Anonymous vet ends his walk for peace

The heat didn't stop him from walking for 10 days straight since Memorial Day. Neither did the limp in one of his legs. Not even harassment from the CHP stopped the unidentified vet, who made headlines locally for his march around the California State Capitol in honor of fallen U.S. troops and Iraqi casualties.

The goal: to walk around the capitol building once for every U.S. service person killed in Iraq. Each lap after lap, day after day, more supporters came as time went on, many of who left the scene in tears after they read the cards.

After a week of walking, the vet and his supporters completed reading the names of known Iraqis killed during the war. Many of these contained only a name, gender, and sometimes an age, based on limited available information. Each of the Iraqi names walked statistically represented at least 200 unknown casualties.

“This war is killing real people who had hopes, dreams, families - they are not just numbers or headstones,” he vet said.

The vet asked his supporters to think about all the pain and suffering each individual went through was their life was taken from them and the emotional anguish that his or her parents or children went through when they received the news of their loved one’s passing.

“And then say to yourself, ‘Not one more.’ You have the ability to save the lives of many people with the decisions you make today. Never give up the fight for peace and never stop demanding an end to this war,” he said.

Co-coordinator of Sacramento Code Pink Heather Woodford said in her email to the club that she felt torn between wanting this dynamic action to continue, and looking forward to the time that our country will run out of fallen soldiers to honor.

Through out the many days of walking, his supporters threw peace signs in the face of security cameras at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, located across from where the vet’s table was based (at the corner of L and 12th Streets).

But not all was peachy keen as goes with acts of dissent, especially if it’s against the war in Iraq. And even more so if on one of the days the vet was wearing a shirt that said “Iraq Veterans Against the War” while the capitol grounds were host to Air Force recruiters.

The vet said that the CHP prohibited him from continuing on his normal path, which was just around the capitol building itself. They made him “go a longer way around,” which added about three to four extra minutes to each lap.

“The shirt brought attention to myself and I needed a permit to do something like that. I was told there was a fine line between freedom of speech and demonstration that needed permits. I’m just walking. I don’t see other people stopped. If I was wearing another t-shirt it wouldn’t have been a problem.”

On Thursday morning, heightened “security” – CHP officers on horseback – followed the vet on his last lap. When he got to the west side of the capitol, where he for days on end read the names, one of the officers said he couldn’t stop there to read the last name. Ironically, members of the peace community said that days ago he tried to get a permit, but they wouldn’t issue him one.

“There is hope every time our rights are violated and every time they attempt to obstruct our demonstrations, for we know they are getting nervous about our growing numbers and it is just a matter of time before we become so large that change is inevitable,” he said in his speech at Thursday’s press conference.

Interesting more people were around during the press conferences than at any other time. Some, who had walked with the vet during the less busy days, said they were disgraced by the way some in the peace movement just wanted media attention and wanted to control the outcome of the march.

Local photographer Francisco Dominguez walked 85 laps with the vet. He said: “The time has come for people to leave their egos at home if they want to be part of this peace movement. Ego-maniacs have caused too many disruptions and divisions. It’s time to come together for the betterment of the planet.”

The vet fought as a U.S. soldier in An Nasyria, Iraq, where he was called to collect the body of another fallen soldier. Upon arrival, he was met by a translator who informed him that local civilians had buried the body to keep dogs from getting the remains. The leader of his group began radioing for permission to abort the assignment.

"I could not believe this. In the ground right next to us was a soldier who had paid the ultimate price for following orders and now we were going to abandon him and leave his body to rest in an unmarked, foreign grave." he said.

"Almost every day, a soldier is killed in Iraq," he said. "Some of their bodies are brought home, while others are not. It is so easy for our society to see those who have fallen simply as numbers because a number is much easier to push to the back of your mind than a face or a name."