Marching toward peace

As the director of adult education in Columbia Public Schools, John McClure said he’s against the war in Iraq because he feels it’s exploiting the poor who, because of the challenges they face getting a good education and a good job, see the military as a more attractive option.

“I see an economic draft that has been a gold mine for our military,” he said.

McClure was one of nearly 700 people who showed up at to the Courthouse Square and Douglass Park on Sunday to voice their opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the effects its had on Americans and Iraqis. Organized by the Columbia Peace Coalition, the Peace is Growing rally and march was just one of hundreds of demonstrations, vigils, and ceremonies held across the country and around the world this weekend to mark the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq, which began on March 19, 2003.

As the time approached 2 p.m. Sunday, the crowd at the rally filled every seat in the ampitheather at Courthouse Square, leaving latecomers

with standing room only.

The Columbia Peace Coalition had set out with the goal of assembling 500 demonstrators. When Victoria Day, the master of ceremonies for the rally, announced that they had 512 committed participants signed up prior to the event, the crowd cheered. Mid-Missouri Peaceworks Director Mark Haim later estimated that a total of 700 people attended the march and rally.

The rally at the courthouse was kicked off by a universal drum appeal that was echoed in the crowd with rattles, drums, and pots and pans brought by demonstrators.

The cacophony of protest was accompanied by dogs and children.

The event was a family affair for Justin and Bobbette Howe of Jamestown, who came with their two daughters, Katrina, 13, and Calliope, an infant.

“We really wanted to be a part of something, and turn out and show people that we were through our actions,” Justin Howe said.

While the Howes said they hope for a quick end to the war, their motivation for attending the rally was to express their views as a family and learn more about the war and the world in the process.

“Being a parent makes a difference in the way you think about the future and the changes you want to see in the world,” Bobbette Howe said.

A major theme of the rally and march was a call to expand the dialogue about the war beyond the kitchen table and into houses of worship, houses of government, neighborhoods, communities and classrooms.

The Rev. Maureen Dickmann, of Rock Bridge Christian Church, said she’s upset by the U.S. administrators who claim to be Christian, but who she feels don’t follow Christian values when they make political decisions.

She responded to the so-called “Christian perpetrators” of the war with a mock call-and-response quiz of biblical teachings.

“Blessed are the warmongers?” Dickmann asked.

“No! Blessed are the peacemakers!” the crowd shouted back.

Dickmann’s most impassioned point was that the followers of Jesus need to be visible and vocal about their opposition.

“This is a faith issue,” she said. “It is not an extra-faith issue. It is at the core of faith.”

John Betz of Veterans for Peace passed a sober mood on to the crowd when he reminded them of the 39th anniversary of the My Lai massacre, which occurred March 16, 1968. Betz said that the hundreds of civilians

slaughtered in My Lai were lives lost to an “immoral” crusade that carried on for another five years in the name of American imperialism.

“Who made us the decision makers about what happened to the Vietnemese? About what happens to the Iraqis?” Betz asked. “I am disgusted by the subtleties and nuances of the conflict discussed by officials and journalists who are self-satisfied that they have done their homework. They are missing the point. Helpless children are dying. Who talks about that on CNN and MSNBC?”

He also said that despite the administration’s overwhelming concern with cutting and running in Vietnam, it was amazingly easy for himself and other veterans to walk away.

Betz’s remarks were received with agreement by the crowd and on that note the march began. Nearly everyone made their way from Courthouse Square down Eighth Street and onto Broadway, Providence Road and Rogers Street, ending at Douglass Park. Those in the lead held banners listing the number of Americans who have died since the invasion of Iraq. Some carried homemade signs that read, “Bring them home now!” and “Join Us!”, while others held “Stop the War” posters passed out by Mid-Missouri Peaceworks volunteers.

The march occupied three city blocks as it approached Providence from Broadway. People driving by showed support by honking and making peace signs with their hands.

When the demonstrators reached Douglass Park, they gathered around a pin oak Peace Tree, which was planted by the Peace Coalition. The tree was dedicated to the vision of a “peaceful, just and sustainable future for all.”

“We’ve got to take the energy further,” said Larry Brown, an assistant professor of geography at MU and Chair of the Interfaith Peace Alliance of Mid-Missouri. “This can’t be something we do only one day a year.”