| STONEWALK
USA 1999: SHERBORN, MA to ARLINGTON, VA
PRESS ARTICLES
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Peace marchers heading to U.N.
and Arlington
By Joelle Fishman, AP
When the Stonewalk pulls into United Nations Plaza for a 24-hour
vigil this weekend, thousands of people will already have helped
pull the one-ton memorial inscribed to Unknown Civilians Killed
in War. The simple, yet massive effort has inspired shop owners
to close up, firefighters and vacationers to interrupt their
plans and help pull the stone through the small towns and cities
of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Organizers hope that the combination
of the physical presence, the caisson and the people pulling
it, will create enough public pressure to convince Arlington
Cemetery to accept the memorial and place it near the tomb of
the unknown soldier.
The project, sponsored by Peace Abbey, a pacifist
interfaith group in Sherborn, Mass. and Veterans for Peace,
was endorsed by Muhammad Ali in 1974, when he dedicated the
memorial stone.
The timing of the project calls to mind the
civilian victims of recent bombings of Yugoslavia and Iraq.
The gravestone is set on a large, solidly and elegantly constructed
caisson posted with large U.S. and U.N. flags and small flags
of the countries of the world.
The caisson is steered by one person and pulled
by many people interspersed along a ladder of handlebars in
a long train reminiscent of the 20-mule team carriages of
centuries ago.
The group began their journey July 4 and are
scheduled to complete the 485-mile walk to Arlington National
Cemetery Aug. 6, the anniversary of the atomic bombing of
Hiroshima, Japan.
Organizers hope that the combination of the
physical presence, the caisson and the people pulling it,
will create enough public pressure to convince Arlington Cemetery
to accept the memorial and place it near the tomb of the unknown
soldier.
Although spokespersons for Arlington Cemetery
say they cannot accept the memorial without an act of Congress,
project coordinator Lewis Randa asked, "How many more
civilians have to die before they will accept the gift?"
He said if the gift is rejected their effort will have called
public attention to the casualties of war recognized by the
military only as "collateral" damage.
"There is no question in my mind,"
Randa said, "that a congressman will step forward to
intervene and do something politically heroic so that the
stone is not denied entry."
Father Philip Salois of the National Conference
of Vietnam Veteran Ministers is part of Stonewalk because
"as a Vietnam combat veteran, I believe this memorial
stone honoring all civilians ever killed in wars is ... an
understatement of how wars snuff out lives of innocent people."
The group's website - www.peaceabbey.org - lists
the dates on which they will be walking through towns in New
Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland before reaching Washington,
D.C.
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