As a Washington, D.C.-area peace activist, I was thrilled to see so many students from all across the country who came here to take part in the March 19 actions. There were quite a few students from Wesleyan. I hope everyone in the Wesleyan community is proud of those who took part in the numerous activities that week. Lots of you came on behalf of the My Spring Break committee. It was wonderful to have you with us. I sometimes hear about the apathy of the younger generation, but you disproved that idea in a big way last month. I want to thank all of you who joined us to carry the message of peace to our nation’s capital and our elected officials.
To those of you who came out to the Walter Reed Vigil on Friday ,March 21, I extend my personal thanks. It was terrific to see about 60 college students standing with the dozen or so regular vigil participants. We hold the vigil to remind passersby that the true cost of war is the hundreds of severely injured service members who are inside the hospital beginning their long process of recovery. This is a mission that I take personally, since I spent eight months there as a patient in 1970 after I was critically injured in Vietnam. I really appreciate your caring enough about the soldiers to give up an evening of your time. It means a lot to all us veterans.
I hope everyone in the Wesleyan community will continue to be active in the peace movement. We all need to work together to end the occupation of Iraq, to bring our troops home, and to take care of them when they return.
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