A day after President Bush told America’s military to be ready for war, one group gathered to honor the decommissioning of a Vietnam veterans memorial and another gathered to celebrate Peace Day.
The thoughts of those attending both events in Chicago on Friday were mostly focused on the battle ahead, as the nation begins a new fight in response to last week’s terror attacks.
World War II veteran Frank Dorner, 80, who came out to support the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fountain that will be relocated for the Wacker Drive reconstruction project, said he hopes the patriotism that has swelled since the attacks continues to grow. “I see a lot of flag-waving that I’ve never seen before,” he said.
The plaque on the memorial will be removed, cataloged and restored. It will be displayed at the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum until the memorial’s new site, about 40 feet north from its present location on Wabash Avenue and Wacker Drive, is built by the end of 2002.
Chicago singer Rick Murray brought area workers out of their offices with the “Star-Spangled Banner.”
“We heard the music and saw the Marines and thought they needed some company,” said Suzi Mitchell, who came from across the street.
Murray said his performance was more emotional because of the recent tragedies.
“It really struck home,” Murray said of the terrorist acts. “I’ve sung it with feeling before, but this got to the bottom of my heart.”
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At Daley Plaza, about 100 people gathered for the annual peace event planned long before Sept. 11. Organizers said they were not against an appropriate military response to the attacks, but they advocated finding balance between retaliation and respect for life.
“We see it as important to raise this question about the capacity of people to overcome their differences and get along without violence,” said Clarence Wood of the Chicago Commission on Human Rights.
Organizers believe the individual, daily practice of increased tolerance and respect may help create a world where the U.S. never has to respond to such an attack again.