A week after the Blue and Gold Star Mothers of New Hampshire gathered in Concord to rally in support of our troops and the Gathering of Eagles in D.C., our state capitol was the scene of another group and another cause. While last week’s group sought to support our troops and Nation all the way to the victory in the present war, this weekend’s group gathered in protest. Instead of offering a message of hope, love, and support, the group, antiwar peaceniks, consisting of a large number of public school students, offered up nothing but scorn on our Nation and a plan for retreat.
Sign reads "Not one more death. Not one more dollar."
They are barely old enough to fight or vote, but local high-school students showed yesterday that they are old enough to make their voices heard in loud opposition against the war in Iraq. Between 100 and 200 students, peace activists and passers-by demonstrated in front of the State House yesterday afternoon, in a rally organized by the peace clubs of Concord High School and Hopkinton High School, with the help of New Hampshire Peace Action and the American Friends Service Committee.."I think the war’s wrong, and we all do as much as we can do," said Hopkinton High School senior Will Merrow, who co-founded his school’s peace club. Merrow rallied the crowd, telling them if anyone could give him a reason why the country is in Iraq, he would get off the stage. "If not, I’ll stay up here until the death toll stops. We cannot and we will not take it any longer," he said.
In addition to singing peace songs and chanting slogans, the schoolchildren lined up empty shoes shoes in memory of those killed in Iraq. Reading of that in the Monitor article almost made me ill:
