In November 2006, 22,000 “wayfarers” made a way by walking in procession at what we hope will be the last demonstration at the School of the Americas (WHINSEC) in Fort Benning, Georgia. Eleven Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia from both east and west were among them. Also participating, and led by Sister Kathy Dougherty, were fourteen students from Neumann College.
What is the School of the Americas? “Founded in Panama in 1946 and forced by the Panamanian people to move to Fort Benning in 1984, the SOA has trained more than 60,000 Latin American soldiers in military and law-enforcement tactics. During these years and up to the present, SOA alumni have been linked to many of Latin America’s most heinous human rights atrocities. These include the murder of Oscar Romero, the four American Church Women, the Jesuits and their housekeepers, and hundreds of thousands of poor men, women, and children. It is in their names that those who attend “make a way by walking.”
Reflections On The Day By The Sisters Who Participated
"Caminante, no hay camino; se hace camino al andar."
"Wayfarer, there is no way; you make a way by walking."
- Antonio Machado
Indeed, the road is well worn and this year, more than others; the goal of the trek, closure of the SOA, is in sight. Legislation in the House of Representatives to cut funding of the SOA last year failed by only ten votes. As a result of the recent elections, thirty House members whovoted against the legislation have lost their congressional seats. So…hope is alive and well in relation to passage of new legislation.
This gives me great hope, but so does something else. At least half of the 22,000 protestors in Fort Benning were high school and college students who attended teach-ins, prayer services, concerts and Sunday’s peaceful, prayerful procession. These are committed young people who are not afraid to risk, to stand up for what they know to be the truth. They are seekers of justice for those who are poor and oppressed. They are the future of our world, our church and, who knows, of our religious congregations. I believe that they live those most familiar of words of Mother Francis Bachmann, “No risk; no gain.”
So please, continue to pray with us and to act with us. Together, we can close the doors of the School of the Americas and bring a great measure of peace and comfort to our sisters and brothers in Latin America. Please check out the SOA Watch website (http://www.soaw.org) for legislative updates. -- Sister Miriam Eileen Murray
Three words come to mind when I reflect on my experience of the peaceful protest at the Gates of Fort Benning: hope, community, and justice. As I approached the protest site, groups of people streamed into a small neighborhood just outside the military gates. Some faces are familiar; others are strangers to me, at least for now. Many neighborhood residents are outside greeting protesters and preparing to sell their lunch fare. There are vendors from various social justice and advocacy groups, there are young and old, people of many ethnic backgrounds, thousands of college students, and the local police. The presence of the military is felt, as speakers blare messages from the base to the protesters warning them that it is a violation of law to trespass onto federal property. Up front and center is a stage, where victims of torture share their stories, musicians lead the crowd in songs of nonviolence and freedom, information is shared about the training that takes place at the school, usually a few celebrities appear to offer their support of the protest. On Sunday more than 20,000 fell into silence, carrying crosses commemorating those who have died at the hands of those trained here.
As I reflect on these images, I find hope in the goodness, the commitment, and dedication of those who have traveled to raise their voices against injustice. I marvel at “community” formed, people of obvious varied backgrounds and experiences who can come together for this weekend, peacefully challenging our government to a different vision, a vision that is not about violence and domination, but a community that longs for the recognition of the dignity of all humans who long for peace. It is a community seeking justice, not only for themselves but also for their brothers and sisters throughout the world. In a world where evil looms large, it does my heart good to be with so many who long for the reign of God and work to bring it forth. -- Sister Kathy Dougherty
“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love
will have the final word.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
As we gathered with an estimated 22,000 people at the gates of Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia to pray and act for the closing of the former School of the Americas, I was keenly aware I was approaching this nonviolent vigil with renewed hope because…
- the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia were choosing to stand up and sing out our opposition to an increased climate of violence;
- the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia were among the children, students, grandmothers, families, civil rights activists, torture survivors, war veterans, union organizers, and puppeteers raising our voices in solidarity against violence in all its forms;
- similar vigils for peace were taking place in Columbia, El Salvador, Ecuador, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, and other cities in the U.S.;
- we were speaking out for those silenced;
- listening to torture survivors and families of the disappeared and murdered enabled us to see the world through another’s eyes…and our world will never be the same;
- we heard the sacrifices and commitments of courageous women and men who have resigned in protest of the Iraq war.
