Front Page of my local paper!!! BIG Picture, headlined "Silent protest"

[in_cog_ni_to]

:bounce::bounce:


Here's the VERY NICE article Mr. Angelo wrote. And their front page picture. They also mentioned me, my husband and my son and my t-shirt slogan. :) 2 of my poster's are in the picture too. Take a look gatorboy! :bounce:




Silent protest

Locals show support of anti-war cause

Phil Angelo , The Daily Journal

August 18, 2005

Silence can speak volumes.
Wednesday evening, 30 protesters gathered in front of the flagpole on the Kankakee County Courthouse lawn to urge President Bush to meet with anti-war demonstrator Cindy Sheehan.

Sheehan, who lost her son Casey in the war with Iraq, has been camped outside Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, hoping to hear from the president.

The Kankakee event was one of many held in Illinois and across the nation in conjunction with a grassroots anti-war movement, MoveOn.org.

Flanked by the gold star memorial to the county's war dead and the Civil War monument, demonstrators gathered in a circle for a moment of silence. A full moon rose over Asbury United Methodist Church. Dozens of candles -- long tapers, candles in milk jugs, candles in paper cups, and small votives used for church prayers, flickered in the summer's sunset zephyr.

The steady droning of crickets and the whoosh of Court Street truck traffic were the only sounds.

Before and after the protest, participants had plenty to say.

"I'm here as a mother. I have a child the same age as Casey and the possibility of a draft terrifies me," said Marsha Schultz of Bradley.

She held a sign that said "Send the twins," referring to Jenna and Barbara Bush, the daughters of the president.

Jillian Veronie of South Chicago Heights was there with her baby daughter, Kylie, seven months. Their husband and dad, Ben Veronie, is near Baghdad with the Marines. His enlistment is up, his wife said, but he's being held over for a second seven-month deployment in Iraq.

Wiping away a tear, his wife said, "He's not proud, but he does his job."

This war, she said, is "utterly ridiculous."

Katie Mertz of Bourbonnais has a brother in Iraq with the Marines.

"I don't know what to say," she said. "I want to support my brother, but I have doubts about the war."

Ray and Vickie Sandack of Bourbonnais were there with their son, Alex, 12, a seventh-grader at the Bourbonnais Upper Grade Center. Vickie wore a shirt that read, "One Mother. One Voice. Meet with Cindy."

Karie Ellison, one of the event's organizers, told the group that 1,858 Americans have died in Iraq. Some 1,721 have died since Bush declared the war was over in May 2003. Since U.S. troops captured Saddam Hussein, 1,391 soldiers have died. Wounded now number 13,877. Coverage of their fate has been invisible, she said.

"There are two questions," she said. "Why did we go to war? When are they coming home?"


AND, here are some pics I took. DON'T LAUGH! We had only 30 people, but for THIS town...that's GREAT! :hi:

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Cool! How big a town do you live in?

[in_cog_ni_to]

4. Kankakee itself is 27,000. I don't know what the county population is

though. There are many other towns in the county. Bourbonnais is 15,000 and Bradley is 13,000.

[autorank]

2. What a great town. You guys rock!!!

:kick:

[spuddonna]

3. Good job! :)

"Silence can speak volumes."

Great article too! :)

[ultraist]

5. Excellent! Well done.

:patriot: :applause:

[TWiley]

6. There is a Vigil archive link here:

Great Job, Thank You.

Please consider posting a link, or the pictures here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4384022&mesg_id=4384022

[in_cog_ni_to]

7. Done. I posted a link on that thread.

Thanks. :)

[Booster]

8. Gatorboy, I took your cartoon to my vigil also and it was a big hit.

Because of it I met a couple of DU'ers because they recognized it. It's really a great cartoon.

[ronnykmarshall]

9. Same here.

I'm going to keep using this sign for the big protest in September.

[TWiley]

10. It has been the most talked about wallpaper at work!

[gatorboy]

11. Great work in_cog_ni_to!

Wow, that looks like my hometown!

[Gabi Hayes]

12. gatorboy....Jai yah!