The group that assembled on Park Street the night of November 15th was certainly an ecclectic one, but our variety of faiths, ages, and backgrounds was united by our activsm and our desire to close the US Army School of the Americas (SOA). All of us had taken time out of our lives to travel together to Columbus, Georgia and attend the annual protest organized by a group called SOA Watch.

The protest was a two-day event, and several of us had been following the logistic battle that SOA Watch had been fighting with the city of Columbus over locations and permits. In past years, both days’ events were held directly in front of the main gates of Fort Benning, where the SOA is located. There had always been a theatrical funeral procession into the base, in which protesters risked arrest to show their opposition to US training of Latin American militaries in terrorist tactics.

Due to changes made after September 11th, this year’s events looked slightly different. Saturday’s rally was held in a baseball stadium at Golden Park, a few miles away from the base. The puppet show, speakers, and music may not have been visible or audible to those at Fort Benning, but the presence of 6,000 people did not go unnoticed. Only days before the protest, a Columbus judge ruled that denying a permit for Sunday’s assembly was indeed a violation of our freedom of speech. This time, the sounds and sights of our rally were once again present at the main gate. Fort Benning had become a closed base after September 11th, and consequently a 10-foot high chain-link and barbed-wire fence had been erected which prevented the funeral procession from entering the base. The organizers added a bit of logistical creativity, and designed a circular procession that passed in front of the fence. Nearly 15,000 protesters - over three times the number who attended last year - placed crosses, signs, flowers, candles, and incense at the gates, turning the ugly barrier into a beautiful shrine in memory of the victims of SOA graduates.

Wendy Kimper was a senior at Bow High School when she traveled with AFSC to Georgia to protest the Schoolof the Americas Nov. 16-18, 2001.