Commentary by Others

My name is Thomas Keinert, and I can say something very few 14-year old Iowa boys can say. I marched in Washington D.C. at a peace rally.

I went alone on January 18, 2003 with my parent’s blessing. In fact, they met each other at a campus peace group in Oregon. They paid for the bus ride, but the rest was out of my pocket. I ended up spending $45 on food, plus an anti-war and other souvenirs.

There were at least three buses of college students and other people traveling from Iowa. The trip seemed long and boring, but once I saw the Washington Monument high above the horizon, I knew it was all worth it. I saw the Capital, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Navy Ship Yards, but no architect could make a piece of art with more life, more meaning than what the people stood for. Peace.

My first expression wasn’t "Oh my goodness" or "Ho-hum," but somewhere between. It took me a while to realize the sheer magnitude of the crowd. If you got completely lost in this crowd, no one could blame you.

The rally started by the Capital and went several miles to the Navy Shipyards in the ghetto. The area had slums, junkyards, abandoned businesses, but it showed (well at least to me) that these poor people’s lives would worsen with a pointless war on Iraq because of cut government services.

After all was said and shouted, we headed home. The ride back was quieter, but that is always the case. I gave my poor stiff neck a break and slept in the bus aisle that night.

Something that boggled my mind was that we drove all the way from Ames, Iowa to Washington D.C., had a rally, and all the way back in less than 46 hours.

Life back home became the norm again, but I will never, until the day my heart stops beating, never forget the time I went to D.C. for that rally.
 

Editor's note: Thomas Keinert attends the Gilbert Community Schools. He lives in the northern part of Ames with his parents, Ria and Fritz Keinert, and his younger brother, Marcus Keinert.

Click on bottom two photos for larger versions.