By Phil Anderson, Veterans For Peace — Chapter 80, September 21, 2026

“How have you, your family or community been impacted by war?” This was the question Northland Grandmothers for Peace and Lake Superior Veterans for Peace, Ch. 80 asked the public around Memorial Day, 2026, in the Twin Ports of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin. This action engaged the public to collect their feelings and opinions on the impact of our country’s endless wars on their lives.

In the past, we typically held an “Alternative Memorial Day Observance.” It was a solemn ceremony that honored all the victims of war –  the “troops killed and wounded, their families, the enemy casualties, the civilian “collateral damage” and the peace activists who worked for a world without war. There was music, speakers, a litany reading and bell ringing ceremony.

It was a moving ceremony and motivated participants to work for peace. But we rarely engaged with the general public or got more than one or two minutes of press attention. We were “preaching to the choir.”

So this year we decided to do something that would engage the public and, perhaps, have more impact. Inspired by the Swords to Plowshares Memorial Belltower*******, we asked the public to write their answer (on a 4X6 note card) to the question, “How have you, your family or community been impacted by war?”

We collected 156 responses from several community events and from passers-by on the Lake Walk Park in Duluth on Memorial Day. We got a wide variety of personal stories, opinions, and comments including many from veterans and their families.

Most of the comments were about the human costs for veterans and their families veterans and family members of veterans. from the physical, mental and emotional damage of war. Some talked about the financial costs – taxes and cuts to social programs – for civilians and local communities. Some talked about the immorality, waste and senselessness of war. A few expressed pride in their service and need to defend the country. Together they provide a powerful, insightful, educational message the public needs to read.

We took these anonymous comments and created four, 3X4 foot, professionally printed signs for public display. We included all the comments with no editing, sorting, or editorializing to emphasize, or de-emphasize. any point of view. We did arrange them using different fonts, font sizes, colors, bold and italicsto get them all on four pages and to create visual appeal and separation of the comments.

We hope to be able to take this display to a wide variety of venues for public viewing.

*****The Swords to Plowshares Memorial Belltower is a 24 foot-tall mobile memorial created by the Veterans for Peace Eisenhower Chapter,157 from the Chapel Hill area of North Carolina. The memorial honors victims and veterans of war on all sides of conflicts to help heal moral injury and reduce veteran suicide.

Visitors can inscribe a statement about how war has impacted them on plaques handmade from recycled aluminum cans. They can hang their plaque on the tower and ring the bell. The three-sided 24-foot built has over 1,000 silver plaques shimmering in the wind.

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