I just wanted to share with everyone an e-mail I received from a friend who was recently down in Crawford. It's a wonderful, uplifitng report. I hope everyone enjoys reading it as much as I did.
Money quote: This is
>has to be what democracy must really looks like. Each person's voice is
>heard, everyone steps up to volunteer...a field kitchen feeds hundreds, a
>medics care for large and small problems, security teams patrol, shuttle
>buses move people around, difference acknoweldged and accepted.
More below the fold:
>From: "Sue R"
>Subject: Back from Crawford Texas
>Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2005 02:58:49 +0000
>
>Dear Friends:
>I have just returned from Crawford Texas, where I traveled with Angela
>Morano to take part in the vigil at Camp Casey with Cindy Sheehan. An
>incredi ble thing is happening in that hot dusty part of Texas. Thousands
>of people have come through the Crawford Peace House and have shared time
>together in the makeshift camp not far from President Bush's ranch. Some
>stay a day and many have been there now for over 16 days in the heat that
>is often over 100 degrees.People have come from every state in the union.
>As you drive up to Camp Casey 1, the original strip of road where Cindy
>first started her vigil, you see a long row of white crosses, each with a
>name of a fallen soldier. At the camp are pictures, large and small of
>family members who have died in Iraq. A second camp was opened last week on
>land owned by a neighbor. On it is a huge tent. At the entrance another
>"graveyard" of white crosses. When we arrived on Sunday over 700 people
>were there. Many wore tee shirts with the picture of their sons or
>daughters who had been killed. Thousands are expected this weekend. This is
>has to be what democracy must really looks like. Each person's voice is
>heard, everyone steps up to volunteer...a field kitchen feeds hundreds, a
>medics care for large and small problems, security teams patrol, shuttle
>buses move people around, difference acknoweldged and accepted.
>It is an amazing mix of people. I met a 90 year old woman who had traveled
>from Penn, family members waiting for their children and husbands to be
>deployed, One woman stood out in the blazing sun with a sign which read,
>Mr. Bush, for what cause may my son have to die?" Her name was Ginger. she
>has a 22 year old son, the same age as my son. Her son is in Iraq now. Each
>time the doorbell rings, she shakes with dread. Everyone I asked why they
>had come to Crawford, they answered, I just had to be here. There are
>veterans there, from Iraq, from Vietnam, from WW2.
>There were active duty soldiers too. Each night, as the sun set the
>"graveyard" was surrounded by hundreds of solemn people while taps was
>played by an active duty marine. Sometimes a hymn would be started quietly.
>One night as Joan Baez sang "where have all the soldiers gone"...gone to
>graveyards every one, I watched as weeping bodies shook quietly, people
>held one another and let tears flow. One of the Gold Star Families for
>Peace, who had lost her only son in Iraq said this was the most painful and
>the most hopefull experience she has had. It was the sense of hope, this
>sense that this movement will grow and grow and has the power to change the
>course of history.
>It is hard to leave that dusty and hot hot place. We asked ourselves how
>can we bring this incredible spirt home and how can we help maintain this
>momentum which Cindy Sheehan has begun.
>When the camp breaks up on August 31, they are starting a journey which
>will end in Washington DC on Sept 24. We should all be there...hundreds of
>thousands of us.People will be pouring in from across this country.
>So we have a bus that's leaving from either Saugerties or Kingston for
>Washington. Please contact me. Let's fill it fast. The cost will be about
>$45.
>Also I am having lawn signs made so that Camp Caseys can be seen everywhere
>throughout our neigborhoods. The Signs will read "We Stand With Cindy
>Sheehan" and "Support Our Troops/ Bring them Home NOW" and "For What Noble
>Cause?"(a sign thats all over Camp Casey)! Please think about putting one
>on your lawn. I met such courageous people in Crawford who have never
>spoken up before, have no supports at home, never challenged the authority
>of the government before!
>Something special has begun in Crawford Texas. When you are there it feels
>like an unstoppable force that can end this war.