boulevard and Honolulu Avenue, most bearing signs reading "Stop the Recall/Keep Governor Newsom."  They left as planned at 6 p.m., when the bulk of vigil regulars started arriving.  We hope they return throughout the months leading up the election, which could be set for the early autumn.

If I only counted the 13 regulars who came this week, our monthly average would have been 12 participants.  Since January, when the vigil averaged 7 sign holders a week, we've gained one peacenik on average every month.  With the addition of Gaby's friends this week, Montrose Peace Vigil had its best attendance since 2015 and our long association with the folks of Glendale for Bernie:

• June 4 - 9
• June 11 - 14
• June 18 - 13
• June 25 - 30

This month's weekly average rounds up to 17 participants, after averaging 11 in May, 10 in April, 9 in March, 8 in February, 7 in January and December, 8 in November, 10 in October, 9 in September, 11 in August, 10 in July and 14 in June 2020. Twelve had been our average attendance for many years before the pandemic.

No U. S. military deaths were reported in the previous seven days.