It’s was cold at Irving Park and Hamlin today, but the experience there fires you up and warms your heart.

At least that’s my take after braving the elements for a few hours this frigid March 21, 2006 afternoon. We were taking on Congressman Raum Emanuel, a powerful Democrat in our state who has made it his
business to destroy antiwar candidates in his party. Last week we camped out at GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s office in Batavia, IL.

I show up with cups of coffee and cookies, and meet about 10 folks on the street and in the tent we’ve pitched on the edge of Independence Park. The tent, really a canopy, breaks the wind and helps a lot. It
especially protects the tables inside with the flyers, clipboards and petitions. Outside, the sandwich signs with antiwar messages all along the block are visually striking, along with the rows of empty boots and shoes, tagged with the names of dead Americans and Iraqis.

Right away, a cable truck pulls up and two African American installers get out, browse the literature and want to sign the petitions demanding Rep. Emanuel here in the 5th CD reverse course and take a stand to stop the war. ‘Here, take some peace buttons, too,’ I say. Next in line are two Latino community college students from the neighborhood, and they also sign the petition.

‘Here, Carl, put this on,’ says Dave, our stalwart anchorman of the project. It’s a Day-Glo orange vest. ‘Go over there and relieve that lady on the median with the ‘Honk for Peace’ sign in front of Raum’s office. You’ll love it.’

He was absolutely right. ‘It helps if you wave a little,’ says the shivering woman who smiles and gives me the sign, as I climb up on Mayor Daley’s new median strip flower beds in the center of four-lane
traffic. I’m directly in front of Raum’s storefront office, and can see the workers there nervously glancing out the window now and then.

The cars start honking right away. But I get into it, and find a rhythm. If I hold up two fingers in a peace sign, I get more honks. Then I mix in a hand signal, pointing straight to the Congressman’s door, then back to the peace sign, then point back to the door. Even more honking. Some truckers really lean on the air horn, so I flash a clenched fist. They smile back, appreciating it, and honk again.

I’d guess a thousand cars, trucks or buses went by in my hour or so. Most consistent solidarity honkers were the cabbies and the bus drivers, but really everyone got into it. I’d say about a third honked for us. Some gave timid little beeps and smiles. Others leaned on their horns and gave a forceful thumbs up. Twice I saw a women passenger reach across the male driver and really hit the horn, wave and smile. Some even rolled down their windows, flashed a peace sign, and shouted encouragement.

Only once did one guy tap his window, frown and give me a thumbs down. Even the workers in Raum’s office smiled and waved when they ended their day.

Then I see a soldier, still in fatigues and short hair, pull his car over and make his way to the tent, checking out the boots and reading the signs. A few other cars pulled up, too, and signed the petitions. I go a bit longer, but soon my fingers are getting numb, so I go for relief.

Back at the tent, more folks show up, the group from Logan Square Neighbors for Justice and Peace. Fresh troops to hold the signs. Then more good news: a church group shows up with a camp stove, a big
pot of hot soup, lots of bread and a bevy of little kids.

But now we got two cop cars pull up with flashing lights. They get out, somewhat gruff and formal, and want to know who’s in charge. Two of the Christian Peacemakers Team deal with them. They lighten up.

‘We’ve got a few complaints,’ they say, ‘but here’s the bottom line. You’ve got a right to do this, and you’re going to be here all week. Just don’t go off the curb, especially during rush hour. That way, you’re not obstructing and you still get your message out, and no accidents happen.’ They say to call them if there’s trouble, leave and, as a last gesture, smile and honk their horn for the sign.

What about the soldier, I asked? ‘He’s just back from Iraq,’ says Dave. ‘He was kind of shy and quiet, but he’s with us. He signed the petition and took some flyers.’ Just then two Latino guys come up. ‘My brother’s in Iraq, too,’ says one. ‘Been there for more than six months.’ ‘Let’s hope he gets home safe,’ I say, ‘Let’s get them all home.’ We chat a little about how the family uses email to stay in touch with him. ‘Where do we sign against the war?’ he asks. I watch them fill in the petition. It sure made my day.

