Between 75 and more than 150 people, according to different estimates, gathered in Mindowaskin Park in Westfield, New Jersey, to honor soldiers killed in Iraq.   The candlelight vigil took place on March 19, the four-year anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, at 7:30 p.m. and was hosted by Warren Rorden and Nancy Boss.   It was one of many antiwar vigils held throughout the country that day.   Mr. Rorden and Ms. Boss read transcripts from the Iraq War Veterans Memorial.     MoveOn.org e-mailed out information about the Westfield and other vigils, but Mr. Rorden and Ms. Boss acted independently of the grass-roots liberal organization.   The soldiers' stories came from a text that was used at many of the different vigils; copies were available to the crowd.   There was silent reflection between the reading of each account.

      "This is Ben and Judy Tralley, talking about their son and brother, Army Specialist Chris Talley," Ms. Boss read.  "Chris was 31 years old."

      Ms. Boss continued, "`Our son and brother, Army Specialist Chris Talley, died at age 31 from a faulty medication prescribed by the VA [Veterans' Administration hospital] to treat his war injury.  Chris's service buddies, whom he longed to rejoin, called him Dirt [, which was] short for older Dirt, as he entered basic [training] at 28.  He always preached the importance of family.  His older brother Ken was his favorite.  One of Chris's many tattoos was a character from a children's story that Ken read him when he was a boy.  He left his cat with us.  Saying we must play with her daily.  He was good people.

      "`After [his] injury in Iraq, Chris told his CO [commanding officer] not to recommend him for a Purple Heart because 'I was only doing my duty,' he said.  Another incident demonstrating his character happened while [he was] serving.   An eight-year-old girl popped out of a Baghdad shop and squirted Chris and his buddies with a water pistol.  He kept his nervous partner from lashing out but was unable to stop him from dousing her with his canteen.  Later he found the girl's family and gave her a few dollars.  The following week, she gave Chris an ice cream cone.  By welcoming a stranger among us [them], this Muslim girl and Christian soldier acted as Jesus did.

      "`No matter how many times he was knocked down,'" Ms. Boss read, "`Chris always got back up.  His was truly a hero's journey.  We wonder today what field he chases dragonflies and plays...our little boy who ran away.'"

         Ms. Boss seemed to be choking back her tears as she finished reading.
   
      Mr. Rorden concluded the vigil by reading Tim Slater's account of his superior officer, Sergeant Edward Smith of Chicago, who died at age 38.

      "`He [Smith] was, I'll be honest, he wasn't a friend of mine,'" Mr. Rorden read.  "He was a superior in my battalion," the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine, in 2003.  Mr. Slater was in the infantry.  "`And he was killed in Iraq -- wounded April 4, and he died the next day in a hospital.

      "`So the reason -- he taught me a lot, and I learned a lot from him.  He's a true professional.  In my battalion, we actually had another first sergeant who got shot in the elbow, and he was wounded, and we also had a gunnery sergeant who got shot in the face.   And just to have three guys who had been in the Marine Corps twenty years get shot like that, just taken so quickly and suddenly, especially after they taught us so much and sacrificed so much to keep us safe.  It  just really was kind of [a] psychological blow to my entire unit as we moved into Baghdad.  It just kind of speaks to the hideous nature of war and the entire deal.

      "`Well, it just doesn't really matter how good you are or how long you been there or anything like that.  People [are] just going to get hit, and that's just the reality of warfare.  It's just too bad that it's usually the good ones, especially the ones risking so much keeping other people safe.  Usually the first ones to get hit.  So my heart goes out to anyone who either served overseas or has family that served overseas.  It's a lot of sacrifices that are being made.'"

      A man who had gathered with the crowd asked Mr. Rorden for permission to speak about the Iraqi people, but Mr. Rorden replied, "No, not really.  We're just honoring the dead soldiers tonight.  You'll have plenty of opportunities" to talk about the Iraqi people.

      More than 3,200 US soldiers and as many as 655,000 Iraqis have been killed since the war began on March 19, 2003.   US President George W. Bush announced that "major combat operations" had ended on May 1, 2003.  The US House of Representatives voted 218-212 to pass a bill imposing a March 2008 deadline for the beginning of the withdrawal or "re-deployment" of troops from Iraq, with a deadline for all soldiers to be re-deployed by August 31, 2008, if certain conditions are not met.  President Bush has vowed to veto this bill if the Senate also pases it.  A similar measure attempting to prod the White House into wrapping up the war was defeated by the Senate, which has a 51-49 Democratic majority only because two independents, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, who is a former Democrat, are aligned with the Democratic caucus.  Senator Lieberman is a supporter of the war.

      

 

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