A group of anti-war protestors gather in front of the Athens Courthouse every Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Every Monday for more than 20 years, Jan Griesinger and Peggy Gish have stood outside of the Athens County Courthouse for an hour in support of the anti-war movement.
The two gather with a group between 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each week. This year marks the 35th year of the protest.
“We respond to current events that are happening … Veterans Day is coming up," Gish, an Athens County resident, said. "We think that one of the ways to care for veterans — obviously they need care for their injuries and housing and things like that — but ... one of the ways to care is to end wars so that we don’t have that problem with veterans being wounded and maimed.”
Nov. 11 is Veterans Day, which originated as “Armistice Day” in 1919 and became a federal holiday in the United States in 1938.
Over the years, the group has responded to different events happening in the world, including military intervention, Gish said.
“Somehow military spending is still the biggest part of the budget in the U.S., and there’s a lot of other things that could use some money,” Griesinger, an Athens County resident, said.
Griesinger said the money could be going toward the poor, housing and schools instead of the military.
“One of the things we often say is we are getting tired of this; we would like the world to shape up a little bit,” Gish said.
On Monday, four people met in front of the courthouse holding signs.
“We call it a peace vigil and the idea is that we are basically opposed to war being the means to solve all the numerous problems we have going on, particularly in the Middle East now,” Bill Rucker, a Nelsonville resident and Ohio University alumnus, said.
Occasionally, passersby will talk to the group.
“Sometimes we get some chatter,” Rucker, who started participating with the antiwar movement in June, said. “People honk from their cars in support.
Rucker noted that they don’t get as much support now.
“I think in prior years they have, particularly when we first went into Iraq in 2003 there was probably a lot more,” Rucker said.
The main aim of these people is peace.
“Most people want peace, and military intervention is not the way to bring peace,” Gish said. “It’s been tried over the years and has failed. Let’s try something new.”
@megankhenry
