STONEWALK USA 1999: SHERBORN, MA to ARLINGTON, VA
PRESS ARTICLES

ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON

Volunteers lugging a 2,000-pound memorial to civilian war victims have reached their destination - the nation's capital - after a six-state odyssey. But today they stopped short of their target - Arlington National Cemetery.

The group pulled the stone to the middle of Memorial Bridge, which leads to the entrance to the graveyard. Then, project director Lewis Randa announced that because ``this stone has no home'' he would allow District of Columbia police to impound it until Congress adopts a resolution allowing it into the cemetery.

``Were we to complete the journey today and bring it to Arlington, the stone would be discarded, rejected like the very message it embodies,'' Randa said.

About 150 people accompanied the rock from the Lincoln Memorial to the bridge, although at times it was difficult to distinguish between cheering tourists and ``stonewalkers.''

The group behind the ``Stonewalk'' left more than a month ago from the Boston suburb of Sherborn with a 6-foot-by-4-foot granite tombstone engraved with the words, ``Unknown Civilians Killed in Wars.'' About a half-dozen people trekked the entire 450-plus miles, traveling on secondary roads and highways beside motorcycles, cars and 18-wheelers. The group picked up, and dropped, additional volunteers from each community along the way.

``We wanted to be vulnerable,'' Randa said. ``We wanted to not have enough people so people would help us.''

Turnout was overwhelming in some regions, spotty in others. But during moments when the group lacked enough people to drive the stone - which rests on a 1,500-pound cart - up hills, Randa said enough motorists have always pulled over, jumped out and helped push.

``The most impressive thing on the journey has been the spontaneous acts of generosity by people who were driving by and realizing these people are struggling to get this up the hill,'' Randa said. ``And many of them didn't know what we were doing.''

The ``stonewalkers'' arrived Thursday in Washington, resting all afternoon on the west lawn of the Capitol. At night, the group pulled the stone to the Lincoln Memorial for a footwashing ceremony and an anniversary memorial service for those who died when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II.

Ultimately, the stone should rest at Arlington National Cemetery, preferably near the Tomb of the Unknowns, Randa said, while acknowledging he has no permission to leave it there.

``We were told if we left it there it would be discarded and removed from the property and treated like protest material,'' he said. ``The people of Arlington have been clear in explaining the requirements for a stone to go into Arlington and we've been clear that we are coming with the stone to formally present it to them.''

Arlington National Cemetery was established as a shrine to those who served in the armed forces, said Dov Schwartz, a spokesman for the Military District of Washington, which runs the cemetery.

``The law says that monuments will be accepted only if they honor those dying in the military service of the United States,'' Schwartz said. ``The only way a monument or memorial can be put in Arlington National Cemetery is if Congress passes a current or joint resolution.''

So far, no one has come forward to sponsor such a proposal.

Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., has encouraged the group to get support from veterans organizations.

``We'll try to help them in any way we can but in terms of actually getting into Arlington, there's a process you have to go through,'' said McGovern spokesman Michael Mershon.