As we began the traditional funeral procession during which the names of the murdered and disappeared were chanted and we responded “Presente,” we once again felt shame for our country’s involvement in causing the past and present suffering of so many of our sisters and brothers.
The first step toward justice and true accountability is to close the school. Then a truth commission will need to be installed to explore the full scope of the School of the Americas atrocities, and their reparations need to be made for the thousands of victims in Latin America.
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Protesters at Ft. Benning, Georgia transformed the ten-foot barbed-wire fences surrounding the protest site into expressions of hope and remembrance, placing crosses and other symbols of hope and resistance into the chain-link barrier—and covering the ground as bodies of those who were slain by graduates of the US Army Training School. |
We returned home with renewed energy to work for this to happen in 2007. Next November when we gather at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia, it will be a fiesta of peace to celebrate the closing of the School of the Americas. This was the climate that permeated the weekend; this is the message that that will be heard at the School of the Americas, in the White House, in the halls of congress and in the hearts of people across the Americas as we, the Sisters of St. Francis continue to witness for peace. -- Sister Doris Johnson and Sister Jean Rupertus
During the past seventeen years, those gathering at the gates of Fort Benning to call for closure of WHINSEC/SOA has grown from eight to more than 20,000. Since the SOA is still in operation, this may seem to be a failure, but the thousands who come each year have a different perspective. Each year, the number of votes to cut funding for the SOA increases, and last year lost by only fifteen or sixteen votes. There is great hope that 2007 will be the year the bill passes. But there is more. Each year the number of young people increases, lending their energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to the effort. This year, 1,500 college and high school students participated in the Jesuit Teach-In and the Saturday night liturgy. People come from across the country and beyond not only to call for a closing of the SOA but also to have their hope for a just and peaceful world rekindled. Thousands of voices from diverse ages, cultures, and races sang during Saturday's rally, "No mas! No more!"and during Sunday's solemn procession, the same voices cried "Presente" as names of those who had been killed in Latin America were called. Maybe next year we will gather for a celebration of the school's closure. --Sister Marie Lucey
My second trip to Fort Benning to take part in the SOA Watch proved to me just as moving as last year. A touching moment for me took place on Saturday evening at the Jesuit family liturgy in the convention center. At the closing of the liturgy a young Jesuit came to the podium giving a brief account of what drew him to be a Jesuit. It was obviously a vocation pitch. However, at the end he asked all religious women to stand and stay standing. Our number was quite large. He then did the same for religious brothers, those employed in church ministry, those who volunteered in church ministry, and finally priests. He then said, “This is what the Church looks like.” College students standing shoulder to shoulder with one thousand “grannies"--standing as one body. What a wonderful picture of the Church! All united in the hope that their voices will be heard and the School of the Americas will be closed.
