By By JOHN EBY / Niles Daily Star
CASSOPOLIS – Chanting "Stop this war, peace is the way, bring our soldiers home today" and "Stop the killing, stop the hate, no more blood, negotiate," about 40 people – "mothers and others," including a few men and children – marched through the Cass County seat Saturday in a peaceful demonstration followed by an anti-war rally outside Family Dollar at Eastgate Shopping Center on M-60.
This is 2007, not the 1960s, and Iraq, not Vietnam, so there were no clashes with police.
In fact, a squad car accompanied the flag-waving file and stopped traffic at various points. People flashed peace signs and honked at the first such event in Cass County since Marcellus held a "peace vigil" March 17.
The Rev. Norman Tubbs of Chain Lake Baptist Church said, "I believe in peace, and the time is right now for peace. We went to war in Iraq because it was speculated there were weapons of mass destruction. A dictator there threatened peace in the Middle East. The mission now has been accomplished. Our powerful military captured the dictator. Our intelligence found out there are no weapons of mass destruction. It is time now for peace.
"The question today is why are we still in Iraq? Many people speculate we're there so our construction companies can make billions of dollars in profit by rebuilding Iraq. It has been speculated that oil companies that have already made billions of dollars of profit in the United States have a great desire to invest in oil in Iraq. I would never exchange blood for oil. It's time to tell the truth that it's time for peace. If Iraqis do not want to defend their country, it is time to pull out our young men and women. It's time for America to sit at the peace table and study war no more. It's time for peace in the Middle East."
Cathy LaPointe of Cassopolis assuaged her guilt at not speaking out during Vietnam when she was a college student in Ypsilanti.
"I was very afraid," she recalled. "They said we would get arrested and we wouldn't get our teaching certificates. I didn't march, so I thought if I ever get another chance, I'm going to. I'm proud to be here," leading the singing of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone."
Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm sent a message read by southwest Michigan WAND (Women's Actions for New Directions) President Judy Rutherford of Vandalia.
Ruth Andrews of Cassopolis said, "I am really upset about where my tax dollars are going. Everybody should be. There are $620 billion going into the Pentagon and we're spending over $1 billion a day on the military. That's immoral, obscene and we've got to change that."
Judy Truesdell of Niles, the 2006 Democratic nominee against state Rep. Neal Nitz, R-Baroda, asked, "Aren't we lucky to live in a country where we can march in protest of an ill-conceived war without fear of being hassled, arrested or far worse? I encourage you to become involved and affect change. If you don't like the war, or the president ignoring our Constitution, tapping our phones or giving tax cuts to the wealthy, you need to stay involved.
"If you're frustrated that we're paying higher and higher prices for gasoline, ever-rising prices at the grocery store and the pharmacy and wondering what will happen to Medicare and Social Security, you need to stay involved. If you've lost your job, can't find a better-paying job or you're concerned about the financial challenges of our beloved state of Michigan and what it's facing, you need to stay involved.
"Change begins on the local level. That's why this march is so important. None of you were afraid to let people driving by in cars and looking out from their houses know that you are against this war. Good for you. Becoming involved could mean joining a political party to help affect change. It could mean running for City Council, school board, county commissioner. A community cannot improve if its citizens continue to sit on the sidelines, waiting for someone else to take action."
"How about stepping up to the plate yourself?" Truesdell suggested. "I become so sad when I hear the daily reports of our fallen soldiers in Iraq. I'm so proud of our brave soldiers and their supportive families as they endure the daily insecurities of war or the daily agonies of recovering from life-altering injuries, both physical and mental."
She stood before a store window plastered with 83 red pages of names killed in Iraq.
Truesdell imagined what the country might be like today had it not gone to war and spent half a trillion dollars so far. "It will be $1 trillion by the time we care for our injured veterans for their rest of their lives."
