This is America (local high schoolers go to an anti war/Bush protest)

When you think of two teenage girls stuck in a car for three hours singing along to the radio and attempting to find the little blue line on the map that reads, "I-95," you might conjure up images of Britney Spears in her movie "Crossroads" (OK, so the line’s not that small and the movie wasn’t really a movie).

Well, it wasn’t Ms. Spears heading off to Washington, D.C. for an anti-war rally Oct. 25. It was fellow reality panelist Maria Caucci and I.

Once we figured out where we were going and finally arrived at the Washington Monument, we were greeted by a man we nicknamed "the Messiah." The man was carrying a huge sign that read, "Bush says ‘bring ’em on’…we say, ‘bring the troops home.’" He was walking alone down the sidewalk and he saw our matching green t-shirts that we made for the rally and stopped to talk to us.

It turned out his son was in Baghdad. After a brief conversation, Maria and I followed him across the street and to the area known as "the mall" (it’s the park-like area in front of the Washington Monument). Others gradually joined us, each carrying a sign, wearing pins or displaying some sort of opinion about the war or political candidates.

Maria and I would continuously look over at each other throughout the day, nervously. We originally thought the event would be just a hippie convention. I expressed my worry in the early morning about not having dreads or numerous piercings. However, we both soon found out that all you needed to attend were strong political convictions.

Pamphlets from different parties, organizations and candidates were being given out on the streets. Musical groups played as we wandered around the field, collecting buttons, t-shirts and flyers. People had come from around the country to support the effort. There were teens in black trench coats, elderly couples in matching polo shirts and young women dressed in business suits. It was thrilling to be a part of something so large, something that brought so many different people together for a common goal. It was also unbelievable how willing these people were to talk to you. We discussed issues surrounding the war as well as the 2004 elections.

After a few hours of talking to people, collecting souvenirs and taking pictures, Maria and I began to get anxious. We wanted to march. I was impatiently waiting the moment when I would be able to hold a sign and scream out chants. We were standing together at one point when a woman approached us. She was a reporter from NBC and had a cameraman with her. She asked if we would mind answering some questions and of course we didn’t. We both told her how important we thought it was for young people to be politically active and involved in the world around them (after, of course, we plugged our high schools).

Soon after the interview, we began to march. A group of college students invited us to walk with them and we were soon in the midst of a crowd, responding to the shouts from the megaphone with our own shouts, condemning the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Maria and I walked side-by-side, smiling, shouting and carrying our signs. It was an amazing feeling, being in the middle of all that. I felt empowered and I also felt what it was to be American.

I kept thinking to myself, this is it, this is democracy. For anyone who says that it is "unpatriotic" to protest the war, or for anyone who responds to the protest with a statement such as, "if you don’t like our country, leave!" you need to understand that to want to bring about change to our government is a patriotic thing to do. If I didn’t appreciate being American, I would not want to work to change America.

The highlight of the day for me was most certainly the moment when, after rounding a corner, we all looked up and began to cheer. There, near the top of an apartment building, were four people unfurling a large, pink banner that read, "Bring the troops home." Here it is…America.

It was absolutely amazing to see those thousands of people working toward one goal. After the rally, Maria and I both felt the same way. Having a voice is truly one of the most important, exciting things in life. We also believe that even if you are not of voting age (which neither of us are), you can still become involved and make a difference. If the youth of our country get out and get involved now, then our future will be that much happier and that much safer.

Sent in as a letter to the editor:

A Memo to Shannon Jaeger:

I read the article you wrote in the Courier Times about your experience in a protest against the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

1. Don't kid yourself. Your participation in this anti-war rally was about as "unpatriotic" as you can get. You are holding a sign calling the President and Vice-President of America liars when America is at war. As you know, the President is the commander and chief of our military. He is the leader of every American soldier, sailor, marine and airmen in combat. It may be hard for you to imagine, but when a soldier puts himself/herself in danger, they pray and hope that their leaders are good and decent men and women. They believe their leaders would not risk their lives unless it was absolutely necessary. Do you think seeing your sign calling our President a liar might affect them? If someone called your mom, dad or teachers "liars" in the newspapers would it affect you?