-- Sister Eileen Walsh
On November 17, 2006 I and thirteen other members of the Neumann College Community set out for Columbus, Georgia. Our final destination was Fort Benning. Fort Benning, you ask? We were traveling there to participate in a peaceful protest against the School of the Americas, my second such trip. This service trip was a wonderful experience on all levels. I was able to interact with people from the college that I ordinarily would not have met and learned a lot about these unique people as well as myself. Although all so different, the people who attended the protest shared the same reason for being there. This trip really made me aware of the goodness of people’s hearts. I would love to go again next year. When you hear the word “protest” you may think of a riot or something negative and frightening. However, my experience was not this at all! It was more of a peaceful interaction of people from all over. The SOA is worth the trip! -- Jessica Sherman, Neumann College Student
Gathering with 22,000 persons who believe that peace is possible in our violent world once again made the journey to Fort Benning hope-filled and inspiring. Since my first visit there in 1997, attendance was increased dramatically and the majority has shifted from mostly gray-haired individuals to young people of college and high school age. What a joy to see so many committed to nonviolence and to witness the connections being made among the many issues that cry for justice in our times! One highlight for me was sitting in silence meditating before the outermost gate into Fort Benning with about twenty others, sending peace and healing to wherever it was needed within those ates. Another highlight was the funeral procession which saw everyone present processing in honor of all who have died because of the SOA. They chanted names and ages and the resounding “Presente” response always reminds me of the Communion of Saints, our unseen companions who assist us in our efforts to be peace in our suffering world. -- Sister Kathleen McCabe
My commitment to close the School of the America’s began in 1991 when I went on a delegation to El Salvador and witnessed archeologists digging for bones of women and children murdered at a school in El Mozote. These murders were committed by soldiers trained at the U.S. Army “School of the Americas.” It’s this and many other killings of catechists, women religious, Jesuit priests, their coworkers, and Bishop Oscar Romero that keeps me journeying to Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia each year.
I promised the mothers of the children and myself that I would not stop working until the school closed. With advocacy and presence, we are a few congressional votes shy of seeing this happen. Please join me and the 22,000 who gathered in November in continuing to advocate for the closing of the School of the Americas.
The unfortunate note in all of this is that the majority of taxpayers who fund the SOA know nothing about what really happens in the school. Information is available at www.soawatch.org. -- Sister Kate O’Donnell
In these days when we learn of our own government and our revered soldiers torturing and humiliating others, it is imperative for me to be present with thousands of others calling for the closure of the School of the Americas. This school trains our own and other nations’ leaders in techniques that humiliate, torture, maim, and ultimately murder masses of people. Graduates of this school are proven to have been the force behind the deaths of Archbishops, Bishops, priests, and sisters, as well as multitudes of civilians. At the rally there are a number of speakers who share their personal horror of atrocities at the hands of such soldiers and graduates of the SOA. Some few also share of their victories in having the graduates brought to justice.
As I minister among the Hispanic people of Delaware County, I wonder “Was she violated by graduates of the SOA? Tortured? Was he maimed by a graduate who learned the techniques from the United States at our expense, at our school?”
How can we, citizens of the United States with whom liberty and equality are foundational, allow such atrocities to continue? I have to do something. Therefore, I write my congresspersons begging them to close this school, to ban humiliation and torture of all types from our military under our auspices, and each year, as I am able, I participate in this rally to shore the numbers and to demonstrate that humiliation and torture are against my Catholic values. I strive to spread the message as I can, as I am invited, of the teachings that take place under the auspices ofthe U.S. military and I pray that we will close this infamous school that has perpetrated so much misery. And I beg forgiveness for my and our blindness to our treatment of our brothers and sisters. -- Sister Dominica LoBianco
For the fourth time, I've had the privilege of joining eleven of our sisters, Neumann College students, and two members of our Sanctuary advocates in a most moving journey of compassion, resistance, and hope at Ft. Benning, Georgia. Together with 22,000 pilgrims, we prayed, marched, learned, sang, and were inspired by the heart-wrenching testimonies of refugees who continue to be traumatized by the torture inflicted upon them and their families and villages by soldiers and generals who were students of the SOA. Our voices rang out in solidarity with Holly Near as she sang with such passion the haunting verses of "A Thousand Grandmothers":
“First we’ll form a loving circle,
Around the wound wing
Then contain the brutal beasts of war
Sweet freedom sons we’ll sing.”
My dream and my prayer is that the November 2007 Gathering at Ft. Benning will be that "loving circle" of nonviolent presence—a celebration of actually closing the doors of this center of torture.
"May peace be dared....It is the great venture." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer -- Sister Maureen Duignan
- Learn more about other areas in which we’re working for change.
- Photographs courtesy of Marie Lucey, OSF
