Yesterday was a wonderful day for Utah, Marshall, and another attempt to bring home the troops in a responsible manner- I so wish you could have joined us Lori! Your contact with Amy Goodman has added so much to this noble event. I walked the full day with Marshall- beginning at 7:30 am in 3 hours of light rain and drizzle, and ending 25 miles later at 5:30 at the Jensen Historic farm with aching feet and with dramatic storm clouds building over the Wellsvilles producing rays of sunlight which touched ongreen fields where excited horses raced by. We had an unannounced interview by KSL, the top news channel for the state, in the fields of N. Logan. They will join us again in SLC and St. George. Our walk was interrupted several times by folks pulling their vehicles over through horrendous traffic to shake Marshall's hand, hand him a note, or a check. Amazingly, there were no negatives in the entire walk! As we approached 14th N., a large group of supporters awaited our arrival and greeted us with cheers and much fanfare. We continued on in a snowballing fashion to near the City building where a peace group had placed 340 pairs of combat boots from deceased Iraqi soldiers, along with many pairs of civilian shoes representing the 100 to 1 ratio killed compared to U.S. soldier casualties, although the real loss of civilians will never be known. It was very somber where Marshall requested a moment's silence. He delivered a short oration in his usual eloguent, humble manner that grabs your heart and gives it a good twist. The few hundred that had gathered (well beyond the 50 or so anticipated), then followed us to 2nd south where they gave us a warm, rousing send-off. Another highlight came from two wonderful gentleman spurred on by Amy Goodman's interview with Marshall, traveled from Oregon to join us. One was a Vietnam vet journalist, another a WW11 pilot who had flown 32 missions over Germany, approaching his 90th birthday. They came separately and didn't meet until with us. They later joined us for dinner at the Olsen's (Marshall's wife Kristin's family), where they entertained us with many stories of their past. As their stories unfolded, it became apparent they were both local heroes for their character and their many sustainable projects- both launching community organic gardening, wildlife habitat land trusts on their sizeable land holdings- one near Hood River, the other in Nehalem on the Oregon Coast, along with many other efforts toward creating sustainable communities and landscapes. The Olsens, a family everyone must meet as they are such loving, giving folk of the highest caliber, fed us a marvelous meal at a grand table set all 16 of us, including 13 family members. Today is the walk through Sardine Canyon in full fall splendor to Brigham City. I hope to join Marshall as I can. I have a radio interview for Bioneer's on KVNU, along with several other meetings, but so want to join him mid-day if possible, to share more of this courageous, most worthy effort. I will be in SLC Saturday to continue the march- hope to see you then! Love you and thanks again for all the support you have given us!

 

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