To Die For A Mistake
By Dr. Trudy Bond
08 August, 2004
Countercurrents.org“How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?”
John Kerry, 1971. Vietnam Then Iraq NowSix hours in the hot grueling sun. Six hours standing in packed crowds, four people, of whom I was one, holding metal poles high above their heads, raising the 45-foot banner with John Kerry’s words above the crowd for people to view. Tickets had been distributed for the event, but they were worthless: many tickets, no space. And then there were the metal detectors where no long skirts could hide metal poles to allow us entrance with our banner. The only remaining alternative dictated that the banner be held in the middle of the intersection as thousands of people walked by, waiting in line, trying to get into the rally area. Many stopped to take pictures of the banner itself. Many stopped to have their picture taken with the banner as a backdrop as if it were Mount Rushmore. Others volunteered to hold the poles, offered sunscreen and towels to wipe the sweat off the torch-bearers who were holding the banner that read:“How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?” John Kerry, 1971. Vietnam Then Iraq Now
It was the Kerry-Edwards rally in Bowling Green, Ohio, just after the convention. The four standard bearers were members of the Northwest Ohio Peace Coalition, present not to rally for Kerry but to protest the Iraqi and Afghanistan Wars, and to remind Senator Kerry of his words uttered in 1971. Though the Senator has not opposed the current wars, or proposed an exit plan if he is elected, out of the thousands of people viewing our banner, only one person of all the thousand of Kerry supporters that afternoon complained of the content.
Six hours after the gates had “opened” to the few hundred who made it inside the outdoor rally, only a few spectators remained. Four of those spectators were the ones still holding their banner high . . . “to die for a mistake.” As Kerry’s bus pulled finally pulled out on the streets of the small town
after the thousands of people had left and the street workers were pulling away the barricades, the bus swung around the corner where we were still standing with our banner, positioned high on the outside ledge of a porch high above street level.As the bus rounded our corner, John Kerry was leaning out the window, waving and smiling to the few people remaining on the lawn below. Within a few seconds, our screams had his attention and he looked up. It’s impossible not to be melodramatic here. Time did slow for an instant as we watched Kerry’s campaign smile change to a look of surprise at the realization he was reading his own words on the huge banner. After a few seconds, a smile returned as he gave us the thumbs-up followed by the peace sign as the bus continued forward.
Any effect? Who knows? Cynics have said he was only being a seasoned politician. The university students who had offered their porch, shade and free beer, were ecstatic. “He saw your sign, he saw your sign,” with tones of amazement. To the four of us and the people standing around, the direct
acknowledgment by Kerry of those powerful words, once spoken with passion and belief, did give us a renewed sense of purpose in our continued struggle.Dr. Trudy Bond is a psychologist and activist in the Northwest Ohio Peace Movement in Toledo, Ohio.
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