It wasn't long after I got there that
the speaking section of the meeting started. The format was open mike
speaking mixed with sing along.
This guy was the first speaker. He
wanted us to know that he is a Christian, and even he can see there is
something wrong with this war.
Anne and the Vets sang some great sing
along songs. Things with lines like "we are all members of the family
of man."
The woman in dark clothing talked about
coming to California from Ohio because they had cut back the number of
jobs in her home town. Seeing the vote counting troubles in her home
state reminded her of the troubles there.
The woman in the white coat was the mother of a son who died in Iraq as
an American Soldier last summer. She explained that as a member of a
military family, the culture did not make it easy to speak out against
what the government wanted. Her message to us was that the people
affected by the war are our neighbors.
Lenny talked about how it feels to have been a Vietnam War protester
who now has teenage kids that might get drafted. He doesn't want his
kids to serve, but he wants them to make up their own minds.
After that we spent some time mixing before we went our different ways.