THE EAGLE-TRIBUNE
Sunday, May 31, 1999
REMEMBERING CIVILIANS: People will pull war memorial stone from Massachusetts to Washington.

Editor's note: Jane Cadarette of North Andover is a member of the Catholic peace organization Pax Christi and a board member of Merrimack Valley People for Peace.

By Jane Cadarette
Special to The Eagle-Tribune

War, that barbaric institution we keep trying to civilize with rhetoric and rules, exacts a price no one can calculate. That it should exist or even be considered an option at the close of this most bloody yet remarkable century defies all explanation.

This weekend, in traditional Memorial Day ceremonies, there will be speeches and parades. Wreaths will be laid at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Arlington National Cemetery and at war memorials throughout the country. While it is fitting to honor those whose lives were sacrificed in the service of our country during war, there is something missing in these rituals - the official recognition of the millions of ordinary men, women and children who perished too. There is no national monument calling us to remember civilians killed in war. It is time our country honored them.

"This stone belongs in Washington," Maha Ghosananda, Supreme Patriarch of Cambodian Buddhism, announced when he stood before a memorial stone in Sherborn, Mass., that is consecrated to the memory of Unknown Civilians Killed in War. Some 5,000 people have visited the stone since it was unveiled in May 1994, by Muhammad Ali, a noted humanitarian and peacemaker who is also the former world heavyweight boxing champion.

The stone will go to Washington this summer. It will stop briefly in our nation's capital on its way to the Arlington National Cemetery where it will have greater visibility. There, in the sight of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the stark simplicity of this granite stone will convey the naked truth of war - civilians die along with soldiers. Difficult as it is to believe, during this last decade, on average, 2,000 people have died and are dying every day as a direct result of war. Nine out of 10 are civilians and half of these are children. It is time for us to honor their memory.

This 2,000-pound stone is more than a heavy slab. It is a symbol that has captured minds and hearts. It is the powerful voice of the dead and theliving who cry out for the full cost of war to be recognized and to be considered whenever our country is tempted to wage one. It is a warning whisper that says -for the sake of all that lives -end war. It is the people's gift to the nation with the help of a project called Stonewalk.

The project's planners initially intended to seek congressional approval but, on second thought, realized that no approval was needed for the people to propose and give such a gift. Acceptance may need to be voted on, but that will be for Congress to initiate after the gift is given. Stonewalk is a project of the Peace Abbey and The Life Experience School in Sherborn.

The stone's journey will start in Massachusetts on July 4, cover almost 500 miles in 33 days, and end in Arlington, Va., on August 6, the anniversary of Hiroshima. It will be pushed and pulled through approximately 100 cities and towns by teams of Relay Walkers. The stone will lie, slightly elevated, on a flag-decorated caisson custom-built by the HDT Co. of Salem, Ohio.

As Lewis Randa, director of the Peace Abbey and the School, says: "Stonewalk is about 'relay-tionship.'" At each border, one community's team will transfer the caisson and stone to the next. Local Scouts will pull a small wagon behind as a reminder of one of war's most tragic consequences -the killing of innocent children. Stonewalk is also about the lasting relationships that are likely to form as people work creatively to achieve the project's goals.

Tomorrow, on Memorial Day, the caisson, carrying an exact replica of the stone, will make its public debut in Boston. It will leave Sherborn at 7 a.m., follow the Boston Marathon route, with a few minor detours, and reach City Hall about 5 p.m. Veterans and clergy of various faiths will meet and bless the project along the way. Mayor Thomas Menino is expected to be on hand for a public ceremony honoring all the victims of war.

It is the right time, while thousands of civilians are dying in the latest Balkan war and the continuing war in Iraq, to bring this offering, of a Memorial Stone for Unknown Civilians Killed in War, to our nation's sacred place of remembrance.

Everyone is invited to contribute in some way and become a partner in this magnificent pilgrimage -in person or in spirit. Volunteers are needed for every phase of Stonewalk. Some of the organizations involved are: Families Against Violence Advocacy Network; Fellowship of Reconciliation; American Friends Service Committee; Veterans for Peace; and Women's Action for New Directions.

The Merrimack Valley People for Peace is contributing a plaque that will be attached to the caisson. It will carry the words that now lie engraved on a low stone in front of the Memorial Stone for Unknown Civilians Killed in War, a poem by Thich Nhat Hanh:

EARTH
will keep you tight within
her arms, dear one,
so that tomorrow you will be
transformed into flowers.
This moment, you will weep no
more dear one, we have gone
through too deep a night.
This morning, yes, this morning, I
kneel down in the green grass and
I notice your presence. O, flowers
that speak to me in
silence, the message of love
and understanding has
indeed come.

On Memorial Day, next year in Arlington National Cemetery, this stone, the gift of the people, should be in its proper place in view of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. When wreaths are laid at both, we'll be able to say, paraphrasing the poem, " Oh stone that speaks to us in silence, the message of love and understand has indeed come."