"If we hadn't had the war," Truesdell said, "perhaps some of the money would have gone to repairing school infrastructure," which was voted down May 8 in both Cassopolis and Niles, "or building new schools, like our government is building in Iraq."
"Maybe we would have been well on our way to a national health care system. Perhaps all children would have health insurance by now and maybe there would be many programs to help our senior citizens continue to enjoy a quality of life that keeps them engaged and active."
Gas stations might have been positioned to offer ethanol made from switchgrass and willow – both far less expensive alternatives than corn. "Those two products serve no other purpose," she noted.
"With no war and a well-informed president," Truesdell said, "we would be well on our way with programs to stop global warming. Smart-growth communities would be emerging with green space. These are investments in our future that pay dividends."
rather than waste resources, energy and international goodwill. The very first step toward involvement is becoming informed. George W. Bush brags about never reading a newspaper. Thomas Jefferson, on the other hand, said, 'Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate for a moment to prefer the latter.' Subscribe to a newspaper, maybe two, and perhaps Time and Newsweek, but don't just subscribe. Read them. Attend school board, city council and county commission meetings. Meet your congressman and your representatives and tell them what you're thinking. Share your ideas with them because it's their job to listen to you and to carry those words to their governmental bodies."
Speaking specifically to women, Truesdell said there would be much less chance of committing sons and daughters to pre-emptive war with female decisionmakers.
"There's a trend in recent years of more girl babies being born than boy babies," Truesdell said. "I wonder if Mother Nature is trying to adjust for self-preservation. All of us are frustrated over this war and the state of our government. That's why we've come together today. We were driven by fear into this war … Continued participation in the process will make a difference, I promise you."
Marlene Deming of Cassopolis was truly there as a mother. Her daughter and son-in-law are in Iraq.
"This is his third time," she said, so "I'm for the troops, but against the Iraq war, which dealt with oil mostly. The main thing we can do is contact our representatives at least once a week and tell them how we feel. I think a lot of people are doing that now and they're finally getting the message. We have to protect the country, but nothing like this. This has nothing to do with 9/11. The whole country is not involved, just the 1 percent who are in the service and their families. Nobody's buying war bonds. We're not paying for the war. It's basically being put on the credit card to be paid later. They're doing their jobs. I'm not against their jobs, I just think they've done their jobs and it's time. I was a teenager during Vietnam. My brother was in the Navy. Everyone was sacrificing in the Vietnam war more than this one. Now, you're not really seeing what's going on because it's too dangerous."
Val Janowski of Dowagiac, Democrats' 2006 nominee against Sen. Ron Jelinek for state Senate, said, "It's important for all of us to speak out in a clear, rational voice on topics of importance to us. And what could be more important than peace? Four years ago, our commander in chief, along with members of his cabinet, convinced our country to initiate a baseless, senseless and ill-planned war in Iraq. The people of this great country, along with people in countless countries around the world, now know the sad, sad truth: The threat to U.S. national security was utterly fabricated. We, the American people, had been duped. Our president deliberately misled us. He also misled some key members of his team. Secretary of State Colin Powell comes to mind" for insisting to the United Nations that Saddam Hussein was "poised to unleash weapons of mass destruction."
"We are an informed citizenry. Listen to our voices and to our cries for peace. Let us not wage war, but rather, let us wage peace," Janowski said.
Eung Soo Chai, 55, a disabled veteran of three wars, was orphaned at 7 in South Korea and adopted by Americans from Chicago who decided to settle in Vandalia.
"Even as a child, I saw there was some positiveness from Americans' presence, notwithstanding the difficulties I went through as a child, looking for food and shelter."
"I really endorse this anti-violent peace march," he said. "We can't have enough peace. We can't talk enough about it. I remember coming back as a Vietnam vet and not getting the acceptance they get now as heroes. We must continue to work for peace and not lose patience with each other."
WAND meets the second and fourth Mondays each month at 5:15 p.m. at Cass District Library. Men are welcome.