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Two Fresno vigils to commemorate war deaths in Iraq
Peace Fresno held two vigils today to call attention to the 2,000 U.S. soldiers who have been killed in Iraq. The photo below shows Scott Key reading the names of U.S, soldiers and current Peace Fresno president Lisa Solomon ringing the bell. Peace Fresno past President Dan Yaseen read the names of Iraqi’s killed in the war. The pictures below were taken at the 11:30 AM vigil held in front of the Fresno County Courthouse.
Peace Fresno Press Release:
Two Fresno vigils to commemorate war deaths in Iraq
The Fresno peace group made famous by Michael Moore's box office hit documentary on the Iraq War, Fahrenheit 9-11, plans to call attention to the ongoing deaths in Iraq with a bell ringing ceremony at the M Street side of the Fresno County Courthouse beginning at 11:30 a.m. this Wednesday, October 26th.
Wednesday will mark a tragic milestone for the ongoing American occupation of Iraq in that it will represent passing a threshold of over 2,000 active combat deaths for members of the U.S. military.
Where anti-war and peace groups like Peace Fresno once represented a minority point of view, recent polls show that the large majority of Americans now favor immediate withdrawal of all or part of U.S, forces from combat in Iraq.
Peace Fresno plans to solemnly ring a bell once a minute100 times to commemorate all the deaths, including innocent Iraqi men, women, and children, which have been caused by the U.S. attack and occupation.
For those unable to gather for the midday event there will be a bell ringing and candle light vigil beginning at 5:30 PM and lasting until 7 PM at the Peace Corner of Blackstone and Shaw Avenues in Fresno.
The public is invited to join Peace Fresno in supporting this commemoration of all of the victims of the Iraq War.
Peace Fresno Contact information:
Lisa Solomon, President
(559) 441-1897
thirdgennajjar [at] yahoo.com
Jay Hubbell, Vice Chair, Public Relations
(559) 292-4905
jayhubbell [at] comcast.net
###
Two Fresno vigils to commemorate war deaths in Iraq
The Fresno peace group made famous by Michael Moore's box office hit documentary on the Iraq War, Fahrenheit 9-11, plans to call attention to the ongoing deaths in Iraq with a bell ringing ceremony at the M Street side of the Fresno County Courthouse beginning at 11:30 a.m. this Wednesday, October 26th.
Wednesday will mark a tragic milestone for the ongoing American occupation of Iraq in that it will represent passing a threshold of over 2,000 active combat deaths for members of the U.S. military.
Where anti-war and peace groups like Peace Fresno once represented a minority point of view, recent polls show that the large majority of Americans now favor immediate withdrawal of all or part of U.S, forces from combat in Iraq.
Peace Fresno plans to solemnly ring a bell once a minute100 times to commemorate all the deaths, including innocent Iraqi men, women, and children, which have been caused by the U.S. attack and occupation.
For those unable to gather for the midday event there will be a bell ringing and candle light vigil beginning at 5:30 PM and lasting until 7 PM at the Peace Corner of Blackstone and Shaw Avenues in Fresno.
The public is invited to join Peace Fresno in supporting this commemoration of all of the victims of the Iraq War.
Peace Fresno Contact information:
Lisa Solomon, President
(559) 441-1897
thirdgennajjar [at] yahoo.com
Jay Hubbell, Vice Chair, Public Relations
(559) 292-4905
jayhubbell [at] comcast.net
###
For more information:
http://www.fresnoalliance.com/home
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26 October 2005
Dear Friends,
Whew! after a lot of preparation the rolling vigils went off well! Better than expected. The number of participants varied...about 30 for Visalia and about 20 forTulare and 20 Porterville.
At 4 PM, we rolled out the banners for the first time and they worked out pretty well. Plenty of willing participants to help get the word out. There was press coverage though not, I fear by the Times Delta. Look for stuff in the Fresno Bee, the Noticiero Semanal, and the Porterville Recorder.( should be online tomorrow) For something that was set on less than a days notice, I think we did well! The 2,000 crosses on the cloth banners were saddening to think that each one
represented a human being who had families and sweethearts. Thinking of the tens of thousands of Iraqis who died as a result of our war was equally as sad. Had we included all of wounded,the banner would have gone around the block.
