Cape Codders March For Peace
WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 – When the Friday peace vigils first began in Hyannis, Diane Turco noticed that passers-by usually held up only the middle finger in the universal sign of disdain. But as the summer went on the single-finger gesture turned to a two-finger salute: the peace sign.
This weekend the Harwich resident will head to Washington, along with other Cape Codders, to raise her fingers and her voice in protest of the Iraq War.
Turco belongs to Cape Codders for Peace and Justice, a local group that organized two buses to bring residents to the capital to attend a weekend-long war protest and march. The event was largely put together by United for Peace and Justice, a national association made up of more than 1,300 local groups, including the one from the Cape. United for Peace and Justice leaders say they expect more than 100,000 people to descend upon the nation’s capital.
“We vote, we pay taxes and we also have to have a voice,” said Turco, 51, a special-education teacher at Harwich Middle School. “We need to use our citizenship to take back this country that is ours.”
Friday night two buses filled with more than 100 New Englanders, most of them from the Cape, will leave, bound for Pennsylvania Avenue. Turco helped coordinate the buses and the large number of people flying and driving to Washington.
“We’ve never had a response like this,” Turco said. In October 2002 the group was able to fill only half of a bus to attend one of the first Washington rallies against war in Iraq .
The weekend will include a march and festival on Saturday, faith services and civil disobedience training on Sunday and lobbying and nonviolent civil resistance on Monday.
“This could be a turning point,” said Bill Dobbs, media coordinator for United for Peace and Justice.
On Monday, activists say they hope to meet with Rep. William Delahunt, a member of the Out of Iraq Caucus who voted against the congressional resolution authorizing the war.
“We have checks and balances and due process so that all perspectives are listened to,” Delahunt said. “Clearly there’s a need for all of us to listen carefully here and to really take the responsibilities of citizenship.”
The Cape Cod buses will include a diverse cross-section of activists. A mother and daughter attending their first rally together and several war veterans will be on board.
“The Cape really has a population that is much more engaged and sophisticated in terms of their civic responsibility,” Delahunt said.
Stephanie Wall, 67, a retired physician from Cotuit, has been attending antiwar rallies since the Vietnam era.
“I think the march is probably the most important thing in terms of the numbers,” she said. “This war is the craziest war we’ve ever been involved in.”
Charles Johnson, a 77-year old Korean War veteran from Falmouth, opposes war because, he said, he lived war.
Johnson was involved in several small reconnaissance efforts during his time in Korea. But one major battle affected him more than anything else. It took place in a valley where, as he recalled, tanks, troops and artillery were engaged in such chaos that he could not discriminate between friend and enemy.
“I’ll never forget it. It was terrifying, it was overwhelming,” he said. ” “I guess there is no substitute for experience. When I heard them talking about shock and awe and the destruction they’re going to cause in Iraq I thought, oh my God, not again.”
Over the summer Turco spent time in Crawford, Texas, with grieving mother and outspoken activist Cindy Sheehan. While she was there Turco met a woman from San Antonio, dressed in designer clothing with manicured hands and stylish shoes. The woman had heard Sheehan’s plea to bring the troops home and simply packed up and drove across the dusty Texas landscape to join her.
Even though people from all walks of life are protesting the war, Turco and others believe the Bush administration will not immediately react.
“I don’t think the administration will do anything,” Wall said. “I think that Bush and the Republicans insulate themselves.”
But the responsibility is bipartisan, according to Turco.
“As a whole the Democrats have to step up to the plate. They need to be very loud and vocal in Congress,” she said.
Early next year, Delahunt plans to reinvigorate Iraq Watch, a weekly one-hour session on the floor of the House, to review the status of the Iraq conflict. Activists believe that their persuasiveness will ultimately help bring the troops home.
“I want to stop the war,” said David Agnew, 58, of Chatham. “I think that the people can do it.”
###
