of
Freehold site
of ‘spirited but
peaceful’ demonstration
By clare MARie celano
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD — The Hall of Records on Main Street saw more than the usual dinner traffic on Friday night.
What began as a shouting match between two opposing sides of a war ended not only peacefully, but with a newfound respect for diametrically differing opinions — at least for two people.
The center of restaurant row was the site of a group of anti-war demonstrators, bringing their message to the public, within a stone’s throw of a group of those supporting the war.
About 100 people came to wave flags, hold signs and shout opinions pro and con on the situation that has sent thousands of U.S. troops into Iraq.
But the real story is how the demonstration ended — with two people who would never have crossed each other’s paths, had it not been for this event, experiencing an understanding they hadn’t had when they began their chanting on opposite sides of wooden police barriers.
A Vietnam veteran from Freehold, who asked to be referred to as "Jack" to respect the privacy of his son now fighting in Iraq, not only served his time in Vietnam, but also signed up for two additional tours of duty.
American flags flew on the side of the barrier where Jack stood. Veterans from the Vietnam War as well as those who had been to Korea came wearing uniform hats, ribbons and medals. Others came to support them. They stood their ground, even as they heard the shouting reverberating from the opposite end of the area. They sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "America the Beautiful," and many become irate when the group of anti-war demonstrators did not join in singing the national anthem.
Across the yellow wooden barriers gathered men, women and some children holding their own signs expressing their views on the war.
Here stood Cristalle Smith.
The 16-year-old borough resident, with her two-tone short hair and combat boots, along with her camouflage army jacket and long skirt, was as far away from Jack on the spectrum scale as she could be.
She stood with others who carried signs that read "Support Our Troops. Send Them to College — Don’t Send Them to War." One sign had a photograph of the late civil rights activist the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. This sign was carried by 8-year-old Colette Dante, who aptly expressed the sentiments of her many counterparts. "I am here to protest the war," the little one said quietly.
When asked what she thought war meant, she replied after a moment’s hesitation, "People die and destruction is made."
Her parents, Cathy and Steve, said they were protesting this war as a family.
"We do not support this administration," Cathy Dante said. "Our education system is in a shambles. We should be taking care of our own problems here at home."
Amid signs that read "Blood, War Empire," Cathy Dante told the News Transcript that she "did not believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction."
"He [Saddam Hussein] posed no danger to us," she said. "Our country has never been the aggressor … and this is very frightening to us."
Along with signs, shouting and the percussion of repetitive drum sounds were two giant human puppets, dressed in sheets designed to represent two famous paintings, one by Picasso titled Guernica and another by Munch titled The Scream. Both showed facial expressions of horror, the results of war.
The anti-war march, initially organized by Danielle Guerico, 16, who attends Howell High School, and Ria Dasgupta, 16, a student at Freehold Borough High School, began at 7:30 p.m. and disbanded at around 9:30 p.m.
Fliers protesting the war were distributed by members of the Central N.J. Coalition for Peace and Justice.
Those supporting the war had no fliers. What they did have was the experience of having been there. Vietnam vets said that "no one believed in that war, and no one supported us here at home."
Bill Egerton of Monroe spent time in Vietnam. The retired master sergeant in the U.S. Army, who came to represent the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said that "freedom is not free."
He continued, "They (the anti-war demonstrators) wouldn’t be able to do what they are doing right now if others had not fought for the freedom for them to do so. They have no idea what they’re doing," Egerton said. "If people want to protest, they should do it at the voting polls. This is the same thing that happened to us when we were in Vietnam when we were just trying to do our jobs."
Concerned that the troops in Iraq will return to a similar "homecoming," Egerton said that if the troops in Iraq were to witness the anti-war demonstration, they would be "disgusted" and that it would significantly affect them just as it did him and his friends.
Mike Burtt, commander of the Freehold VFW Post 4374, said he remembered when soldiers fighting in Vietnam didn’t have the support of the people at home. "We don’t want them to go through what we had to go through when they come home," he said. "No one likes war. But sometimes you have to do what you don’t want to do to preserve peace and safety."
Also representing the VFW was Ed Pajor, Post 4374’s district commander.
Guerico said that she wanted to organize this march to show that young people are informed and that they do know what is gong on today. "We support the troops over there. We just don’t support the reason they’re fighting. We feel they’re fighting for the wrong reasons. I feel like we’ve never been told the reasons why we are fighting," Guerico said.
"We want to make a difference and get our voices heard," said her co-organizer, Dasgupta, who also said that the soldiers were "just following orders blindly."
As the protesters and supporters began to disband, and the barriers were taken down by police, direct conversation ensued between the two opposing sides. What began as high-pitched tones and angry comments between Jack and Cristalle ended with what can only be called a dose of quiet camaraderie.
"You kids need to learn from real life experiences," Jack said. "Talk to Vietnam vets; they’ll tell you." Cristalle replied that she didn’t learn anything about Vietnam in school. She did her own research.
"I’m extremely torn between whether or not it’s justified that we’re in there," she said.
"We gotta stop the bully" was Jack’s reply.
"We’ve been bullied a lot" was Cristalle’s comeback. "But I see your point. I worry, though, that you don’t respect me because I’m young. I respect you," she said.
"You don’t understand what we went through when we came back," said Jack. "People would cover us with feces, call us baby killers. I can see that you have a brain in your head. Ask us what really went on."
As borough police began to deconstruct the barriers they put to divide the two sides, suddenly the tone of the conversation changed, the mood altered, as each side, even momentarily, attempted to understand the point the other was trying to make. What started as a shouting match ended with two people sharing an understanding through an exchange of ideas and a good bit of venting on both sides.
More than 20 law enforcement officers from the borough, Freehold Township and the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office were in attendance for the duration of the march. According to Police Chief Michael Beierschmitt, the event was "a spirited but peaceful march, and there were no problems presented by either side."