A Veteran's View of War
I have no problem walking between those who are with war, and those who are against war. This is our right, and I can only encourage all our people to use this right that I sworn to uphold the Constitution and its Bill of Rights.
    On Saturday morning, January 19,1991, ABC tv had a war update, and then they ran a segment for children to help them understand this war. One of the children they interviewed was an 8 year old girl who said, "If President Bush and President Hussein were women, we would not be in this war." If there is a battle cry in war, this should be it! 
   I must tell you what Hugh Downs said on ABC radio on a Sunday morning in October 1988:: One of the reasons that our constitution was written behind locked doors and closed windows may have been that Ben Franklin was basing much of much of it on the government of our Iroquois Indians, where the women elected the leaders and had impeachment powers over them." This government was able to bring 6 warring tribes together in peace for hundreds of years before white people came here.
    A symbol is a powerful means of giving to many people something to believe in. I must remind you to look at our symbol on the back of our first veterans bill-the dollar. Note the 13 arrows that represent the Commander in Chief. Not the olive branch that represents peaceful election by the people, nor the shield of the 13 states, but the 13 stars for those who have paid the price. These 13 stars were on the buttons of our GI's field jacket and shelter half in WWII. If this was the last symbol he would see can we forget him or them now?
    In times of war we must think of peace. The symbol of peace in Western religions ( all 3: Christianity, Judaism and Islam) is the Cedar of Lebanon. An Arab American said, " My fear is that this war could make the whole area as hopeless as Lebanon." Since our Western symbol is under or over such madness, we must look to other understandings of such symbols. Yes we truly are where two worlds collide. PUS had a program titled The Power of Myth with Bill Moyer and an expert on the subject, Dr. Joseph Campbell. Fern it I came away with the simple understanding that Western religions believe that Earth is secondary and Eastern religions believe Earth is primary. Our Indian religions are one with nature & easier to understand from Eastern perspective. Our culture did not comprehend the recording of Indian cultures through wampum, rock art, regalia, petroglyphs, etc., nor did we understand Indian religion which carries the essence of Eastern religions and culture. We disenfranchised women- Indians did not. This is why I see it was so easy for Iroquois League to give power of government to those who cared for the future, the children, and the land. Indian women were also th farmers.
    I called a chief of the Mohawk Tribe - Jake Swamp- to ask him for the name of the first women to hold the just power. He told me her name was Jigonsase ( New Face), and he also told me the Story of the Tree of Peace. A thousand years ago, Peacemaker  came to tribes of the region and chose her to help establish their first unifying government. Jigonsase'spurpose in bringing people together in a good way should be our purpose as well.

This is a picture of Arlington West in Santa Monica California. I stand out there and hand out 'Our Peace Tree" every Sunday. When you see these crosses and understand that everyone of them is someone's son or daughter it hits home how desperately we need peace.

   
   Each red cross represents 10 soldiers who died, each white one represents 1 soldier who died, and each blue cross represents 1 soldier who died this week. 
          For more imformation go to
     www.arlingtonwestsantamonica.org