Peace Coalition leads memorial vigil

Marking the two-year anniversary of the war in Iraq and displaying more than 1,500 white crosses commemorating the deaths of American soldiers, the Peace Coalition of southern Illinois and other local groups had a vigil Saturday at Carbondale's Town Square.

At noon, four groups of cross-carrying vigil participants converged at the Town Square Pavilion from four directions and gathered to hear 10 speakers address themes including the costs and injustice of the war, honoring the soldiers and ending the occupation of Iraq.

Georgeann Hartzog, a member of the Peace Coalition, helped organize the vigil. Hartzog said vigils have taken place at the Pavilion every Saturday, since the United States began preparing to attack Afghanistan in late 2001.

The vigil Saturday was one of more than 765 taking place in towns and cities throughout the United States, Hartzog said.

"Every Saturday, we stand with peace signs for an hour, and there's not one Saturday that's been missed, whether it's Christmas or New Years," Hartzog said.

"People make signs saying different things like, 'Bring the Troops Home,' 'Who Would Jesus Bomb' or 'End the Occupation.'"

Throughout the vigil, many demonstrators holding signs received reactions from passing cars slowing down and honking their horns.

Jyotsna Kapur, assistant professor in the Department of Cinema and Photography, was one of the speakers at the vigil. Kapur addressed the injustices of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

"The United States- and U.K.-led invasion of Iraq is inflicting the kind of suffering upon Iraqi people that only military leaders are capable of inflicting upon other human beings in cold blood," Kapur said.

"In insisting that the U.S. and U.K. militaries stay in Iraq ... are we not really asking that the Iraqis accept an occupying force that has bombed their cities, imprisoned and tortured thousands and destroyed the very fabric of their lives?"

Carbondale resident Jim Skinner performed a duet with Candy Davis, a teaching assistant in the Anthropology Department. The two sang an original piece by Davis titled "Life Goes On."

"It's basically talking about how when you suffer through certain things in life, you still have to hold on because, no matter what, life goes on," Skinner said.

"I believe in peace, I know what they're trying to do by protesting the war, and I want to be a part of this."

David Christensen, a Carbondale resident and retired SIUC faculty member, said war is never the answer.

"To me, the whole idea of using tremendous amounts of resources and people to try and gain ends with killing and destruction is not adult behavior," Christensen said.

"We encourage our kids to try and resolve their problems peacefully and work things out with compromise ... that's what adults should do too."

Meg Moynihan, a graduate student from Minneapolis, Minn., attended the vigil and said people can look toward local citizens they know that have died and see the impact of the war on a local level.

"Consequently, if the war is having a local impact, then people should speak out against it at a local level," Moynihan said.

"I've been to large protests in Chicago, for instance, and I've been to small protests like this one," she said. "It's the same goal and same end."

One of the speakers, Matt Sronkosky, spoke about the deaths of local soldiers and the impact on the community.

Of the more than 1,500 American soldiers killed in Iraq, 68 are from Illinois, and nine of the 68 are from southern Illinois, Sronkosky said.

"Were they heroes?" he asked. "Perhaps some of them were, but tragically I cannot find heroism in their deaths because whatever honor and bravery they had demonstrated in their lives was sadly wasted for the sake of a lie.

"Unlike the present administration, we have not failed in our morality, in our decency or in our compassion," Sronkosky said. "Our presence here today is proof enough of that."