Arlington East

My father-in-law, the Reverend Liberal Thunderer, sent along some photos today of a recent event a whole bunch of Cape Cod peace groups and churches organised on Coast Guard Beach in Eastham (where he is the United Methodist minister). The pictures are pretty powerful. Regardless of where you stand on the war, at the very least applaud the peace people for treating us like adults when it comes to casualties, unlike our political leaders:


Among others, P-Town UMC were there...
...as was my father-in-law and the Eastham UMC.


As reported in The Cape Codder:
"The tribute, organized by Cape Codders for Peace and Justice and named "Arlington East," is meant to "make the war real," said Diane Turco, the Harwich schoolteacher who traveled to Crawford, Texas, last year in support of Cindy Sheehan... Along with Camp Casey, Sheehan supporters constructed Arlington South in Crawford, followed by "Arlington West" in Santa Monica and Santa Barbara, Calif., and "Arlington North" in Philadelphia.

"[We] were thinking we had to have some kind of event to continue to make the war real [to Cape Codders]," said Turco. "It just caught fire," she added, and the Cape Cod Chapter of Veterans for Peace got involved. "The purpose is to allow people to express their grief, respect and thoughts," explained Turco. "We believe that humanity can and must rise above violence to build a world of justice and peace for all peoples."

The display, recalling the country's most famous resting place for war veterans in Washington, D.C., will also pay homage to civilians and members of the press who have lost their lives. Event organizer John Bangert, also of Harwich, said, "People haven't seen this war, so we want to bring it home. We want to acknowledge the human cost of war. People don't get to Arlington very much. So it's a portable Arlington Cemetery." (The rest...)