http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071117/NEWS01/711170367/1056/COL02
November 17, 2007
BY QUAN TRUONG | QTRUONG@ENQUIRER.COM
CLIFTON - After her experiences protesting the Vietnam War, what
Carol Rainey did Friday night was cake, she said.
The 65-year-old Mount Washington resident was one of about 25 people
at a busy Clifton intersection to join a National Iraq Moratorium campaign.
Six locations in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky were sites
for the country-wide movement.
At each site - Clifton, East Price Hill, Spring Grove Village,
Northside, Mount Healthy and Newport - participants lit candles as a
symbol for peace.
Rainey held her candle as she stood at Clifton and Ludlow avenues,
occasionally shielding it with her hand to keep the 30-degree wind
from blowing out the flame.
Sure, it was cold. But at least, she said, there was support.
Cars frequently honked at those waving the signs. Occasionally,
drivers inside the warm cars waved at the protestors whose
persistence outweighed the autumn chill.
None of this was new to Rainey. She's been doing it since the 1960s,
beginning with the Vietnam War.
"Today, there's a lot more support," Rainey said. "Back then, I guess
it was not as accepted to protest. It was scary for all of us to get
out there for the first time, but now I feel weird if I don't."
Rainey wasn't the only veteran of war protesting.
Judy Cirillo, who is a volunteer with Cincinnati's Intercommunity
Justice and Peace Center, said she has been participating for several years.
"Sure, it's a constant battle," Cirillo said. "But I feel like it's
better than doing nothing. Our legislators have us fighting over the
crumbs for health care and education while most of our money is going
to the war."
It was not only a war, but a "stupid" one, said David Loy, 60, of
Clifton. "Each one of us have to do what we can. This is urgent."
Rainey said she wasn't sure if the protests were doing much good this
time around, but all she could do was hope.
"Back in the '60s, we got the sense that the government wasn't
listening, but we kept at it," she said. "That's what we hope will
happen here."
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