Aug. 22, 2004 Dear One Thousand Coffins,
Wow, I was literally moved to tears after hearing you on the radio this morning. Let me explain a little about myself so you understand what that means. I am a combat arms soldier trained to fight and willing to die for any good cause. I am unable to serve my country any longer due to non combat related injuries incurred while training for Operation Desert Fox. Please consider this a full endorsement of your activities and please use any or all of this message as you see fit. Yours Truly Cpl. Josh Wardell Medically Retired Atlanta, Georgia
Aug 25, 2004
As the wife of a '91 gulf war veteran: thank you, thank you, thank you for your honor and courage in doing this memorial.
Everyday Americans need to be reminded that we are losing real people, real brothers, sisters, neighbors and loved ones and that the terrorism problem isn't being solved by sending more soldiers into badly planned situations. If my family were in a better financial situation to assist or just close enough to drive there, we would be there to help - but please know that we support your endeavour.
Sarah Ferguson New York, NY
AUG 26 2004 email
I just wanted you to know that I fully support what you're doing. I think it's a beautiful and amazing thing. I'll say a prayer that your mission is completed fully & safely & successfully. God Bless America & god bless you for what you're doing. If I could come to NY for the occasion, I would.
Aug 28 email
Dear Mike and One Thousand Coffins,
We just lost a nephew in Iraq, Marine Lance Corporal Jonathan Collins, and want to help carry a coffin in his honor. We will be flying in from California this Friday and will bear pall together as a family with your group on August 29.
Joe Clark California
Excerpts from Lance Cpl. Collins' Illinois news story follow, provided to us by the family:
Crystal Lake Marine laid to rest By Christine Byers Daily Herald Staff Writer
For about a half-hour Tuesday, the city of Crystal Lake stood still. Morning football practice for the Crystal Lake South High School team was cut short so the boys could line the front lawn of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church for the funeral procession of alumnus Lance Cpl. Jonathan Collins.
Funeral directors estimated that about 3,000 attended the 19-year-old's wake Monday at the church. Some stood in line for more than two hours.
Collins' father, Jack, stood stoically as his wife and son, Brandon, and daughters Lauren and Devon clung to him in tears as they followed the casket into the church.
At the end of the service, Jack Collins faced the crowd, which included Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, Congressman Don Manzullo, high-ranking military officials, friends and family, to give his eulogy.
Last week, the Collins family gathered for a small ceremony at O'Hare International Airport to watch Jonathan's casket come off a military transport plane. They expected him to be shipping out of Iraq and coming home in just a few weeks.
Instead, he died as a result of small arms fire during combat patrol in Ar Ramadi in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq.
I took
part on Sunday and wanted to say thank you.
It was the most extraordinary thing I have ever taken part in. You made a statement to the world.
Much
Appreciated, William
Mullin (Pall
Bearer)
******************************************************
I wrapped
coffins and participated in the protest with you yesterday. I
want to thank each of you who came up with and executed this brilliant
idea. Certainly, One Thousand Coffins had to be the all around
strongest philosophical, political, social and visual statement made.
Wow! Thanks for providing the opportunity for me to take
part in what is now being touted as the largest single protest in our
political convention history. Of course, we all knew that as we
stood gridlocked and slowly made our way on 7th Avenue for hours. I
asked more than one smiling policemen what he thought the count was
(1:00-2:00PM); the response was, Òfar more than was anticipated!Ó I
believe it had to have been over .5 million!
I placed
two long-stemmed, red roses on ÒmyÓ coffin in the names of all the young
men and women who lost their lives in this deceitfully produced war,
their families who will live the remainder of their lives with this
painful memory and loss, in the name of my first-born son who died in
a fiery car crash on his 27th birthday and the son of a friend whose
son died in a boating accident, also near his 27th birthday, for all
the mothers of all time who have had to live out their adult lives without
their child.
And for
the record, this, at 64, was my first protest of any kind.