At 4:45, we packed up and carpooled to Tulare. The weather was perfect and things went smoothly on Tulare Ave. by Zumwalt Park. We packed up as the sun was going down, and at 6:30 were on a busy street in Porterville. I
had walked down to the site last night, and it was WAY dark, so I spent the morning today putting together a 6-light system- clip - ons with metal shades and 150 watt bulbs every nine feet. I had my generator in the trailer behind us, and we were all amazed that the system worked ( especially me)!
Looked good.
About 7:20 we called it quits and went to Jeanie's and my place and brought in pizza. It was an inspiring afternoon and evening. Lots of suggestions about where to go next... Veterans Day Parade in Porterville?
Uncle Alfonso is picking up an application just in case we decide to go that route.
The banner took about 5 days to make with Jeanie, Merrily, Carolyn,Lisa, and Uncle B. working on it, and will probably be displayed again soon. We have room for 300 more crosses... yes... I, too, pray that we will never need the space but ... I am reading the history of the Viet-Nam war at the moment and am struck by the similarity of the lies and sheer stupidity of those in charge in each instance. 55,000 military dead in VN...which is on the low side as it does not include postwar suicides and deaths from war injuries. Will we make a banner for all of "ours" who die in this endless war?
I am very proud of all who helped on this vigil(s): Kim and Dave A. getting the word out to the list and the media, the phone tree volunteers, the banner-makers, the carpool drivers, and all of the wonderful, caring people who came out and participated! Score one for the South Valley Peace Center, Inc.! Congratulations to you all!
uncle bill from Porterville
Dear Friends,
Whew! after a lot of preparation the rolling vigils went off well! Better than expected. The number of participants varied...about 30 for Visalia and about 20 forTulare and 20 Porterville.
At 4 PM, we rolled out the banners for the first time and they worked out pretty well. Plenty of willing participants to help get the word out. There was press coverage though not, I fear by the Times Delta. Look for stuff in the Fresno Bee, the Noticiero Semanal, and the Porterville Recorder.( should be online tomorrow) For something that was set on less than a days notice, I think we did well! The 2,000 crosses on the cloth banners were saddening to think that each one
represented a human being who had families and sweethearts. Thinking of the tens of thousands of Iraqis who died as a result of our war was equally as sad. Had we included all of wounded,the banner would have gone around the block.
At 4:45, we packed up and carpooled to Tulare. The weather was perfect and things went smoothly on Tulare Ave. by Zumwalt Park. We packed up as the sun was going down, and at 6:30 were on a busy street in Porterville. I
had walked down to the site last night, and it was WAY dark, so I spent the morning today putting together a 6-light system- clip - ons with metal shades and 150 watt bulbs every nine feet. I had my generator in the trailer behind us, and we were all amazed that the system worked ( especially me)!
Looked good.
About 7:20 we called it quits and went to Jeanie's and my place and brought in pizza. It was an inspiring afternoon and evening. Lots of suggestions about where to go next... Veterans Day Parade in Porterville?
Uncle Alfonso is picking up an application just in case we decide to go that route.
The banner took about 5 days to make with Jeanie, Merrily, Carolyn,Lisa, and Uncle B. working on it, and will probably be displayed again soon. We have room for 300 more crosses... yes... I, too, pray that we will never need the space but ... I am reading the history of the Viet-Nam war at the moment and am struck by the similarity of the lies and sheer stupidity of those in charge in each instance. 55,000 military dead in VN...which is on the low side as it does not include postwar suicides and deaths from war injuries. Will we make a banner for all of "ours" who die in this endless war?
I am very proud of all who helped on this vigil(s): Kim and Dave A. getting the word out to the list and the media, the phone tree volunteers, the banner-makers, the carpool drivers, and all of the wonderful, caring people who came out and participated! Score one for the South Valley Peace Center, Inc.! Congratulations to you all!
uncle bill from Porterville
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