FARMINGTON – Protesters in Franklin County joined hundreds of thousands of others all over the world Monday to protest the war in Iraq on the third anniversary of its beginning.
About 75 people, most bundled up in layers of winter clothing and all carrying large signs, braved the cold wind on Monday to stand along Route 4 lining the Sandy River Bridge in protest.
As they stood, many shivering so violently they had to leave before the two-hour event concluded, hundreds of drivers in the cars passing by honked their horns in support as their passengers waved and flashed peace signs from the windows. “I’m pleased with the support we’re getting from the passing traffic – it shows the rising level of consciousness about what’s really happening,” in the war, said protester Jo Josephson.
“It was especially sweet when the school buses went by,” said protest organizer Eileen Kreutz of the Western Mountains Peace Action Workshop.
She said she was amazed at the amount of support protesters felt. A few years ago, she said, activists occasionally feared being “run down” by drivers who disagreed with their politics, and even now, with over 70 percent of the country apparently opposed to the war, according to a variety of polls, she said it was hard to know what to expect. “It’s kind of an abstract thing, those polls,” she said. “But then it starts to change, and you can actually get that pulse. And we are reaching that point with this war,” she said.
Many of the people standing on the bridge characterized themselves as “anti-war in general,” as Patti Millette said. But two – Bill Marceau and Mark Simpson – said they were pro-military and explained they “support the troops but not the administration behind” the war.
“Three years and still it’s fruitless – if those funds were put into building infrastructure in this country, we’d be so much further ahead,” Marceau said.
Organized jointly by the WMPAW and University of Maine at Farmington student group SeaChange, the event was preceded by a “die in” at the UMF dining hall and a visit to the Farmington Army Recruitment Office and followed by a reading of Eliot Weinberger’s compilation “What I heard about Iraq.”
Kreutz said the reading was the most moving part of the day. “What I Heard About Iraq” is a compilation of quotes about the war by members of the government, the military and ordinary folks both in this country and abroad, and for many in the anti-war camp, it epitomizes the reasons to get out. More than 100 people turned out for the reading, Kreutz said. “People were just sobbing in the room,” and many got up to speak after it had ended, describing the experiences of loved ones currently serving in the war.
Some described being told of times when their brother, uncle, cousin or other relative had accidentally killed Iraqi civilians. Others described loved ones now home, suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and depression.
“So many people were crying when we finished this reading that it was – I don’t even know how to explain the emotion,” she said.
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