Memorial Day For Peace
WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?
Today is Memorial Day, when we may take a fleeting moment to think about all our fellow Americans who have died in warfare. Most ceremonies on this day revolve around patriotism, and therefore war and the glorification of armed conflict.
This ceremony is different. It is about respect and remembrance for those Massachusetts citizens whose lives were ended in the more recent episodes of American occupation and counterinsurgency, Iraq and Afghanistan. But, mainly it is about peace and the need for peace.
If you will take a moment out of your holiday relaxation to notice, the participants are all former soldiers and civilian refugees of warfare. For them the issue of war and peace is crucial and not simply a pleasant notion. Tribute in this ceremony will be rendered to all alike, American soldiers and Iraqi refugees, without distinguishing friend from enemy. That is fitting if we are to embrace peace as a people in a country exhausted by endless foreign wars.
It is no longer debatable that our involvement in numerous military occupations is impoverishing us as a people, financially and morally. More than 60% of Americans now oppose war and want peace.
We ask that you show respect and consideration for the gravity of what we are doing here today - promoting peace. This is not just another fringe demonstration by hippies or malcontents. Please demonstrate your respect by stopping what you are doing and attending the ceremony.
The dead and maimed deserve nothing less and we as a people need peace.
May 28, 2012
1:00 p.m.—3:00 p.m.
Christopher Columbus Park
Boston, Massachusetts
Sponsored by Veterans For Peace, Smedley D.
Butler Brigade, Chapter 9 and Samantha Smith
Chapter 45, Military Families Speak Out, United for
Justice with Peace, and Mass Peace Action
***********
PROGRAM
Scottish Bag Pipes Opening
Welcome
In Memory of our Friend Capt. Paul Brailsford
A short remembrance of my friend Zalmai
Return to Hell
Song—"Hunter"
What Memorial Day Means to Me
Suicide: The Hidden Wounds of War
Are -we finished with war yet?
Memorial Day For Peace
May 28, 2012
1:00 p.m.—3:00 p.m.
Christopher Columbus Park
Boston, Massachusetts
******
Brian Quirk
Rev. Lara Hoke
Secretary, Smedley D. Butler Brigade
Pat Scanlon Coordinator Smedley D. Butler Brigade
Lee Vander Laan Executive Committee Smedley D. Butler Brigade
Bradford Adams Smedley D. Butler Brigade Afghanistan Veteran (2002-2003)
Kevin Lucey
Parent of Cpl. Jeffrey Lucey, USMC
SiKahn
Bob Funke
Smedley D. Butler Brigade
Bonnie Gorman Military Families Speak Out Gold Star Families Vietnam Smedley D. Butler Brigade
Nancy Wren Mass Peace Action
Poem
Webb Nichols
Smedley D. Butler Brigade
Reflection
Ahmad & Leyla Al Zubaydi Iraqi Refugees
Arab Spring and Hypocrisy of the West
Scottish Bag Pipes
Farouq Ali Iraqi Refugee
Closing Taps
Brian Quirk
Flower Ceremony**
Rev. Ralph Galen
Community Church of Lawrence
Jesse Perrier Executive Committee Smedley D. Butler Brigade
** At the conclusion of the reading of the names of military and civilian casualties, members of the audience who wish to commemorate a departed veteran are invited to step forward.
Veterans For Peace, Inc.
Veterans Working Together for Peace & Justice Through Non-Violence
National Office
216 South Meramec Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63105
314-725-6005
email: vfped@veteransforpeace.org website: www.veteransforpeace.org
Smedley D. Butler Brigade
P.O. Box 1604
Andover, MA 01810
Tel. 978-475-1776
www.smedleyvfp.org
Email: lee@massvfp.org
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