Vigils, Walk to Mark 5th Year of Iraq War
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She established Global Issues Resources Organization, a student peace activist group at Berkshire Community College, nearly 30 years ago.
And each Thursday, she and a small, dedicated group — "nine people and a dog" — have stood on Park Square holding vigil against the Iraq War.
They're planning a march on Saturday, but she's not sure who'll show up.
"I'm hoping a lot of people. But I don't know," she said from her Canaan, N.Y., home on Tuesday.
Those who do show up at 9 a.m. at Second Congregational Church on South Street will walk past another dozen churches. "We planned it that way because this is about death and the sacredness of life."
Only a few years ago, tens of thousands marched through Washington and capitols around the world to protest the war in Iraq. But as the war quietly continues — bumped off the front pages in favor of presidential politics and gubernatorial hi-jinks — the number of activists has dwindled even as public opinion has swung solidly against the conflict.
One of the largest demonstrations drew an estimated 150,000 people to the National Mall on Sept. 24, 2005, inspired by the perseverance of Gold Star mother Cindy Sheehan, who set up camp outside President Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch.
The peace movement that fall seemed to touch a chord across the nation, as the Internet connected like-minded Americans through groups such as MoveOn.org.
In Williamstown, hundreds seemed to spontaneously gather at Field Park to hold candles in vigil of the dead and wounded on both sides, as well as Americans still serving.
Five years after the U.S. invaded Iraq on Wednesday, the number of protesters headed to the nation's capitol is estimated in the hundreds (by the activists) and Sheehan's tarnished star has fallen.
[Among the protesters at Wednesday's rallies in Washington was Williamstown's Rachel Payne, who graduated from Mount Greylock Regional High School last year. Payne, who will begin school at Yale University in the fall, was captured kissing her boyfriend Brent Rigel Hawkins to support "Kisses for Peace" by The Washington Post. Click on Photo 9 to see her.]
"Usually, when one does demonstrate, it's to raise awareness," said Richard Dassatti, organizer of a vigil tonight in North Adams. "We've crossed that threshold. It's just people who have the power who won't relinquish it."
Still, a small group has been at North Adams City Hall nearly every Sunday afternoon for the past five years, holding signs. Dassatti has joined them at times.
It's scary for people to step out of line, he said, and if the consensus has turned toward the protesters, there's not a lot of impetus for people to put themselves out.
Still, plenty of Americans across the nation are planning vigils and marches as much to honor the dead as to protest the war.
Nearly 4,000 Americans have died in Iraq; nearly a thousand last year alone - four years after the end of combat operations.
The loss of even one soldier can't truly be measured said Lathrop. "Think of a small town and consider the ripple effect — maybe there's a mother, a child, a brother, a wife ..."
She got a huge National Geographic map and began putting red dots on the hometowns of each lost soldier, Marine, airman or sailor.
"It became a labor of love. It took me 15 hours and when I was done you could see that the dots were mostly on the East Coast and West Coast," said Lathrop. "I thought that was interesting that there were not a lot of dots in the Red states."
She did notice that the service members came from all over the country, from right on the border with Canada to the edge of the border of Mexico.
"We go on like nothing is happening," said Dassatti, while families around us deal with members serving in a war zone. "I feel sorry for them. Their life is totally disrupted but everything just goes on."
The North Adams vigil will be the fifth, he said. "We've done it every year on every anniversary."
Several vigils have been planned in North Berkshire to mark the war's fifth anniversary on Wednesday, March 19.
Lanesborough
Vigil at 7 p.m., town park adjacent to the police station. Bring a candle or flashlight and park at the Town Hall library or in the lower lot. Do not block access to the police station.
North Adams
Vigil at 7 p.m., at City Hall hosted by Dassatti. Attendees are asked to bring a candle or sign.
Williamstown
Vigil at 7 p.m., town green (Field Park) at Routes 2 and 7. Hosted by Trish Gorman
Pittsfield
In Pittsfield, the walk on Saturday, March 22, is sponsored by GIRO and Berkshire Citizens for Peace and Justice. It will be from 9 to 11, beginning at the church, then to Onota Street over to Linden and back to the church. Some signs will be available for those who do not bring one. People are invited to join at any time along the route in memory of those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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At noon, a commemoration service at the church for the 882 military members killed in Iraq will include the recitation of the names of their hometowns, with interludes of flute music by Eric Marezak of Knox, N.Y. The ceremony is expected to take about two hours; a welcome will be given the Rev. Joel Huntington, pastor. For more information, contact Lathrop at 518-781-4681.
