T.U. reprints AP story. Post Star ignores soldiers, as usual

While only a handful of us ventured to Syracuse for the rally, we met up with about 3,000 of our brothers and sisters in the peace movement to support about 25 active duty soldiers, members of the Fort Drum chapter of Iraq Veterans Against War (IVAW). We (and they) were also joined by about 100 members of Veterans For Peace. Green veterans were there in full force as well, represented by Bob Gumbs, a Gulf War vet and Green congressional candidate. The Times Union (at least) reprinted the lazy, inadequate AP fluff piece on the rally which I have copied below. The Glens Falls Post Star totally ignored our veterans as they are pro-WAR and anti-SOLDIER.

Peace,

Matt Funiciello

Peace rally organizers say thousands turned up at event

Associated Press
Last updated: 9:32 p.m., Saturday, September 29, 2007

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- About 2,500 antiwar protesters marched through Syracuse on Saturday, calling for an end to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The rally began at 1 p.m. at the Everson Museum of Art. It ended more than three hours later after a march of 1.6 miles to Walnut Park and another rally. Blocks of SU students joined the chanting, singing, banner-carrying marchers as they came near the campus.

The rally was organized by the Syracuse Peace Council, Service Employees International Union 1199 and Syracuse University Student Peace Action Network. Three buses full of members of the SEIU 119 came from New York City and Boston.

John Burdick of the Syracuse Peace Council, an organizer, said groups came from New York and New England, with an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 in attendance. "That number would make it one of the largest mobilizations since the Vietnam War," he said.

Angela Morano, 57, of Saugerties, said "this is nice, but it's not enough. It's not enough of us on the street."

Morano, who protested during the Vietnam War, said "we are much too peaceful protesters now."

David Lester, 26, of Syracuse, was part of the protest. The Nottingham High School graduate served in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division.

"We want to let the people still serving and the people at Fort Drum who don't understand this war to know they are represented," Lester said. "They are not alone."

Ben Winters, 23, of Albany, heard about the protest on the Internet and came.

"I have come to support the cause," Winters said. "I used to go here (to SU). This is much bigger than rallies two or three years ago."

Burdick said the rally marks a big change in logistics.

"It used to be that we'd travel to the bigger cities, New York and Washington, D.C., for these rallies," Burdick said. "It's time for us not to wait for the big cities. Now, they're sending buses up to us."

Betty Wood, 65, of Blodgett Mills, brought five quilt banners with her to the parade. Each had the 170 faces of U.S. soldiers from New York state who have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since fighting began. Wood has gotten up to April. She's behind by half a banner.

She chokes up when she's asked why she did it.

"The photos of the flag-draped coffins coming back from over there became classified," said Wood, fighting back tears. "These soldiers became numbers. They deserved to have faces."

An evening panel discussion at the university's Hendricks Chapel was to include Scott Ritter, a former U.S. Marine and United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991 to 1998; Dr. Dahlia Wasfi, who spent her childhood in Iraq; and Jimmy Massey, a former Marine and founding member of Iraq Veterans Against the War.