200th Vigil; NOT ONE MORE LIFE! (and for those who think Pat Sheehan is pro-Iraq, WRONG.)

[LynnTheDem]

From my friend Pat (of the ICCC), Benicia, California;

Gawd. Where to start ...

I have a buzz going right now that I hope lasts a long, long time. Never dared to hope that tonight would be anything too out of the ordinary. I mean, after all, what's the biggest crowd the vigil ever pulled before? Like maybe in the 20 to 30 range? But this morning I caught wind that tonight's 200th vigil had been signed up on the MoveOn.org site ... and then started to catch wind that rallies against the escalation of the war were going to be happening all over the country tonight. I had no idea what to expect.

So showed up extra early ... before 3:30 ... and set all the signs up and lit 80 candles. At 3:45, an 83 year old gentleman whom I'd never seen before walked up and said he'd signed up with MoveOn to come to my vigil a little extra early tonight so he could greet people and help set up. Not long after that came Roger ... with half a dozen new signs mounted on poles ... whooooooo boy ... GREAT signs, with wonderful POINTED sayings. Then along came Jan who owns the local liberal coffee shop. She set up a whole coffee area so people could indulge ... fer FREE. By 4:05 I looked around and ... crikey ... there were 15 people there, half of whom I didn't even know! I left for a minute to move my car down the block ... and when I got back there must have been over 25. Tom was setting up his own signs with a bemused grin all over his face. Gawd, but he outdid himself. He "unveiled" his new creation ... a 5' x 5' cardboard sign that said "NOT ONE MORE LIFE, NOT ONE MORE DOLLAR".

Suddenly, there was Kathy, an aide to Congressman George Miller. And I started to recognize people who had come occasionally in the past. And just as suddenly, 2/3 of a city block worth of curb on First Street was filled and people were actually curving around to stand on Military West! John W. jostled my elbow and said, "Pat, I just counted 58 heads!" And 3 of those heads (at least) were reporters from local papers. There was ex-city councilman Dan, and ex-mayor Jerry, and the trustee from Solano College, Tony. Then there was a wonderful elderly couple who drove over from Crocket, she with a walker. Friend Jerry showed up.

OMG! And there was Miss America!!!!!! No, she didn't wear her dress ... it was too cold. But she and hubby drove all the way from damned Pacific Grove at the last minute to catch the vigil. Denny and Ted who have run the Vacaville Vigil for 2 months longer than we've done the Benicia one ... they were there, Ted in his wheelchair.

And Pat Sheehan came ... once again wearing Casey's old army jacket.

Then Roger tapped me on the shoulder. "Pat, there are 72 people here!" And it wasn't even 5:00!!

Man, folks were mad about Bush and his stupid speech. You should have seen some of the signs that people brought! Yup, they be ANGRY! The honks from the street were deafening at times.

At one point we all gathered together and Kathy read a statement from Congressman Miller, then presented his letter to me. "The war in Iraq was a mistake from the beginning ... It is unconscionable to ask one more American soldier to fight and die in a civil war in Iraq ..."

I hugged so many people I've absolutely lost track ...

And we all lost track of the head count after that. People were cycling in and out constantly. I honestly couldn't tell you how many folks were there. Roger guesses over 100 maybe? The crowd didn't start to thin until close to 5:45. And even then, there had to have been some 40 folks at the curb. I just let 'em stand there. Didn't even make a move to pick anything up until nearly 6:20.

Afterwards I had another long chat with Pat Sheehan ...

Thankfully, John W. took lots of pics ... so as soon as he e-mails 'em to me, I'll wing you guys some samples.

Whoooooooooo. Wowie! Un-fucking-believable!

**********

Thanks, Pat, for loving & caring about your country and your fellow uniformed citizens!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. kick!

:woohoo:

[crim son]

2. Thanks for posting this. No wonder you're feeling good.

I'm getting vicarious good vibes. :hug: Now, if only the Prezel gave a shit about what the people of the United States want and believe...

[Stardust]

3. There's a vigil every Friday night on a very busy corner in Studio City, CA, and

last week a young woman leaped out of her car and thanked all of us for doing this. She attends a vigil in front of Walter Reed Army Hospital in DC every week. We were so touched by her heartfelt appreciation. I have a feeling tomorrow night is going to be huge.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

4. yesterday a dad of an active ANGuardsman told me he wrote to our senator

and today will be writing to our congressman!

His son did 2 tours in Iraq and he's scared to death
he will be sent back or to Iran.

He's agreed with me over the past 3 yrs, but never
got active. He seeked me out at work to tell
me this!