‘Camp Bring ‘Em Home,’ launched by The Anti-War Majority campaign, is both simple and rich in possibilities. It supplies excellent visuals for the media folks. But more important, for us, it’s a step outside
the comfort zone and into America. I look over the list of names on the petitions, and imagine the core of new neighborhood groups. We’ve done this at the offices of two Congressmen now, so that leaves 533 to
go around the country. Just copy this project, and spread it everywhere like a friendly virus, and we’ll see what happens.

Carl Davidson
Chicagoans Against War and Injustice

We made four visits to Dennis Hastert’s Batavia office located at 27 N. River Street as the AWM. Throughout the week shoes lined the street up to his office and in front of his office with signs that read “Call on Dennis Hastert to represent you” with his office phone #. Here’s a brief record of each meeting:

1. Dan Kenney of DeKalb Interfaith grabbed a reporter and photographer on Monday afternoon and went in with shoes and a letter requesting Hastert represent the majority and support legislation ending the war. He did present a pair of shoes and said they represented Iraqi civilian deaths. He asked for a meeting and was told that Lulu of the office would contact him. Although we did get press coverage nothing about Dan’s visit was in the paper.

2. Siobhan Kolar, Bob Sandman of WSFPC Legislative group and Earl Bley of Greater Aurora went into the office Wednesday with a request to meet with Hastert or staff on Friday or any time between that day and March 25th. Bob urged Dave Richmond of Hastert’s staff to meet and tried to be flexible-anytime, anywhere. Dave said he would get back to us. We haven’t heard anything and haven’t yet called back to check. Dave Richmond would not accept a pair of shoes.

3. Representing both CPT and Anti-War Majority Dave Corcoran, Dave Martin, Cliff Kindy and representing AWM, Larry Casagram and Siobhan Kolar went in the office to invite Mr. Hastert to the Tom Fox Memorial held on Thursday night. Cliff discussed Tom Fox’s work with CPT. Dave Richmond said the conversation constituted a meeting although the group stood in the office only for a short time, Dave Richmond didn’t take any notes and mostly nodded throughout the meeting. We never received word whether or not they would attend the Tom Fox Memorial.

4. Today (Friday) several people attempted to enter the office with our petitions. Five armed policemen guarded the door to the office which staff locked. The group asked any staff member to come out of the office to accept the petitions but the office staff refused.

Larry Casagram of Greater Aurora P & J, Dave Corcoran, Cliff Kindy, Siobhan Kolar and Dave Martin delivered this invitation to Dave Richmond at Hastert’s office this morning. Pictures coming…

Honorable Representative Hastert:

We would like to invite you to a memorial service for Tom Fox that is being planned for this evening in Batavia. Tom Fox was a member of Christian Peacemaker Teams who was kidnapped in Iraq in November and was found dead last week in Iraq. Please see the enclosed news article for details on his death.

The service is being sponsored by Anti-War Majority, a campaign to end the war comprised of Northern Illinois peace, labor, community and faith-based groups and Christian Peacemaker Team members who are helping to plan and will attend the service.

Several members involved in both organizations are 14^th District constituents. We feel however your attendance is appropriate because of your status as a national leader. Tom Fox was an American citizen who lost his life because of our war policy in Iraq. We ask that you stand with with CPT and the peace community to mourn his loss.

Here are the details of the service:

Memorial Service for CPTer Tom Fox

And Prayers for All Detainees

7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 16, 2006

Faith Church of the Brethren

613 N. Van Buren Street , Batavia

Please contact Siobhan Kolar with questions and your response at 630-845-9418.

Thanks for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely, Dave Corcoran, CPT; Dave Martin, CPT; Siobhan Kolar, Geneva, IL

P.S. For more information on Anti-War Majority see www.anti-warmajority.org.

For more information on Christian Peacemaker Teams see www.cpt.org.

Enclosure: News story on Tom Fox’s death

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Day 6

Hi Friends of Peace,

Today we awakened to a sunny but cool day. The wind of the previous two days was absent so we were able to raise our tent once again and put up all the signs. We had two good crews for morning and evening to put all of our military and civilian shoes on display, the symbolic coffins, the sandwich board signs, tables and chairs and all of our handouts and petition clip-boards.

