Dear Reader,
May I make a special request of you, one I hope you will find deeply meaningful.
Regardless of your political perspective, the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan collectively have killed hundreds of thousands of men, women and children and vastly more have been severely wounded. Many thousands of children have also been orphaned.
Seldom do these people receive any coverage in the news media and so they are almost always invisible, which dehumanizes them. They are treated as statistics, but they are far more than that. They are families; they are people like you and me.
It is a mother and father burying their child, whether that child had been a U.S. or allied soldier or a small Iraqi or Afghani child killed on the way to school. It is a husband or wife who is married to someone now greatly incapacitated and in need of a lifetime of intense care.
So that these people will not be forgotten, each Wednesday from 6 pm to 7 pm on a busy street corner in the Los Angeles area, I light a candle and display a sign which reads:
“My candle is lit in memory of all who have died or been seriously wounded in the war in Iraq. It is also lit in consideration of the pain and loss felt by their families.”
My request of you is to please join me by lighting a candle each Wednesday evening for an hour, wherever you are, such as in the privacy of your home or office. If you do, you’ll find that candle’s glow is magic as it brings these people into your heart, and it helps you feel a sense of humanity. It may even touch your soul.
Thank you for your consideration.
Dick