Tuesday, Aug. 28 was a clear, warm summer's night as several community members and students gathered around Ball State University's "Frog Baby" with a common cause.
These people, young and old, had one common goal in mind: a candlelight vigil to spread a particular message about bringing peace to America and ending the war in Iraq.
Event coordinator Jennifer Rice-Snow said the vigil was one of many protests organized Tuesday night by the organization MoveOn.org, a Democrats in Action group.
There were at least 600 similar vigils planned around the country to all take place at the same time, Rice-Snow said. The vigil's timing was crucial, she said.
"Congress is preparing to go back into session in September," she said. "We hope that, through these candlelight vigils, they will hear their constituents and put an end to this unjust war. We are losing billions of dollars; Indiana's District 6, which Muncie and surrounding areas are a part of, lost $715 million alone. Think of what that money could do for this area and the citizens who live here. In short, we want our troops out soon, and we want them home safe."
The vigil began at 8 p.m. with a brief speech explaining the purpose of the event.
Shortly after, attendees broke into small groups, in which they read aloud lists of American casualties in the war during 2007, including the date the soldiers died and their hometown.
Afterwards, everyone in attendance gathered into one large group again. A moment of silence was observed to honor those who died, were injured or were still serving.
The program concluded with a thank you and a call to action, asking all of those in attendance to petition their senators and representatives to end the war in Iraq.
Ball State's student organization Peaceworkers also co-sponsored the vigil.
Peaceworkers member Mona Luxion said two huge goals were accomplished through the vigil Tuesday night.
"I think we accomplished a lot just by being here and being heard," Luxion said. "Whether or not Congress chooses to listen is another issue, but we definitely made a statement tonight. A second, and possibly unintentional goal, that was met tonight was giving people a common forum in which to communicate. We brought people from different backgrounds together to unite with one common goal in mind. It was a nice thing to meet other kindred spirits."
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