Camp Bring-Em Home is on the southeast corner of Wilson and River. Illinois Route 25 runs through this area and provides a continuous line of cars and trucks all day long. In addition, Wilson is the only bridge to cross the Fox River for several miles both north and south of Batavia. So, what a potential to educate lots of people about our need for peace. We put up signs saying “stop and sign our petition for peace&quto;. We hope to get 10,000 signatures to take to Representative Dennis Hastert and ask him to represent the majority of his constitutients who want this war ended now.

Toward that end we also approached all the businesses along Wilson and River within 2 blocks of our camp, informed them of our encampment and invited them to sign our petition. Most of the businesses knew of our presence because we have signs that say “honk for peace”. Throughout the day we have people honking and showing us their V for victory signs as they drive by. We also had several volunteers throughout the day holding signs for peace. We get a few negative shouts or responses but a clear 75% seem to be supportive.

The day ended with a potluck supper and an Interfaith Service at the Faith Church of the Brethren in Batavia. Sister Karen Nygiel led the Service and Tom Cordaro of Pax Christi gave the Reflection.

Our camp has been dedicated to Tom Fox, so we posted a large picture of him at the encampment site. Tommorrow, Thursday evening, we are having a special evening service in his memory at Faith Church of the Brethren on Van Buren Street at 7:30 pm. Several CPT (Christian Peacemaker Teams) members from Chicago will be present.

We continue to be amazed at how many pitch in to volunteer for heavy jobs both morning and evening to set up and take down our encampment supplies

We are grateful to all. Peace is always a community job to bring all of our sisters and brothers together in one human family despite all their God-given differences. Thanks a million!

Dave Corcoran

Camp Bring ‘em Home - Batavia

Daily log for Tuesday March 14th

Day 5

Dear Friends and Supporters,

We had another great day in Batavia yesterday. The weather was cool, but the wind was not gale force as it had been on Monday. Many stalwart volunteers turned out again, to help make the day possible. A special thanks for help with 7am setup work goes out to Larry Casagram, Siobhan Kolar, Nadia Kanhai Zamora, Jim Lawdenski and Beth Johnson. The wind was strong enough to convince us to leave the tent down for the day.

A few highlights from the day:

A group of 3 Minutemen attempted to take over our vigil around 11am, mixing among our folks, while holding inflammatory signs. The Batavia police were eventually called out. While Commander Thrun originally proposed that the Minutemen be allowed to stand among the memorial vigil of coffins along Wilson St., after a period of serious discussion and negotiation, Commander Thomas agreed that Camp Bring ‘em Home did have a right to continue our lawful assembly without disruptive forces standing among us, and the Minutemen were directed to leave our site. They then took up their cause, of attempting to discredit us, across the street on a less prominent corner.

Visits to the Camp:

Larry Casagram stayed on well into the afternoon and also helped haul cinder blocks at the end of the day, thanks Larry. David Meade and Carol Schludecker of WSFPC came out and started the fire to keep us warm. Congressional candidate Ruben Zamora and supporters joined us in the afternoon. ‘Billionaires for Bush’ joined us around 5pm, replete with a fine Cadillac & chauffeur. They were dressed in furs, pearls, tuxedos and haughty platitudes, encouraging all Americans to continue their servitude and submission to the wisdom of monied interests and greed (already so effective at directing our nation’s foreign policy). It was a grand spectacle to behold.

A new development Tuesday: the police told us we must remove the concrete cinder blocks (to off-site location) at the end of each day’s vigil. That is heavy work that requires some strong workers at the end of the day. If there are people who could come out at 7am or 6:30pm to help with takedown, we can still use your assistance. The first and last hour of the day require the most work.

All encampment members headed over to Faith Church of the Brethren at 7:30 pm, after takedown, for a wonderful talk by Simon Harak, director of the War Resisters League. About 50 people attended. It was a fascinating talk entitled ‘The Merchants of Death’ which highlighted the insidious relationships between high ranking government officials (shortly after leaving office) who take powerful jobs in defense industries, assuring close insider relationships between the defense industry corporations (which stand to make Billions in profits annually) and open door government policy makers who are often beholden to their corporate sponsors. I encourage you to learn more about Simon Harak and War Resisters League at www.warresisters.org It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day.

