Teens demonstrate for peace
Published June 8, 2006
The day-to-day routine of downtown business was briefly interrupted Tuesday as a group of approximately 50 teenagers demonstrated against the war in Iraq.
Carrying signs with messages such as, "Support our troops-Bring them home," and "Kisses not war," the youth chanted against the policies of the Bush administration.
"We're mostly from Rock Bridge and Hickman," rally coordinator Saxon Brown, 16, said. "But there are some kids from West Junior High, too."
Brown coordinated the event for Youth March for Peace, a group whose organizers hope will become an ongoing outlet for young people to actively demonstrate and participate in the political debate.
The group is for people ages 25-and-under, but Brown said the average age is around 17 years old. Marchers headed north on Ninth Street, turned west on Broadway and finished by heading south on Eighth Street.
Despite veering a bit off course, the group arrived at its planned destination, Peace Park, for a rally.
At the rally, two speakers from Military Families Speak Out of Missouri, gave presentations to those attending.
Tina Richards read a poem by her son, Cloy, 22, who served in Fallujah, located in the Anbar province of Iraq, describing the effect of the war on his relationships with family and friends.
Stacy Hafley, president of the Missouri chapter of Military Families Speaking Out, spoke of how her husband's time in Iraq had affected her family, and the effects the war had on some soldiers she knew.
She said blame for the current situation in the war-torn Middle Eastern nation should not be placed on soldiers.
"Soldiers don't choose where we go to war," she said. "Those who vote — elected officials — do. As you approach voting age, these are things you have to think about. Voting can kill a person."