The History of Chapter 119

In October and November 2003, many people of the local peace movement were mobilizing for the FTAA meetings in Miami that were happening during the third week of November. The peace movement was quite young and many groups were still forming and developing strategies for political actions against the War. We knew that our government and our country were into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the long haul and we wanted to make sure that our voices were heard. We felt that with our varied experiences, we had a lot to say about War. There were already a few local Veterans for Peace in this area, Rosemary Gould, a lifetime member of VFP and a WW2 veteran and Jim Willingham, a veteran of the war in Viet Nam. (Jay Alexander, Jim Willingham and Rosemary Gould had already been involved in a peace action the previous year. This was for a Peace Proposal that City leaders would sign and this action happened before the War with Iraq started.) I was put in touch with these people through Diane Kamleiter of the local Green Party and the local chapter of Women in Black. I put together an elist and soon Jim and I and later a few others  were corresponding back and forth on the Internet.

We decided to do a Veteran's Day Vigil and picked the date of November 11, 2003 which was a Tuesday. We got a city permit and started sending out invites and posting about the vigil to the local elists. We met for breakfast at a little diner across the street from Williams Park in St. Petersburg and most of us met for the very first time that morning. Preceding the event, I did the opening interfaith ritual in the park. We then held a Memorial for the Dead with lit candles, sage and incense and all stood in a circle and told our personal stories. It was a moving experience for all and tears were shed. Other groups also came out, members of the Uhuru, Women in Black, St. Pete for Peace, the Homeless Coalition and the Green Party and others. It was also the day we got our first press coverage. The local TV networks were there as well as WMNF-FM 88.5 and their reporter interviewed most of us and we were featured on the station's 6PM news.

We cannot write about our history without noting those who worked really hard at getting our Chapter going. Jim Willingham, Jay Alexander, Rosemary Gould, William & Lynn McClean were at the forefront and with us from the very beginning. I provided the internet networking and advertising, correspondence in addition to creating this website and moderating our elist. Special note to Jesse Kerns, Dwight Lawton, William Hines, Bill Reed and Diane Kamleiter for making this all happen by networking us all together.

We have been participating in the local peace movement and forming this chapter ever since November 2003 and just recently became Chapter 119 and our website is noted on the national VFP site.  Our officers have been elected. As a group, we are currently working on forming committees and working groups so we can continue to effectively work as a cohesive unit and within other local peace groups and the existing peace efforts and actions in this local area.