Sincerely, Patricia
White Watson
******************************************************
As a
New Yorker getting ready to deploy to Iraq I want to thank your organization
for this very postitive message for all soldiers and Marines.
I'm comforted knowing you idiots will make a coffin for me if my shit
gets blown away. Tom Rentz
******************************************************
Dear
Gentlemen, I wish
to thank you for the chance to be a part of something very important.
When I heard you interviewed on Air America Radio, I drove from Ann
Arbor, Mi to share in this
event.
Your
manner in handling things was astonishing. The teamwork and organization
helped everyone do their part on the day of the march. Thanks,
for the continued instructions and water during the long day.
Bless
you for having such good
hearts and creative minds. May we who really believe in America emerge
victorious this November.
Angie
Noble retired
school teacher
*****************************************************
It was
one of the most amazing experiences in my life. Thanks
to all of you for setting it up!
I met so many pall-bearers who, like me, took the coffin the
whole way. They too said it was an amazing idea.
It was
wonderful to be a part!
I'll
pass on to friends to have clippings sent in! P. Tobias
Stull, Esq.
*****************************************************
Your
brillant idea had a strong influence on many I am sure who had to watch
the protest from home, including myself. I wish I could have been
down there with you guys.
Working
from Michigan, Rachelle
******************************************************
I had
the opportunity to be a pallbearer yesterday and I want to commend
everyone in your group on the wonderful job you did with the caskets
and the organization during the march.
It was good to be informed as we slogged to and up 7th Avenue
and it made the march/protest so much more meaningful for me and four
friends.
God bless
you for all your hard work. Mary
Byrne (Pennsylvania)
******************************************************
It was
great to see a group of good hearted, hard working, thinking individuals
put together this monumental and powerful expression.
I participated
from beginning to end in the march, carrying a coffin. I had no idea what to expect having never
marched before. What I
found was a great partner for carrying a coffin with, a great group
leader in Neill, and a caring bunch of folk who tried hard against the
elements to keep us going.
Thank
you to everyone.
Best, Andrea
Stewart
Hi, Those
of us from the Peace Vigil at Ground Zero (we call ourselves Lower
Manhattan Peace Coalition) who almost all participated thought what
you did was awesome. It was a privilege to be with you. Thank
you. all bests,
Julie Galant
*****************************************************
I just
wanted to express my thanks to you for putting this together. It got
incredible press - not a single article that I read omits the presence
of the coffins, and most of them have photographs. MSNBC in particular has a really beautiful one. even the BBC aired a picture of pallbearers
and coffins.
The significance
is twofold - one, the intended one, is to finally enable
the media to show what has been censored all this time, and to remind
Americans that there is a significant cost to war.
The other
is that your (our, i guess - i was lucky enough to be one of the pallbearers)
message was the strongest, the clearest and most powerful of all those
in the march, and seems to have become a symbol of yesterday's events.
Really
incredible. Thank you so
much. -eric
*****************************************************
I was
deeply moved by your marching in the demonstration today. Will you be
marching again during the RNC or later on in the fall? I think it tells
the story more deeply than almost anything else.
Thank
you again.
Warm
regards, Alice
****************************************************** Hi from
Canada! Great
work gang, wish I could be there to help. Ever wonder what the rest
of the world thinks? Very simply put, we do not hate Americans. as a
matter of fact, the world appreciates the role of BIG BROTHER the Americans
have played but Bush thinks playing the BIG BULLY will get him to reach
his objectives of The New World Order faster. Also,
it scares me when I read his latest quote, "I am NOT the historian,
I MAKE history". An ego
that should be put on alert. PEACE! Terry
Nazar St. Catharines,
ON. Canada
*****************************************************
As one
of your pallbearers, I commend your excellent planning and execution.
God knows it was a difficult day and the event was handled spectacularly.
