 MARCH/APRIL 2003 (XXXXI 2) |
Doylestown Meeting (PA), ever since the last week of September 2001, has had a weekly vigil for peace on Tuesdays from 6 to 7 p.m. in the middle of Doylestown. As the vigil continued into the year 2002, the placards approved by the Meeting were VIGIL FOR PEACE, WAGE PEACE, NO WAR ON IRAQ, and ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
For the first twelve months the participants were members and attenders of Doylestown and Wrightstown Meetings, including some families with young children. Front page coverage of the vigil on two occasions in the regional newspaper, The Intelligencer, brought in persons from other faith communities. Typically, there were many honks of approval and a few obscenities of disapproval.
In mid-January of this year, with two dozen participants in the vigil line, an equal number of Vietnam veterans and Blue Star Mothers of America turned up and demanded that we move from the sidewalk in front of the Vietnam War memorial. The names of over 100 men are inscribed on the opposite side of the wall, facing the Bucks County Courthouse.
Quite by chance I had been forewarned of the visit by the local reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer. That gave me time to check in with the chief of police in Doylestown and with members of the Meeting. As spokesperson for the vigil, I assured the yelling veterans that the Doylestown Meeting Peace Committee would be willing to consider their request that the vigil move. That evening we stood our ground, silently.
Reporters and photographers from the Inquirer and Intelligencer were on hand. Front page stories appeared the next morning.
Clearly some of the veterans were reliving the frustrations and anger of the Vietnam War. They knew of the medical supplies that Quakers had delivered to South Vietnam, the National Liberation Front, and North Vietnam. "You are worse than Jane Fonda," they shouted at us.
The Peace Committee the next Sunday decided that a move to an even more central location was both respectful of the veterans' feelings and to the advantage of the vigil. The decision was reported in both newspapers. The next Tuesday's vigil at the new location drew 40 participants, and a week later, 50. The Peace Committee is seeking an opportunity to meet with some veterans in a nonconfrontational setting.
Larry Miller
Chairman of Peace Committee
Doylestown Meeting (PA)
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:18 AM