My thanks to all the supporters who continue to make Cam Bring ‘em Home move forward. Today we look forward to the daily vigil organized by West Suburban Faith-Based Peace Coalition, a Peace Potluck at 6:30 p.m. at Faith Church and an Interfaith Peace Service at 7:30 p.m. organized by Pax Christi.

Peace all,

Dave Martin

The "Winter of Our Discontent" campaign continues in Washington, D.C. See www.vcnv.org for information. To support them check out their campaign and see what you can do before it ends on March 20th. Camp Bring ‘Em Home, Batavia sends its prayers and best wishes as you continue through your last weeks of lobbying, fasting and continuing your courageous witness to end the war in Iraq.

Siobhan

4:00 p.m.- Througout the week the “campers” have been reflecting and meditating on the boots and shoes that are tagged with names and sometimes, faces.  One begins to memorize names and remember the shoes.  I am never prepared to see the little shoes and booties.  We have one pair displayed on our literature table of a child six months old who died in Iraq.  Just as those of us working at the camp have experienced a deepening awareness of the cost of war we’re hopeful that Batavians are also waking up to the costs of war.

About ten days ago three members of our peace group canvassed local businesses with AWM petitions and flyers for the peace vigils.  In one business a conservatively dressed woman seemed to blurt out without thinking, ”There has been enough killing.” She then began to parrot justifications for the war, complaining about Sadam Hussein’s tyranny.  But she stopped herself and repeated that “Enough people have died.”   She had already joined the Anti-War Majority.   As the honks and pedestrian traffic picks up and more reporters come out we are all aware that more people will join us in Batavia in our local peace groups…and on Wilson.  We hope to change peoples’ minds and to change Dennis Hastert’s mind.    And if he won’t listen we must work together for a representative who will.

 Peace, Siobhan Kolar

Half way through the encampment marking the third anniversary of the Iraq War, the weather played a large part of the excitement of the day. Wind of ‘biblical proportions’ forced participants to take down the tent and ‘batten down the hatches’ as papers, buttons, boxes were blown down the street. Wind gusts of up to 57 mph caused coffins, with American Flags attached, to fly like kites through the traffic on Wilson Avenue in downtown Batavia. But all was salvaged, signs were attached to trees, poles and garbage cans and petition-signing continued unabated to achieve the goal of thousands of signatures of those who want this illegal war to stop NOW. These petitions will be presented to the office of Mr. Dennis Hastert asking him to represent the majority of the people in his district (and indeed, the whole country) who are opposed to this madness.

Representatives from the Kane County Chronicle, The Beacon News of Aurora, and the Sun Times of Chicago visited for pictures and interviews.

Representatives from the DeKalb Citizens for Justice and Peace passed out leaflets and held signs for Peace, Anti-War, Bring the Troops Home Now and Honk for Peace. At the end of the day they marched from the encampment site to the office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert to pray, make written statements, and read a poem announcing their profound concern about the loss of life, the injured, and the waste of hard-earned tax money to fund a lost cause of occupation on the harmless people of another country. The group hung shoes along the iron fence again and presented a pair of shoes to an office staff member earlier in the day, explaining the significance of the shoes and asking for Mr. Hastert to end the war.

During the day, acts of kindness and compassion were performed by many people:

Pete, a passer by, stopped and gave us cinder blocks to hold down our materials.

Beth, of Fox Valley Citizens, offered to come by at 7:30 each morning to help us set up the Camp for the Day. She works 3 blocks away and offered to copy materials, assist and run errands.

Louise and her mother stopped by to sign petitions and take pictures. She lives in Batavia but goes to school in Wyoming. She has some Iraqi neighbors who are unable to return to their home in Iraq. Her Iraqi friends call people like us ‘real’ Americans.

A car stopped along the street and a lady thanked us for being here. She had a son who was killed in Iraq.

Siobhan and her son Rainer have been a godsend. She posts all of our activities on the blog, downloads pictures, runs errands throughout the day, gets us food and provides us with ideas and smiles that encourage us.

