06.16.07

Peaceful Sunday Protests in Delaware

Posted in General at 6:17 am by MamaSaid

Back on December 7, 1787, Delaware was the first states to ratify the United States Constitution. Although small in physical land size, Delaware seems to be big on progression. I recently read about an interesting event that occurs in the first state every week.It seems that every Sunday, at the intersection of Savannah Road and Kings Highway, people show up to support both sides of the war debate about Iraq. This weekly gathering has taken place every Sunday since September, 2004. Everyone stands motionless and silent, many bearing signs, for 45 minutes at this busy intersection in an otherwise quiet shore town of around 3,000 residents. A third group has gathered on the corner since January of this year with signs calling for the impeachment of President Bush.

The only time peace on this corner was broken was on Memorial Day when a peace protester read the names of the soldiers that were killed during the past week. Apparently the inspiration for these determined people who are exercising their rights as Americans was the fact that Delaware suffered a disproportionate number of casualties from the war. Also notable is the fact that this intersection is a mere 35 miles from Dover Air Force Base, the point of arrival for bodies of soldiers who sacrificed their lives in Iraq.

Small towns are bearing a disproportionate number of losses from the war in Iraq, fueling these types of peace protests. Half the soldiers who died in Iraq were from American towns with less than 25,000 residents. The Carsey Institute produced an analysis by Williaim O’Hare that studied demographics of soldiers fighting in Iraq. Delaware suffers the second highest death rate, having 60 deaths per million of military-age people.

The differing opinions in Delaware are all touching and make all of us think about the human condition and unnecessary suffering endured by soldiers, families and countries at large because of the few in power.

A 70 year old man, who is rumored to have been in the Korean War or Vietnam and walks with a limp, stands alone bearing a sign stating, “Their only plan is to cut and run again. It never ever works.” This man, Jeff Broderick, refused to admit if he was a veteran and said, “That’s not important; please don’t ask me again. This is about the message, not the messenger. Death counts do not honor the troops.” Broderick felt the US left Vietnam and Somalia prematurely and that sends a message of being weak. Clearly this person was impacted by war experiences, which have confused his perspective. A death count is necessary to understand the level of casualties suffered, not to dishonor those few soldiers who put their lives on the line for the many.

Patricia Kirby Gibler stands on the other side of the road from Broderick with dozens of other people who are carrying signs that show the current number of Americans dead and Iraqi dead as a result of the war. Ms. Gibler states about Broderick, “I have the utmost respect for him and his persistence. When the war ends, all of us will stop coming here.”

Gibler was inspired to support peace because of a cousin who was severely injured in Vietnam. When the number of Americans killed in Iraq exceeded 1,000, Gibler was moved into action. “It reminded me of Vietnam, but this time I wanted to step forward earlier.”

On the third corner, Dorothy P. Greet, a former clergywoman for the United Church of Christ, holds a sign that reads simply, “Impeach”. Greet stands with 10 other people as an extension of their peace vigil and says, “We used to get a lot of middle fingers as people passed. But now it’s mostly thumbs up.”

My thumbs are up for the folks in Delaware, too. This is what America is all about – the ability to peacefully protest and express your opinion. So far, this right has not yet been robbed from us and we should all exercise our freedom of speech in some way to get closer to the truth and to peace. Every Sunday, between 1 PM and 1:45 PM, these folks in Delaware will make a small difference by their silent vigil. Imagine if we had such vigils all across the nation…