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BY GLORIA LaBOUNTY SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
Sunday, March 16, 2008 11:30 PM EDT




A support our troops rally was held Tuesday morning at Gilbert-Perry Square in Attleboro. People held signs and flags while they waved to motorists. From left - Bill and Ellen Goodchild, and David Eaton, all of Attleboro, wave. (Staff photo by Mike George)


There's no doubting where these stalwarts stand.

For almost five years, they have been at Gilbert-Perry Square in Attleboro for an hour every Tuesday, holding signs in support of the troops.

Participants say this is not a statement on the war in Iraq, but a way of reminding the men and women who are serving there that they have backing back home.

Joanne Spera, who first organized the weekly rally in April 2003 and continues to be its spark, said her views on the war are a personal opinion that she prefers not to express publicly.

But she is outspoken in why she is there - to support the men and women in the military who have volunteered to serve.

"I am grateful that people want to do this," she said. "How can I do any less than support that?"


As the fifth anniversary of the war approaches, the rally participants are preparing for an anniversary of their own. April 1 will mark five years that they have been standing every Tuesday at the square, and on Sunday, April 6, they will host a celebration there at 2 p.m.

"We hope a lot of families and troops from the area will come so we can honor them," Spera said.

The most prominent among them will be Bill and Ellen Goodchild of Attleboro, who lost their daughter Lynn on Sept. 11, 2001, when the plane that was supposed to take her to Hawaii by way of Los Angeles crashed instead into the World Trade Center in New York City.

They have been part of the Tuesday morning rally since it began, and their sign that says "God Bless Our Troops" makes no statement about the war, but instead is aimed at supporting the men and women fighting it.

"That's very important to us," Ellen Goodchild said.



John Galvin of Attleboro holds a flag during the rally. (Staff photo by Mike George)


As support for the troops remains steadfast, national polls repeatedly show mounting opposition to the war, and a presiding view that the troops should be brought home. That opposition includes those who opposed the invasion from the start, but whose voices at the time were diminished and even deemed unpatriotic.

There's sadness, not satisfaction, in now being part of the majority view.

Sister Carole Rossi of Crystal Spring Center for Earth Literacy in Plainville, who helped organize weekly peace vigils in Attleboro after the war began, said everyone she speaks with shares the same frustration and anger over the five-year length of this war, and asks the same question: "Why are we doing this?"

"We need to find a way not to do this, to find other ways" of resolving problems, she said. "This way doesn't work."

The peace vigil was held weekly for more than two years, but participants now express their views in other ways, she said, like joining demonstrations elsewhere, and sending messages to members of Congress.

"We continue to write letters, and to pray, hope, demonstrate," Rossi said. "It just takes the faithful crying out - over and over again."

She had great hopes that Democrats would bring about change, but that has not occurred. Now she is banking on the next president to see things differently and to begin withdrawing troops, which she believes is the only way out.

"There's a deep sadness that we continue with this view, and a good source of hope that things will be better soon," Rossi said. "I really hope so."
Martha Yager of Seekonk, program coordinator for the Southeast New England office of the American Friends Service Committee which opposes the war, said she is convinced that the sooner the U.S. gets out of Iraq, the better.

"Our pulling out will allow healing," Yager said. "That will not happen while we are there."

Yager said her organization has been against the war from the beginning, and always believed that the reasons being given for the invasion were not true.

"That has been proven correct, and a large military presence will not make things better," she said. "We were pretty concerned that it would be awful, and it has been awful."

Although the war has taken a back seat to the economy in the presidential campaign, Yager said people are not making the connection between the two, and are not realizing that the war is costing trillions and throwing the country into serious debt.

She is hopeful that the next president will be a Democrat, but if it's Sen. John McCain, he will be committed to staying in Iraq.

"I find that pretty worrisome," Yager said.

Meanwhile, the Friends organization will be involved in anti-war marches in Providence and Pawtucket on March 19.

"The message is pretty simple - pull the troops out," Yager said.

Mary-Ann Greanier of Plainville, an activist with several peace and human rights organizations, said getting the troops out quickly is the only way out of Iraq.

"I don't see how staying will do anything but kill more soldiers," Greanier said.

Looking back on the past five years, Greanier said she is "profoundly horrified" at what has occurred, and believes President Bush has done irreparable harm to this country and to Iraq.

"I don't know why more people are not outwardly horrified," she said. "I am still amazed that people I know are still supporting Bush."

She is looking with hope to the election of a Democrat, but even then she believes it will be a struggle to get back what has been lost.

What she is most disillusioned about, she said, is the damage from the war, both in the loss of almost 4,000 Americans, and in the way the troops returning home are not getting the benefits and help they need.

"I think it's criminal," Greanier said. "We are committing criminal acts against our soldiers by not providing for them after throwing them into such a horrible place."

Working with organizations like United for Justice with Peace and United for Peace and Justice, Greanier will be participating in events and demonstrations in New York City and Washington D.C., and continually works on anti-war issues.

Greanier said she does not know what else to do.

"This is all being done in my name, and I don't consent," she said of the war.

All these anti-war views do not deter Spera and others who stand in downtown Attleboro in support of the troops every Tuesday.

"I am tired of armchair experts," Spera said. "It is nothing more than their opinion. Just because a majority says this, it does not mean it's right."


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From home, more support for our troops


BY RICK FOSTER SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
Sunday, March 16, 2008 11:30 PM EDT



ATTLEBORO - When Marion Johnson's son, Keith, went to war in Iraq, she had the normal concerns about a son in the military entering a dangerous area.

But what she was most unprepared for was the outpouring of community support from friends, neighbors, veterans organizations and school children.

"It's been phenomenal how many people took it upon themselves to send over things like coffee and other things the soldiers needed," said Johnson, whose son recently returned to Iraq following a brief leave.

A campaign to obtain additional phone cards for troops to use to call home was an outstanding success, Johnson said, and local school children volunteered to write letters and cards to Keith's unit.

Grateful for response

Johnson is grateful, and says the warm response by Americans to those serving abroad is a marked contrast to the way veterans were treated during the Vietnam War - a highly controversial conflict that bitterly divided folks on the home front.


"I think a lot of people remember what happened to the Vietnam vets and didn't want that to happen again," said Johnson, who was supported in the phone card drive by her employer, Holman Insurance.

Johnson's son remains stationed overseas with the 181st Infantry.

Throughout the Attleboro area - and across the nation - large numbers of citizens have put aside divisions over the war's politics to show support for U.S. servicemen and women. Numerous area businesses, non-profit agencies and school groups have sent hundreds of boxes of treats and personal items to soldiers serving in the War on Terror.

And children at several area schools have bombarded local soldiers and their pals with holiday cards, drawings and messages of appreciation.

Paul Spera, a Vietnam veteran and former national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said the level of support for troops and returning veterans is at a much higher level than it was in his day - both in the community and in Washington. Increase in funding

A dramatic increase in funding for the Veterans Administration and a proposal to increase veterans educational benefits to a level much closer to that of the G.I. Bill following World War II also promise a sea change in the way vets are treated.

"The attitude has completely changed," said Spera, who has long advocated for greater support for those who have served.

Despite some mistakes in prosecuting the war, Spera says he feels the surge in troops is working and that U.S. involvement is beginning to pay off in an atmosphere of national reconciliation in Iraq, where Iraqi citizens will be able to look to a future free from oppression.


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