Arriving in Maui, right after Easter, I called to see what was new and interesting and if I could help in anyway. To my delight, they were co-sponsoring an evening with Cindy Sheehan. Cindy is the outspoken mother of slain soldier Casey Sheehan. You will remember her as the Mom who camped out in front of President Bush’s ranch demanding to talk to him about her son’s death. Sheehan had asked for a face-to-face meeting with President Bush, and when he refused, she held a vigil outside the ranch where he was vacationing. Camp Casey was dubbed the site's name.

Sheehan’s camp caught national attention and led to the formation of the Gold Star Families for Peace, an organization that is made up of families who lost loved ones in the Iraq war and are trying to minimize the human cost of war. Along with Cindy, the Maui Film Festival was showing the première of the award winning documentary Sir! No Sir! The movie tells the story of the GI movement to end the war in Vietnam in the 1960s.

The day before the première, our local newspaper took a brave leap and ran an article, front page, top headline; “Sheehan hero to some, not so to others.”

This island is a part of the United States, though I usually tell people back at SJA that things are about ten years behind. The thought of peace is still just a twinkle in some of our eyes. The islands have been hit harder than many states with sending so many troops to Iraq; hence many more have been killed.

The twin brother of a Maui man I know was killed in action in Iraq. He is opposed, even offended by the message anti war protestor Cindy Sheehan brings to Maui. “I feel it is dishonoring Kelly and what he and other men and woman are fighting for.” He did go on to say, “Everyone has a right to their opinion and she has the right to freedom of speech and to voice her opinion. But I don’t agree with her!” Talking to him, I suddenly realized, at least, we are at a place we can discuss this reasonably, that was not possible two years ago.

The newspaper did receive hundreds of phone calls on the article, even though it was about people like the guy I mentioned above, who had lost a family member or friend and feel disloyal to say anything against the war. The newspaper though did give a full schedule advertisement to the planned evening.

The founder of the Maui Film Festival said about 650 people bought tickets to watch the film, another 200 students were allowed in free. Nearly everyone remained in the theatre with another 300 joining the audience to hear Cindy Sheehan, who spoke free to the public.

The film, Sir, No Sir! portrayed the movement by thousands of American soldiers who spoke out against the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. It tells the little known tale of how some American GI’s rebelled against the Vietnam War and helped change the course of US history and society.

The documentary shows original clips from the sixties of soldiers speaking out against the war and the coffee houses that were organized for those who wanted to voice their protests. The documentary continues with some of the same men speaking about their lives today. Jane Fonda was also interviewed extensively as many of the clips included her part in the anti war movement.

After the film, an Oli (Hawaiian Chant) was performed followed by Annie and Willie Nelson, who hosted Cindy, introducing her to the audience.

Cindy started by saying that after Vietnam, Americans allowed themselves to think that the country was at peace, when it wasn’t. “We forgot. We forgot the lessons of Vietnam. We did.” she said. Even when the war in Iraq is over there will be other conflicts that surface. She urged the Maui audience to join her in the peace movement and to call continually for an end to war and violence.

Cindy said approximately 65 American soldiers have died in the Middle East so far this month, and she’s expecting the total death toll to surpass 2,400 this week. (April statistics)

Meanwhile, the price tag of the war, according to Cindy, has already reached a trillion dollars.

Sheehan pointed out that Bush initially said the war in Iraq was necessary to find deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction. She called Bush a liar, murderer, terrorist and the “biggest recruiter” for the al-Qaida terror network.

Throughout her talk, Sheehan jabbed at both the president and at her critics. She said best-selling artist, actor and singer Harry Belafonte had gotten into trouble for calling Bush a terrorist. “I was jealous because I’ve been calling him that for months,” she said, smiling.

Questions from the audience followed her speech and each she answered articulately and with the sincerity of her convictions.

As we left the theatre a man beside me stated he found Sheehan to be “kind of flaky” yet “She’s just voicing a lot of people’s opinions, including mine. This is more about a peace movement, and she transcends the feelings she has for her son to her audience. We can all feel her grief.”

Nancy Lynch says, "Joy is being a wife, Mom of fourteen, eight with varying disabilities and living at home, Grandma of thirteen, and Great Grandma of three. Serenity is listening and watching the ocean, alone, at our home on Maui. Passion is friends, photography, reading, swimming and children." Nancy can be reached at nalynch@aol.com.

Outside we gathered in a garden area and conversed with people while sharing wine. It reminded me of a SJA event, so I felt very much at home. I was able to speak at length with Willie Nelson, who recently was honored by the EPA with an Environmental Award for opening the first biodiesel station in California. Willie said he agreed with Sheehan’s stance on the war in Iraq. “There’s no justification at all. It’s time to bring the boys and girls home. They’ve done their job.”

Annie Nelson is very active in many peace groups, including the Maui Peace Action and is always ready to talk about things she thinks will help promote peace.

Maui Peace Action also has activities planned to inform the community about “viable alternatives to current militaristic policies.” The group’s efforts will include educating young people about career options and alternatives to joining the military; and informing community members about other environmental, economic, social and health effects of the nation’s military activities.

Peace, our life struggle to obtain.