COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: War Protests: General
Thanks, dissent mingle at vets' events
Katharine Bernuth, Denver Post
November 11, 2006
As the veterans of generations past and present strolled through the streets
of downtown Denver on Saturday morning, shouts of "thank you" rang out from
the crowds of spectators lining the sidewalks.
Onlookers at the Veterans Day parade alternated between rowdy bursts of
support and quiet salutes as the men and women who served America in foreign
wars marched by in uniform.
Command Sgt. Maj. Ronald Lowe was at the parade, making a video the Army
will use to motivate troops who will be deployed overseas. "The soldiers are
inundated by a lot of things on the news, and sometimes support is the last
thing they hear about," Lowe said.
This year's Veterans Day celebration reflected the divergent opinions over
the war in Iraq. A group of veterans who have returned from Iraq held a
banner pronouncing their opposition to the war. One of those veterans,
Dustin Flatt, served in Iraq for a year. Flatt said the crowd had a mixed
reaction to the group's presence. Some booed and jeered, while others
erupted in loud cheers. But Flatt will accept being called a disgrace by a
few parade onlookers to march in opposition of a war he calls
"counterproductive. " "It's making more terrorists. It just doesn't make
sense. We're not even going after the terrorists of 9/11," Flatt said.
Across town at Fairmount Cemetery, small groups of children fanned out,
searching for graves of soldiers outside of the military portion of the
graveyard. The project was the idea of Steve Edwards, a 16-year-old Scout
from Troop 52 of Aurora. His goal was to place a flag on the graves of all
veterans, not just the ones buried in the designated area. This is the third
Veterans Day that Edwards has spent in the cemetery placing flags on
veterans' graves. He thinks some soldiers wished to be buried with their
wives and families, which is why their headstones aren't with the other
soldiers.
Edwards passed out maps, charts and bundles of flags to his fellow Scouts
helping in the effort, including members of Girl Scout Troop 550. "This is
my way of repaying them," Edwards said. Before the children set off in their
small groups, they listened to the names of the 27 veterans who were buried
in Fairmount Cemetery so far this year. The names of the men and women
echoed through the eaves of Ivy Chapel as the children sat silently with
their heads bowed.
Alan Buser, 11, made his way down one line of headstones, checking the
inscription on each one. He said he imagined what he would say to these
veterans if they were alive. "I'd say thank you for ... helping us to be
free. I'm sorry you're dead, but at least you died helping everyone you ever
met to live happier, safer and more free," Buser said.
A group of three girls knelt in the grass, brushing leaves off the
headstones. They moved slowly from grave to grave, remarking to each other
about especially long or short lives. "It's sad they died, but I'm happy we
can come and recognize them with a flag," said Emily West, 14.
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