2. Our enemies read and watch the American media. When they see anti-war protests calling our President and Vice-President liars, do you think it might help them? Do you think it may boost their morale, help in recruiting or assist in fundraising? Do you think it may even make them believe that they are winning and fight harder?

3. You look like a happy young kid who grew up in a safe neighborhood where bad things normally don't happen. It is sad but most of the world is not like your neighborhood. There is evil in this world. I saw it on the morning of September 11, 2001, when people were jumping to their deaths off the World Trade Center because it was better to die hitting the concrete after a 100-story fall rather than being burned alive. I saw it in the evening of September 11, 2001, when my crying wife met me on the front porch of our house to tell me that our next-door neighbor was killed in the World Trade Center attack. I saw evil first-hand commanding a Special Forces A-Team in Afghanistan for 8 months. In town after town, I saw the mass graves of the Taliban and Al Queda's victims. In one single northern Afghanistan town, nearly 4,000 people were executed over a two-week period by the Taliban (imagine if that happened in your hometown). I met people who lost their entire families. I visited areas in which every building and house (including the Mosques) were demolished because that Taliban wanted to teach the locals a lesson and send a message to the anyone who would dare protest against them. I have visited Mosques that the Taliban used to execute women accused of adultery by stoning. Stoning is where your feet and hands are tied up and people throw rocks at your head until you are dead. I have seen Al Queda guerrillas set bombs in baseball fields to blow up children playing sports. I have seen them burn down newly rebuilt girls schools because it "offended" them. Should we turn our back on these people? If 9/11 never happened, should not these people be helped? Would you want help from America if you lived under these conditions?

4. I have seen, hunted, captured and killed America's enemies. I have looked into their eyes. They would think nothing of killing a thousand young girls like you if it caused America to look bad or back down. They would not hesitate to unleash chemical or biological agents on your street if they could. They have killed, raped and tortured their own people without mercy, what mercy do you think they will show America?

5. In all my traveling throughout Afghanistan, I have never once met a soldier who did not believe in what we were doing or met a soldier who thought President Bush was a liar. They are all volunteers willing to serve when America called and needed them. They all understand that we did not start this war, but we are damn well going to finish it. We are going to hunt down terrorists wherever they hide so that they can never kill Americans again. According to you, maybe we should we all come home and just wait for the next attack on American soil. Keep this in mind; your protests do not speak for the American soldier fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan.

6. I also noticed that the "Socialist Workers" and the "International Socialist Organization" produced your sign. Have you ever visited a socialist country? Have you ever talked to someone who has lived in one? There are plenty of people who have risked their lives to flee these "worker's paradises," from places like Cuba, North Korea, the former Soviet Union, Communist Vietnam, etc. to live in America. Go talk with them. See what it was like to live under the system the people who gave you your protest signs are advocating. I have family in what was the former Czechoslovakia. Under socialism, they had all their land taken without compensation. We had one relative sentenced to work in a Uranium mine without breathing equipment because he was deemed a capitalist for running a grocery store before the socialists took power (everyone in these mines were "enemies of the socialist state" - Priests, writers, grocery store managers, etc.). My family had to go to underground churches for mass and baptisms. If you were caught, the state kicked you out of your apartment and took your job. Socialist health care involved bribing the "free" state doctor to look at you and then bribing the "free" state pharmacy to give you your "free" medicine (if they had it at all). My relatives were not allowed to hold "sensitive" state jobs because they had someone living in America and were deemed a security risk. What was one of the "sensitive" state jobs they could not have? A librarian in a public library. And Czechoslovakia was considered great place (modern and advanced) compared to the other socialist paradises of the Soviet Bloc (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - USSR)

7. Yes, you certainly have the right to protest and demonstrate. A right paid for in blood by American soldiers. A right that is absent in most socialist countries. Just don't fool yourself in thinking that you are doing the right thing or helping democracy. Even the KKK has the right to have a demonstration.

Best Regards,

2banana

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