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BENSON — Fed up with war in Iraq and in Afghanistan, a former United Methodist pastor and Vietnam-era veteran is doing something about it: He is walking the walk, cross-country, trying to rally public support to help bring an end to the ongoing conflicts.
Armed with a petition and a burning desire to finish what he’s started, Bill McDannell began “The walk to end the wars,” on Nov. 4 in Lakeside, Calif., near San Diego, en route to Washington, D.C. He passed through Benson on Wednesday.
“It’s time to end the wars,” said McDannell, 57. “I felt I needed to do something and I’m just doing what I figure I have to do.”
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McDannell, a father of five and grandfather of four, said he served in the military from 1968 to 1972. He got the idea for the walk while working as a chauffer for a limousine company in San Diego.
“I had the opportunity to chauffeur a gentleman who walked across the country to lose weight. As I drove him I got to thinking that I could do that for something I really believed in,” McDannell said. The more he thought about it, the more enthused he got. When he first spoke to his wife about the idea, she wasn’t too thrilled.
“My children thought I’d completely lost it,” McDannell said.
But it didn’t take long for his wife, Jonna O’Dell, also a former pastor, to come around, “and we set this deal in motion,” McDannell said. And with support of his family the couple sold their home and belongings to finance McDannell’s 3,000-mile journey.
He is bound and determined to finish what he started. The goal is to present the petition to any member of Congress “who has the guts to take it,” he said.
His logic is that since Iraq and Afghanistan have their forms of government, it’s time to bring the troops home.
“There is a freely elected government in Iraq and in Afghanistan, therefore, we’re not really at war,” he said. “I have realized since 9/11 that we’re living in a state of anger and fear and it’s time to get out of this quagmire. People are not thinking about what we’re doing there. Is what we’re doing the type of people we want to be? ‘I say ‘no.’ ”
While talking, he became animated and at times fought back tears.
“This is not the country I loved and served and hold dear, and we have the power to get it back,” he said. “It may take generations to heal what’s going on there.”
McDannell said he has been well received. He is encountering people who share his train of thought.
Recent national news polls show increasing public discord with the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East now more than three years old. The Associated Press reports that more than 3,000 American lives have been lost.
According to McDannell’s Web site, he has logged about 500 miles. McDannell said he expects his wife to join him in the near future via a 22-year-old camper they bought after selling off their belongings.
“I’m not connected with any group, I’m not carrying any signs and I don’t get in peoples’ faces. Soon it will just be my wife, our two dogs and me. I’m as grass roots as you can be. I’ll stop and speak to any group along my way interested in hearing what I have to say.”
Vincent Pawlowski and Mike Block listened to McDannell speak in Tucson and were inspired.
“I just thought, wow, what a strong commitment,” said Pawlowski, who helped McDannell with this particular leg of the trip.
The two embraced Wednesday as McDannell was ready to continue on.
Block added, “It’s nice to see somebody doing the right thing.”
McDannell is counting on that type of a reaction from those he encounters. In addition to signing his petition, supporters have offered monetary donations or a place to bed down.
“This is not about me and I don’t expect everyone to agree. This is about making people aware that we can get off our butts and do something about this,” he said.
Chris Dabovich is managing editor of the San Pedro Valley News-Sun in Benson. He can be reached at 586-3382 or by e-mail at spvnseditor@qwest.net.
Bill Stein wrote on Nov 22, 2008 7:45 PM: