Anti-war protesters focus their message at an annual Memorial Day air show.
Black coffins lined one entrance to the Salute to Veterans Air Show on Saturday as thousands of spectators entered the show’s tarmac at the Columbia Regional Airport.
Members from the Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation brought the caskets as a reminder of the cost of war. Keith Brekhus, public outreach coordinator for the organization, said he hopes they cause people to stop and think.
“We are trying to promote a message,” Brekhus said. “We are hoping for an exit in Iraq and it seems like this is a good event to express that.”
A man from Jefferson City People for Peace stationed himself at another entrance, handing out leaflets that call for a more solemn recognition of Memorial Day, a remembrance for those who died in the service of the United States.
The festive air show, a draw for families, features planes doing stunts and other entertainment.
Although they have been a presence at the annual air show since the early 1990s, this year, following a court ruling May 18, protesters were able to distribute leaflets both on and off the tarmac. The event became a public forum Saturday as some people distributed fliers calling for an end to the Iraq War while others provided shredders to destroy what Bill Vaughn of Columbia called “unwanted fliers.”
Vaughn, who described himself as a concerned citizen, stationed himself in front of the caskets holding a sign asking people to shred the yellow fliers handed to them by Mark Haim, director of Mid-Missouri Peaceworks.
Vaughn said he was expressing his opinion in order to support the troops in Iraq. “I believe that they are over there fighting for me,” he said.
The war in Iraq was not the only subject up for debate. Echoing the Jefferson City protester, Bill Wickersham, a member of Veterans for Peace, said the air show is an inappropriate event for Memorial Day weekend.
“We are trying to get people to focus on those who have been killed and not glorify the machines of war,” he said emphasizing that the air show was doing more than saluting soldiers.
Wickersham pointed to the presence of military aircraft and recruiters at the air show as an effort to mold public opinion in support of military operations.
“I don’t agree with the basic operations of the air show,” he said. “It should be a solemn event.”
Representatives from the Columbia Recruiting Station said they attend the air show as a community service and not to recruit. They declined to comment beyond that.
Annette Sanders, spokeswoman for the air show, said she was unable to comment on the protesters’ methods this year because of the possibility of further action regarding the May 18 ruling.
Wickersham and Maureen Doyle sought the injunction so that protesters could distribute leaflets and circulate petitions at the air show this weekend. Last year, Wickersham was arrested and Doyle was escorted off the property when they tried to circulate petitions.
In her ruling, federal Judge Nanette Laughrey said leafleting was allowed because the leaflets can be read later, but she didn’t allow petitioning because the petitions are read on the spot.
The ruling will stand unless the defendants, the City of Columbia and the Memorial Day Weekend Salute to Veterans Corp., challenge the preliminary injunction.
Wickersham said that at the Salute to Veterans Parade on Monday, Veterans for Peace will carry a coffin draped in an American flag.
“It’s a reminder that it’s not just veterans; it’s young people being killed today who won’t have the chance to be veterans,” he said.
Wickersham also distributed a bookmark-size copy of the Bill of Rights during the air show to emphasize his right to protest on the tarmac.