Mainers sound their protest in Washington

By Rhiannon Varmette

WASHINGTON--Twelve buses filled with students, veterans and parents from Maine braved overnight bus rides and weather nearly as cold as Maine's to join tens of thousands in Washington, DC protesting potential war with Iraq.

One Maine resident from the Bangor area brought a huge drum on wheels which
could be heard half way down the national mall, some protestors brought their children and others brought banners and signs - one stating: "Not in Maine's name."

The buses departed from Bangor, Rockport, and Portland carrying about 600
very diverse Mainers. Some, like Tony Aman, an insurance agent from Augusta, were seasoned protestors returning to activism thirty years after they spoke out against Vietnam.

"This is probably our last chance to stop the war and it's better to stop
it now than after it starts," Aman said.

Still, many people were marching against war for the first time, drawn to Washington by the urgency or potential war and the desire to be around others who also felt the war would be unjust.

"I wanted to do something instead of just complaining every night at
supper. I wanted to show my son we could do something," said Bruce Pyburn,
of Porter.

Pyburn brought his 12-year old son Jeremy and despite the cold and little sleep, both seemed chipper and excited to be part of the rally.

During protests in October, which drew 100,000 to Washington, some groups
rallied in towns around Maine.

Jo Josephson, a resident of Temple and a member of Women in Black, an international movement of women against violence, has taken part in a peace vigil in Farmington for the past year.

Women in Black began with women in Israel and now has chapters around the
world and fifteen just in Maine, Jospheson said.

"I've always been a peace activist," Josephson said. "Ever since I did the
peace corps in West Africa in the '60s."

Lee Sharkey, also a Women in Black member from Vienna, was last in
Washington in 1969 to protest the Vietnam War.

"There's an exciting mix of young people and older people here. Some that settled back into their lives after Vietnam and are back in Washington after 30 years," Sharkey said.

Joel Pickelner, from Lubec, is a Vietnam War army veteran who protested the war after returning from Vietnam. He said he was excited to be back on the National Mall again.

"This is just building up… it will get bigger," he said, adding that he thought it was good to see protests this time before Americans get killed.

A small group from University of Maine, Orono, came to Washington on the Bangor buses.

"It's so inspirational to be here," said recent Orono graduate Katie Mann.

"In this movement you feel squashed and you feel like you're outnumbered,
but when you're here you realize that you're not."

Ilze Peterson, the spokesperson for the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine said that she was impressed with how many people contacted the group about going to Washington.

"These are people we've never heard of before, from all ages and backgrounds… high school students, college students, people who are retired, ministers, doctors and veterans," Peterson said.

"People feel very strong that they don't want to see a war on Iraq. We can let inspectors do their work. A war would cost the life of innocent people in Iraq and cost billions of dollars we need back at home for our struggling economy."

Published in The Bangor Daily News, in Maine.