A Few Good Mothers

The rather small turnout of war protesters at Saturday's march down Manhattan's Broadway to Wall St. could be attributed to the blustery weather, the precedence the flagging economy demands of our attention; or perhaps that the stated intentions of our new President, to resolve the military misadventures of the previous administration, have led many to regard the wars as essentially over.

One small segment of our community knows all too well that the end is not at hand: families whose sons and daughters are, or have been, over there. Several local military mothers and fathers joined up with some of their counterparts from New York, Connecticut, and even Baltimore, and marched among the hodgepodge collection of students, health care unions, aging would-be anarchists, veterans groups from several wars, and various street performance troupes.

Four mothers carried a banner near the front of the procession, bucking a stiff head wind, making their way along the lane isolated from Broadway traffic by police barricades, toward the financial district and Battery Park. One National Guard mom, marching in only her second protest, worries every day about her son, who is due back from Iraq in May. She requested her name not be used, for fear that her son could suffer the effects of any publicity. Pam and Michelle, whose son and daughter returned from the war several years ago, and are since discharged from active duty, easily empathize with her dread at hearing each report of violence from Iraq. They, and the fourth mother, Anna, have been marching to protest the Iraq war, in New York, Washington, and South Orange/Maplewood, since before it began.

Anna's son arrived back in the US just a few days ago. He will be on leave next week, and will get to hold his four month old son for the first time. This having been his third tour in Iraq, Anna seems a bit weary of a routine that, in many ways, defines her life; yet she carries on, rarely missing a rally or vigil.

There had been discussion, during the wait to step off, about the point of all this marching. The advertised purpose for this march through Wall Street, to link the enormous costs of waging war to the economic turmoil now engulfing the country, seems unlikely to be advanced. The demonstrators may have been outnumbered by the support contingent - the police escorts, event marshals, and photographers. The New York media is unlikely to take notice, and onlookers will more likely be entertained by the giant puppets than inspired to ponder the economic connections intended by the organizers. All of the participants already oppose the wars, although for a broad range of reasons, so there will be no new converts to the cause.

The chief benefit for many military families lies essentially in being there for each other. A validation of emotion and experience at odds with that of the typical Americans they encounter in their daily lives. Their public expression of frustration at the duration of the wars, and support of each other, recharges them for the ride home on the Midtown Direct - and a return to their other reality.