Church mourns the fallen

• By JEREMY HARPER
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Mar 17, 2008 - Page: 4A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Candles flickered in the breeze Sunday as a group of area residents gathered at dusk on the grounds of Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge to remember troops and civilians who have been killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom and to call for an end to the conflict.

Baton Rouge resident and Vietnam veteran Patrick Dooley began reading the 77 names of Louisiana residents killed in the war.
The list included 76 soldiers and one civilian.

Dooley, who opposes the war, said it was a meaningful experience to read the names of fallen members of the U.S. military who are among the 3,988 who have died in the war.

“It’s an honor for me,” Dooley said. “It’s an honor for me to be associated with soldiers. In 1968, when I served in Vietnam, 16,000 Americans were killed in that year alone. One is too many. It’s a personal thing.”

About 80 people turned out for the fifth annual Candlelight Memorial for the Fallen in Iraq, held at the church on Goodwood Boulevard.

With the number of U.S. casualties reaching near 4,000, organizers of the event abandoned their tradition of lighting one candle for each casualty.

“Unfortunately and tragically there are just so many now,” said Susan Gaharan with the Bienville House Center for Peace and Justice, which co-sponsored the event with the church.

Those who participated in the interfaith ceremony shielded the candles from the breeze with their hands as they walked through a symbolic labyrinth on the grounds of the church.

Harpist Sally Wood provided somber background music for the meditative walk.

“Our walk is for peace, our walk is for remembrance, our walk is for healing,” said Steve Crump, senior minister.

“The most important thing is for us to come with a contrite heart and recognize all lives lost in this war,” Crump said later. “We’re trying to stay awake and not go to sleep because there are others risking their lives, putting their lives in harm’s way.”

Crump said the memorial, which will continue annually until the end off the war, is one of several local efforts to bring attention to the ongoing conflict. He said the group Code Pink, Women for Peace, will hold another peace memorial on the steps of the State Capitol this week.

Before the walk began, John Wilkinson of Denham Springs played his guitar and harmonica blues lament on politics as his wife and daughter provided backup vocals.