Vigils in May 2023

[Brian]

Montrose Peace Vigil and our dirt patch as seen on April 28, 2023.

The biggest news at this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil was the city's renovation of the dirt spaces on the corner after years of neglect.  The remaining patches of grass in the photo above are gone.  This week, workers also tilled the soil and unearthed the sprinklers we'd forgotten were there.  What's next?  The drought is officially over.  Will the city plant new grass?  Watch this space.

The next surprise when Anni and I arrived was a peace sign drawn in the dirt.  We soon learned that Frannie was the artist -- she had stopped by earlier.  Three of our greatest stalwarts were unavailable, so vigil attendance was much lower than April's average of 13 peaceniks per week.  Nine regulars participated:  Frannie, Anni, me, Dennis, Russell, Janice, Bruce, Jeanne and Jim, in order of appearance.

As a reminder, we stand on the northwest corner of Ocean View Boulevard and Honolulu Avenue near the Vietnam War memorial in Montrose, CA 91020 every Friday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. without regard to the weather or holidays -- we haven't missed a vigil since January 2006. Please stop by sometime if you can.

Since October 2011, we have printed and displayed every Defense Department news release announcing the deaths of soldiers, Marines, sailors and Airmen in our many ongoing military operations around the world.  About 2,500 troops remain in Iraq and 900 in Syria.  The Pentagon reported no uniformed U.S. casualties in the previous seven days.

[Brian]

The city planted turf before this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil.  We arrived to lush, deep green grass surrounded by yellow caution tape with Keep Off the Grass signs stuck into each patch.  We stood along the tape on the sidewalk facing traffic, our signs apparently still visible going by the many honks, waves, thumbs up and peace signs from passing vehicles.  The beautiful weather drew groups of teenagers to the sidewalks and shops alongside more young parents pushing strollers than I've seen in months.

Vigil turnout was one peacenik shy of April's average attendance.  A dozen regulars came to the corner:  Jeanne, Anni, me, Dennis, Janice, Nancy, Frannie, Russell, John the Realtor, Mary, Jim and Mike, in order of appearance.

In the previous seven days, the Department of Defense reported no military deaths in Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria or in any of the other named U.S. operations underway around the world.

[Brian]

Yellow caution tape kept us off the grass for a second week at this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil.  Bruce was on the corner after missing last week's vigil, and because he's a longtime horticulturist, I asked for his professional opinion.  Bruce recognized the brand name sod that the city planted and said that St. Augustine grass would have been a better choice in that environment.  Also, the caution tape was not necessary.  Maybe the tape will be removed before Memorial Day and the early morning ceremony that attracts elected officials like Rep. Adam Schiff and a large crowd every year.

Foot and wheel traffic was considerably lighter this week, but vigil attendance was strong.  Twelve regulars came -- in order of appearance:  Jeanne, Anni, me, Roberta (back from the Galapagos Islands), Janice, Nancy, Russell, Dennis, Frannie, Bruce, Jim and Mike.

The Department of Defense reported no uniformed casualties in the previous seven days.

[Brian]

The grass had been mowed and the yellow caution tape removed before this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil but the Please Stay Off the Grass signs remain. At the start of the Memorial Day weekend, traffic was predictably very light.


Andy Corwin and Justeen Ward perform a John Prine song as Daddio and Angel in Altadena last year.

I was cheered when I saw Justeen walking down the sidewalk with Andy carrying his guitar case, not just because I'm lucky to see Andy once a year since he moved to Austin, Texas oh so long ago -- he and Justeen played a brief set on the concrete bench.  It seems like years since people played music on the corner, and Andy and Justeen are seasoned professionals.  Andy was in town after the latest tour of the Limeliters that included a headline gig in Pennsylvania and a triumphant show in New York City with the Kingston Trio and the Brothers Four that were beautifully captured and encapsulated in quick videos by Justeen on her You Tube channel.

I count Andy as a regular because he's come to past vigils.  So 14 regulars attended this week.  Nancy, Mary, Anni and me arrived by 5:25, followed soon by Dennis, Roberta, Justeen, Andy, Russell, Jeanne, John the Realtor, Mike, Bruce and Frannie, in order of appearance.  Unlike April, we had no spontaneous participants this month yet turnout was solid:

• May 5 - 9
• May 12 - 12
• May 19 - 12
• May 26 - 14

This month's weekly average rounds up to 12 participants, after averaging 13 in April, 12 in March, 10 in February, 12 in January, 11 in December and November, 12 in October, 9 in September, 10 in August, 11 in July, 10 in June and 11 in May 2022.

After 21 weeks of no casualties, the Pentagon reported two deaths in Kuwait this week, one of them just an hour before this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil. I will write another post this weekend.

[Brian]

As Jeanne reads, Anni points to two casualty releases at a Montrose Peace Vigil in 2018.

I didn't check the Defense Department's Releases page for casualties after Thursday afternoon, not at 5 p.m. Friday just before the vigil as I usually do.  Perhaps I had become lax after 21 weeks of no reported deaths of U.S. soldiers supporting official operations -- and that casualty last December came 39 weeks after the previous one.  Later on Thursday the Pentagon announced the death of an airman "in a non-combat related incident," and on Friday night the death of a soldier "in a non-combat vehicle rollover accident," each occurring in different camps and for two different U.S. operations in Kuwait. We will tape large-type printouts of these releases to display on the utility pole during the next Montrose Peace Vigil:

www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3408031/dod-identifies-air-force-casualty/

www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3409201/dod-identifies-army-casualty/

Every year, the local chamber of commerce and the shopping park association have hosted a Memorial Day ceremony at the Vietnam War memorial on the corner. Vigil stalwart Bruce has attended every observance since he moved here in 1991, and other regulars have participated every year since we first gathered there in 2006. Bruce is a professional horticulturist -- he's bringing another basket of living flowers inside a pot of earth to place in tribute to the men from this area who died in Vietnam, along with a card designed by Jeanne on behalf of Montrose Peace Vigil. The observance starts at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, May 29. Bruce will plant the flowers at the memorial site later in the week as he always has.