Monument Terrace veterans’ vigil reaches new milestone

Every Friday at noon, 82-year-old Renee Rucker arrives at Monument Terrace in downtown Lynchburg decked out in red, white and blue.

Yesterday was no different. Under the scorching sun, Rucker and about 40 others lined the curb along Church Street to show their support for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

They waved flags from every branch of the military, and American flags brought back from bases in Iraq and Afghanistan by local soldiers. Cars honked wildly. Joggers extended their hands for sweaty high-fives as they passed.

The weekly “Support Our Troops” rallies have become a fixture downtown. Yesterday was just another Friday except for one significant detail: It was the group’s 400th consecutive week at Monument Terrace.

The rallies began on November 30, 2001, as a response to another rally at Monument Terrace that opposed the invasion of Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It has since morphed into a non-partisan group whose sole mission is to support the troops.

Steve Bozeman, the rally’s organizer, never expected it to last this long.

“One Friday rolls into another Friday, the next thing you know it’s become 400,” Bozeman said.

Their presence is a reminder of a war that is distant and abstract to many Americans.

When the rallies started, barely a month after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, eight Americans had been killed in Afghanistan. Today, more than 5,000 men and women have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, including at least eight with ties to Lynchburg.

“To sacrifice a young life for your flag and your country, that’s an awesome, awesome sacrifice that most Americans don’t take the time to think about,” said Gardner Harris, a Vietnam Army veteran from Bedford.

Anywhere from 25 to upward of 40 people show up on a typical Friday. Most have served in the military, and many are veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, the Cold War, Afghanistan or Iraq.

Each person has a story to share.

Some bond over time spent in the trenches; others over a loved one lost in the war. Some never served in the military, and just come to show their support.

For Rucker, the regulars at the rallies have become like family.

“I come down and I get such inspiration from these guys. I just love ’em,” she said, tears welling in her eyes.

Bunny Marks, a Navy pilot during the Vietnam War, comes every week he can. The rallies are a way to honor his son Wilson Marks, who commands a unit in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province.

“We don’t discuss politics, that’s not what we’re about,” Marks said. “We’re here to support the troops, wherever they are.”

For Jerry Bowles, a Korean War veteran from Bedford County, the rally allows him to show soldiers the support and dignity that he was denied upon his return from Korea.

“After Korea, they just booed us and spit on us and all that. It’s very important that this generation of warrior never experience any of that,” he said.

Bowles’ grandson, Cory Held, is slated to come home from his second tour in Iraq in August. As for Bowles, he plans on coming to Monument Terrace for as long as it takes for the wars to end.

“We’re going to be down here until the day they come home,” he said. “And I hope I live to see it.”

The group has lost a few of its regulars, not to war, but to old age or illness.

Each week, Bozeman sets up the memorial to honor their lives: a pair of WWII combat boots and helmet mounted on a 105 Howitzer brass shell. The boots and helmet belonged to Dan Weigand, a regular at the monument terrace gathering until he died in 2007. Weigand was a WWII Army soldier and Battle of the Bulge veteran.

Tucked into the side of the helmet was a list of 18 people who died since the group began meeting 400 Fridays ago. The most recent addition was Wayne Reynolds, who died in July.

When an hour passed, Bozeman rang a silver bell engraved with the word “Liberty” and addressed the crowd: “This is 400 weeks, but just another Friday for many of us because we’re here to support the troops.”

They erupted into cheers.

Within minutes, the crowd dispersed and Monument Terrace was quiet, for the moment. Next week they’ll be back for number 401.