At different times throughout the day we remembered with tears and pain, CPT’er Tom Fox and his family along with all those suffering in Iraq.

It is a “Winter of Discontent” but Spring is just around the corner. We are non-violently planting the seeds that will germinate new life. We may not live to enjoy the harvest but we live with hope that others will and all our human family will benefit even though we are all beautifully created distinct and different. God bless us each and everyone.

Dave Corcoran

Hello folks,

We’ve just completed our second full day at Camp Bring ‘em Home in Batavia. I know Dave Corcoran and I want to thank all the dedicated people who have stood with us in our witness for peace. The outpouring of support has been wonderful. There are so many people who flow in and out - throughout the day, that it’s impossible to mention everyone. That being said I’d like to describe some of the activities, to help readers get a sense of what’s going on in Batavia.

Here are links to some more pictures: 2.jpg | 3.jpg | 4.jpg

We started the day, about 7am, with a stalwart crew. Jim Lawdenski, Siobhan Kolar, Kathy and Terry worked efficiently to set out the various vigil components. Siobhan and Kathy set out the civilian shoes on River Street, each tagged with the name and age of the Iraqi civilian(s) killed. Elvira Lawdenski prepared handpainted signs to accompany shoes. Dave C, Jim and I placed the coffins and sandwich board signs along Wilson Street. It was good to have worked some of the bugs out of our routine on Saturday. Many thanks to Larry Casagram of Greater Aurora who brought us a truckload of cinder blocks Saturday afternoon, to help hold down the mock coffins. We streamlined the literature table, displaying the AWM Petition, flyers and just a few flyers from each of the participating organizations.

Having some extra assistance in the morning setup allowed us to staff the table at the basecamp and focus more intentionally on personal conversation with both supporters and opponents. Our thanks to those who can come to help out. We welcome all early risers to join us from 7am ’til 8 or 9am each day to help us set things up. It is the groundswell of people working togther that has allowed this sustained campaign to move forward.

The conversations are the richest part of the vigil experience so far. Camp Bring ‘em Home is positioned at a cross-roads of two major thoroughfares in the heart of Batavia. It seems our nation is at a cross-roads as well, between more of the same, and the taking of a new road - withdrawing support for this war. As we stand out there daily, we’ve had many veterans come by to express support for our efforts to stop the war. Some have heard of us from the newspaper articles and come seeking us out. Others have simply been driving through, and stopped their cars to personally express their support. There have been words of support from libertarians, conservatives, homeless folks, high school & college students, teachers, electricians, coffee shop workers, and more. All have personal stories to tell of why they think the war is wrong. The honks of support from cars driving past - let us know the call to stop the war is stronger than it’s ever been. At times the horns blare on for minutes at a time without stopping. It’s a wonderful thing to hear ordinary citizens speaking out with such conviction against the war. It’s as though the sleeping giant is waking. The people know they’re the majority and they’re aggravated that our elected leaders are not representing them. It is time for a change.

Early afternoon, we made up some large signs saying Sign the Petion to stop the War. Quite a few more people stopped over to sign on with that.

In the afternoon & evening the good people of the Fox Valley Citizens for Peace & Justice showed up in great number to lend us support. Mary Shesgreen, Larry Casagram, Dan Ramos, Amy, Steve Brusewitz, Bettina Perillo, Rebecca and Bruce and many others, too numerous to mention swelled our ranks to an impressive number. They also brought out hot coffee, and donuts. Around 5pm it began to rain, first sprinkling, and then raining quite steadily. The good folks of Fox Valley hung right in there with us and were a great help in putting materials into the truck at day’s end.

All in all, we’re quite a stir in Batavia, …as we should be. The cost of this tragic war continues to pile up, the people want it stopped and the leaders are not taking our concerns seriously. We should be outraged as citizens, that they continue to disregard our concerns. It’s time that we, as a majority, let the leaders know they will pay a high political price if they continue to support this war. Represent the majority who oppose this war - or step aside.

Thanks again for all who are lending tireless support to this effort. It is our working in concert, together, that will bring the change.

In peace and much gratefulness,

Dave Martin