A memorial service was held this morning at Ft. Sill for the soldier who killed himself last week (I’m sorry we don’t have the soldier’s name), leaving a wife and young child. After a very good group discussion, we decided that while we wanted to try to attend the service, there was a possibility that our presence there could be misunderstood. Instead, we chose to have our own service at a small chapel here. Steve took the lead in celebrating a simple mass — six of us sitting on the floor in a small circle, sharing a meal of chewy bread and sweet wine, painfully aware of our limitations and of the people who are victims of war. These victims, as Steve said, include soldiers and their families.

We began our vigil today at the “Boulevard of Lights,” where we vigiled yesterday, and again we were approached by people on the street who wanted to talk and share their experience. At 3 pm, as school was soon to let out, we set up our vigil outside Lawton High School. It was very good to be there – a busy intersection, where a lot of students and their families could see our message of hope. We were struck by how many people stopped to ask us “Who is Camilo Mejia?” News of him, it seems, isn’t widespread in this town, despite the fact that he is being held prisoner here.

The ABC Six O’clock news had an excellent piece tonight about Camilo and our vigil – a full 2 minutes long. They did an excellent job, interspersing footage of the war in Iraq (including shots of prisoners being abused) with images of Camilo and footage of our vigil. Kathy and Bert’s words punctuated the coverage. We were very pleased that the story was about Camilo, not about us. Clearly, his story is one that needs to be told in this community.

Read the Lawton Journal Day One, and Day Two.