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STONEWALK ADDRESS
Delivered by Lewis Randa on the Arlington
Memorial Bridge
August 6, 1999
We stand at mid-point over Arlington
Memorial Bridge and proclaim this very bridge to be the one
we as a people must travel over to enter into the 21st Century.
And it is here, half way over the Potomac that Stonewalk temporarily
suspends its efforts to bring America's only memorial for Unknown
Civilians Killed in War to Arlington National Cemetery. Though
its arrival is way over due, and its message embodies an idea
whose time has come, our elected and appointed officials have
no idea how to accept it. Accepting this stone, of course, means
understanding and accepting its message. Collateral damage,
the euphemism used to describe civilian deaths, is not only
obsolete, like war itself, but is insensitive, insulting and
dehumanizing. It provides governments and those governed with
a comfort zone for the death and destruction of innocent people
and the social fabric upon which they must depend for survival
-- not to mention the wholesale slaughter of defenseless animals
of land, air and sea.
We proudly pulled the stone here in an attempt to educate and
inspire those we met along the way, and we sought to soften
hardened hearts and affirm hearts already open. We chose the
arduous task of physically pulling this slab of granite to our
nation's capital because we feel there is a great deal of penance
to perform for the tens of millions of children, sisters and
brothers and mothers and fathers that we have killed over centuries
unintentionally, and at times, by design with deliberate and
calculated malice. We have as a people become numb not only
to civilian deaths, but to our own sense of shame.
Having just completed our 500 mile journey from the grounds
of The Peace Abbey in Sherborn, Massachusetts over a period
of 33 days pulling this 2000 pound granite memorial stone for
Unknown Civilians Killed in War, we stand here at mid-point
on the Arlington Memorial Bridge to temporarily conclude our
journey -- for this stone has no home. Like the multitude of
war refugees throughout the world, it is denied entry to its
final destination for it has no papers, lacks signatures on
official documents -- the weight of its message too heavy to
bother with for a government that couldn't be bothered.
So we shall stop here, and allow it to be impounded by the one
group of Americans we can trust, who provided those who pulled
the stone with protection and care on the streets and highways
in cities and towns down the coast through Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland,
and the District of Columbia. I refer of course to the men and
women in blue in the police departments in over 100 communities.
While we were afforded loving care in many churches along the
way, it was the officers on duty who impressed us most, who
came to our aid when we were given a cold shoulder or a deaf
ear. When we were turned away by churches and clergy, they never
disappointed us, demonstrating a level of charity and good will
that gets preached a great deal from pulpits, but practiced
far too infrequently.
Every step of the way the police protected us, encouraged us,
fed us, at times clothed us, brought us into their barracks
to shower and share a sense of family. And when we were physically
unable to take another step, unable to bear the weight of the
stone, they joined us at the draw bars and pulled the stone
when the incline was too steep and our numbers were too small.
More than any other group, the police were in solidarity with
the Stonewalkers, they looked after the stone and those whose
duty it was to bring it to Washington, they blessed this cause
when others didn't and made us feel proud to be Americans.
So today we turn again to our brothers and sisters in blue,
here on this bridge which will lead us into the 21st Century,
and humbly call upon them to officially impound this memorial
stone and its caisson and keep it safe from the enemy of indifference
and contempt until such time that we gather here, at this spot,
on the Memorial Bridge to complete this sacred journey to Arlington.
Were we to complete the journey today, and bring it to Arlington,
the stone would be discarded, rejected like the very message
it embodies. This is the official position of Arlington, America's
most sacred shrine. So out of respect for this stone and millions
of voiceless civilian victims whose lives it honors, and out
of respect for Arlington and those who were laid to rest there,
we shall postpone that day of reckoning.
But we shall meet again, here on this bridge to the 21st Century,
once Congress has passed legislation to accept the stone so
we can complete our journey to Arlington. And we shall ask that
the police return the stone, cradled on the caisson designed,
engineered and built for this journey, to this very spot so
we can, in good faith, complete what we set out to do on the
final Independence Day of the 20th century.
This moment is difficult, indeed, for all who shouldered the
effort to bring this stone here. But it is nothing compared
to what millions of families go through when armies advance,
bombs are dropped and news arrives that a loved one is dead.
Our dream of a civilian memorial is not dead. It simply requires
that so long as we draw breath, we work and pray and struggle
in every way possible to see this mission through. We will someday
complete this journey. Until that time the stone will remain
impounded. And to think, we simply brought our country a gift,
and our country couldn't find a way to accept it. "With a good
conscience our only sure reward ... let us go forth," in the
words of President Kennedy, "to serve the land we love, asking
his blessings and his help, but knowing that here on Earth,
God's work must truly be our own."
After the caisson and stone were loaded on the flatbed truck
to be impounded by a DC SWAT team, Stonewalkers proceeded on
foot to Arlington National Cemetery. They carried the bronze
plaque that was at the base of the Memorial Stone which reads,
"To whom can one pledge one's allegiance except to the victims"
by Pulitzer Prize poet, Stanley Kunitz. The group then gathered
at the grave of Bobby Kennedy. All stood in silence. Some wept.
They then went to the spot near the Memorial Amphitheater where
someday, God willing, the stone will be placed. Stonewalkers
spoke poignantly about their experiences, reflected on what
the journey meant to them and prayed for peace in the world.
It became clear before the group dispersed, temporary closure
was achieved to this 33 day odyssey of the heart. The journey
of Stonewalk is anything but over .... Call/write/email
your elected officials in Washington and ask/demand that they
support placement of the Memorial Stone for Unknown Civilians
Killed in War at Arlington National Cemetery. Go to http://www.congress.org/
to contact them by e-mail. And write a letter to the editor.
Your help is needed now.
If you would see your dream come true,
be true to your dream - this you must do.
And never, never, never give-up!
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