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Taking a long walk toward
peace: Victims memorial starts its path to New York City
By Laura Crimaldi
MetroWest Daily News Sunday, August 1, 2004
NATICK -- A community of strangers bound by an unwavering
commitment to peace braved the blistering heat yesterday to
herald a message of non-violence in a solemn "Stonewalk."
"Every step is a prayer for peace. Be careful,"
Sherborn Peace Abbey Director Lewis Randa told about 20 people
as they stepped off Natick Town Common with a 2-ton memorial
stone in tow. The walk, organized by September Eleventh Families
for Peaceful Tomorrows, began in Boston on July 28 and will
hit parts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut
before reaching its destination in New York City on Sept.
2.
The symbolic walk honoring unknown civilians killed in war
will recast the Boston-to-New York City route from the terrifying
final passage of the Sept. 11 hijackers who attacked the World
Trade Center to a peaceful and reflective trail, organizers
said. "Those planes left Boston and killed these people
in New York City. Let's reclaim that route," said Daniel
Jones, a Bronx resident who lost his brother-in-law Bill Kelly
Jr. in the World Trade Center attack. A charter member of
Peaceful Tomorrows, which represents more than 130 family
members of 9/11 victims, Jones and his wife Colleen are fighting
to prevent other families from suffering the pain of losing
a loved one under attack. "We knew if we bombed Afghanistan,
we would fail in our attempts to bring justice and we would
kill other civilians and families would be suffering as we
were," he said.
The group officially formed in February 2002 and held its
first retreat at the Sherborn Peace Abbey last year, Jones
said.
"We saw an outpouring of compassion and support because
our losses were so public," said Jones, a school social
worker. "We don't know the names of these people dying
in other parts of the world, and if we did, I'd think we'd
do a lot more to end the violence."
A black casing flanked by flags from every nation in the world
surrounds the granite stone which reads "Unknown Civilians
Killed In War."
A copy of "Portraits of Grief," the profiles of
the Sept. 11 victims written by the New York Times staff,
accompanied the memorial stone to highlight the public's intimate
knowledge of those who perished during the attacks.
Volunteers wore T-shirts decorated with a picture of the memorial
stone and a quote from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.: "Wars
are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows."
"I've always been interested in a way of non-violence
-- my Catholic upbringing, applying the law of St. Francis...'We
should be peacemakers on the Earth.' That's sort of what motivates
me to do this," said Lisa Cogliandro of Ashland during
a midday break on the Natick Town Common. Cogliandro was among
60 volunteers and supporters who participated in an informal
ceremony of prayers and quiet reflections before the Stonewalk
resumed its journey toward the Peace Abbey. The walk was intentionally
scheduled to take place between the Democratic National Convention,
which ended in Boston on Thursday, and the Republican National
Convention in New York City, which begins at the end of the
month.
"We have spent so much of the time reacting to the wars
started by the Bush administration and this is a chance to
get out and educate people," said Terry Rockefeller of
Arlington. Rockefeller lost her sister Laura Rockefeller in
the WTC attack. While on the walk this week and during the
last leg of the journey at the end of the month, Rockefeller
hopes to spread the word about establishing a federal Department
of Peace and promoting "true" cultural change.
The walk makes its way to Holliston today before making stops
in Milford, Hopedale, Mendon and Uxbridge on Monday and Tuesday.
"We really need to pay attention to this -- what war
is about. There's a lot of propaganda around this," said
Judith Rich of Natick.
Laura Crimaldi can be reached at 508-626-4416 or lcrimald@cnc.com.
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