Veterans call for peace on Memorial Day
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KEITH
BEDFORD/GLOBE STAFF
At
Columbus Park in Boston, Linda Hickey and others tossed carnations representing
service members killed in war during a Veterans for Peace ceremony on Memorial
Day.
The
brass bell tolled as the name of each of the 124 service members from Massachusetts who died
in Iraq or Afghanistan was solemnly announced.
After
each name was called, a red, white, or blue carnation was dropped into the still
waters of Boston Harbor.
Army
Sergeant Jordan Shay of Amesbury was the first name called. He was killed on Sept. 3, 2009, in a combat vehicle
accident just weeks into his second tour of duty in Iraq. He was 22.
“It
was very thoughtful and moving,” said Louise Bruyn, 85, of Newton, who dropped
the flower in memory of Shay, whom she never met.
The
flower ceremony was the emotional high point of a Memorial Day tribute organized
by the Boston chapter of Veterans for
Peace, an international organization that promotes a nonviolent end to
war.
Carnations
were also dropped to honor the more than 1,300 servicemen and women from
Massachusetts who died in Vietnam.
The
90-minute ceremony, held under overcast skies at Christopher Columbus Park in
the North End, struck a different tone than traditional Memorial Day parades and
services held Monday in communities across the state.
Spectators
waved peace flags and wore T-shirts with the message, “War is a racket. A few
profit — the many pay,” printed on the back.
“I
think the current wars are a big mistake,” said Carolyn Whiting, 65, of Reading,
who held a rainbow-colored peace flag and wore strands of red-and-blue peace
symbol beads around her neck.
“Amazing
Grace” sounded from a harmonica. Poems penned by combat veterans were
read.
“It
was OK,” Patrick Doherty, 31, of Dorchester, an Army Iraq war veteran, said
after reading a poem. “It’s kind of a sad day.”
Vietnam
and Iraq war veterans remembered both their fallen comrades and civilians who
have lived through war.
“We
always remember those who wore the uniforms, but we never seem to recall those
civilians, the ones who did not want war . . . and who had nothing to do with
it,” said Bob Funke, 63, of Roslindale, an Army veteran who served two tours of
duty in Vietnam.
Funke
recalled the stark difference between his first tour as an infantryman and his
second tour as a medic.
“In
my first tour . . . I killed at least 21 people,” he said in a raspy voice. “In
the second tour, I was a medic and I saved over 200 people.
“I
can tell you right now, saving lives beats the hell out of taking them,” Funke
added, drawing applause from the crowd of about 50 gathered before him. “We
should be doing all we can to save lives, and bring home those who have gone to
war.”
Travis
Weiner, 29, an Army veteran who served two tours in Iraq, offered a moment of
silence for Army Corporal John M. Dawson of Northbridge, the state’s most recent
casualty, who was killed in Afghanistan on April 8, and for six men
from his platoon who died serving in Iraq.
“It
is good and fitting that we do this,” said Weiner, who works as an outreach
worker for Homebase Program, which provides support services to veterans.
But
Memorial Day should also be “a day in which people around this country take time
to contemplate some fundamental moral, ethical, and philosophical questions
related to our country’s wars,” Weiner said. “I believe, with all my heart, that
it is dishonoring to our fallen brothers and sisters to refuse to even consider
these questions.”
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