John Fortier Peace Vigil, 12/10/10

Dear Reader, John Fortier is a 77 year old Korean War veteran who has conducted a weekly peace vigil in Redondo Beach (Los Angeles area) since just before President Bush launched the Iraq War in March, 2003.

Hey Dick ~

I've started a note to you a couple of times, but . . .

Actually, Friday's vigil had a couple of exceptional occurrences in it.

Routine biz first. It was quite cold, even when I got there at 4 pm ; by 5 it was really uncomfortable.

I have a nice pair of gloves, but they were on the seat of my car while I was on my seat on the corner.

The first out-of-the-ordinary event was when a group of six high school aged girls walked north on PCH and stopped in front of me at Nob Hill, waiting for the signal so they could cross. One of them turned back to me, walked over and held out one of the 'Peace buttons' I make out of poker chips with permanent marker Peace signs drawn on them. She gave me a big smile and said, "See, I still have it." It was a white chip with a blue marker sign on it. I said that I was glad she still had it (I gave it to her several weeks ago) and hoped that lots of people had seen it. She said that lots of people had, and that she explained the sign and how it came into being in England back in the 60's, and how it originally encouraged nuclear disarmament but now stood for Peace in general. What a great young advocate she is. It makes a person hopeful.

The other event concerns a lady from Texas. I first noticed her dog and her while they waited for the signal to allow them to cross the street to my corner. I mention the dog first because it was an exceptionally handsome, reddish-haired dog that sat quietly waiting to cross. As they neared me and my signs, (War Is Not The Answer and my homemade peace symbol) the lady, Cindy by name, said that she liked my signs very much and enjoyed seeing them out on display for everyone to see. Naturally this started a conversation. It turns out that she runs a program in Texas called Children of A Peaceful World that she started several years ago. I looked it up on the net when I got home and it looks great. Music and self esteem are the focus and they have a lot of success. She was happy to accept several Peace pins and some Peace erasers that I occasionally find at the 99cent store ( 12 for 99 cents !) for the youngsters back in Texas. I was glad I had those items on me in some number, but I wish I had had more.

A fellow I knew, from when he and I worked together with Native Americans in Long Beach, sat on my vigil with me last Friday and said he would return for this one, but he didn't make it. The recycling fellow showed up to visit the last ten minutes and pick up the bottles I usually bring to the corner for him. Sometimes during the summer he passed a half hour with me, but now that I'm on my winter schedule of 4 to 5:30, our visiting is limited.

That's about it for now. The 17th will probably be my last vigil until until the 31st, since the one between them is Christmas Eve, the 24th. We'll see.

WAR IS NOT
THE ANSWER