Although I did notice Fox News merely referred to a bunch of coffins
without investigation, attribution or explanation. If you haven't seen "Outfoxed" go see it and share
my anger at them.
Once
again, Thanks, Ken Gray
******************************************************
Marvelously
executed; outstanding work. You had all the pall bearers you needed
when I arrived this morning. Enjoyed marching with you.
T
I want
to thank you for the opportunity to be a pall bearer on Sunday.
I've likely been to a few hundred demonstrations since the late
1950s, but I think those seven hours in that hellish heat were
the most meaningful. It felt like a huge and profound responsibility.
I am very proud to have participated.
I would also like to compliment you on the concept, organization, logistics,
and ultimate success of the venture. Your team was quite wonderful.
They even noticed my "advanced" age and kept an eye on me,
especially keeping me hydrated. It wasn't really necessary but
I am touched and grateful. I just sent a donation, I think ( I'm never
sure with Paypal), albeit small, but it was all I could afford. Gratefully,
Tom Christensen
**************************************************** Dear
Friends, That
was a brilliant idea and a heroic effort. I just want to let you know
that I appreciate what you have done and that I know that there are
many, many others who feel the same way. I wish I could have been there
for the demonstrations and marches. We will be doing all we can here
and I am totally confident that there are not enough brainless Americans
to get Bush even close to winning this election. Thank you again.
Yours
Truly, Robert
B. Elliott, Las Vegas, Nevada
******************************************************
Dear
Friends,
My wife
and I want to tell you how much we appreciated the opportunity to carry
a coffin at Sunday's demonstration. It was
very moving for us and a most appropriate way to voice our oppostion
to George Bush and his evil behavior. Thanks
again.
Gerry
and Mary Gannon
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Just wanted to thank you all for all the work to make the 1000 coffins happen. My family and I carried 2 of the coffins and it was inspiring for all of us to participate in such a profound community effort.
Thank
you so much for giving us this opportunity to be a part of it.
Stephen
Wilder
I want
to thank you for organizing the 1000 coffins event. It made my presence
at the protest feel more meaningful and I know from the comments we
received it made an impact on many. I was truly astounded at the number
of people who seemed shocked at the number of lives that have been lost
in Iraq. Please
let me know if you find any video of the event on the web.
Thanks
again,
Jane
Moskowitz ***************************************************** Hey guys-
I had
the honor of participating in the creative display you created. Thank
you so much for your vision, hard work, and leadership. Lucky for me
I brought my parasol and was able to participate through the entire
event. The people I met, including some of you, really made me hopeful
for the future. You rock!
Shannon
Tubman Ringoes,
NJ *****************************************************
To those
amazing people that conceived of the 1,000 coffins idea, mobilized the
people, gathered the materials, made the flags, and made it ALL happen
in a beautiful, dignified way yesterday: THANK YOU, THANK YOU,
THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!
My boyfriend
Kevin and I particpated proudly in the 1,000 coffins part of the
march from beginning to end, and we had the honor and priviledge
to meet you, and the other marchers, end to up right at the
front of the group (astoundingly!) for the latter half.
To the
folks who are part of the group that organized this to whom I spoke
with directly (I'm sorry I'm forgetting names): One who looked
like a Blues Brother, another who reminded me of Ghandi, and walked
backwards in front of us all the way down 5th & down Broadway, and
another one, who navigated us around the giant U.S. flag on Broadway
and other obstacles of peace and justice, and still another, whom I
met initially while we were setting up, and again at the end (you were
SO enthusiastic!), and to our wonderful group captain, with the soldier
photo pinned to her chest (I could not get the chance to ask her
if he was fallen or not) I salute you all; I salute all of
you pall-bearers from all walks of life, I salute MOSTLY those lost
in the line of duty for unjustified reasons.
A VERY
PROUD DAY IN BOTH OUR LIVES!!! We can only say THANK YOU,
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!! x1,000!
Peace,
Donna
& Kevin |