'Raising of The Belltower" with Veterans For Peace and Marine Corps veterans Ray Buchanan, Mathew Hoh, and Sam Winstead - 5 pm - Friday Nov 7
State Capitol Grounds, Fayetteville St and Morgan St, Raleigh
The tower will be raised from horizontal to vertical position using a hand-operated winch by U.S. Marine Veterans Sam Winstead (WWII, Japan), Ray Buchanan (Vietnam) and Mathew Hoh (Iraq, Afghanistan). Each of these veterans has taken remarkable steps to build peace and will speak to the public and media about how we all can help beat swords into plowshares. An "Eleventh Hour" bell-ringing and pledge drive will be announced to support removal of unexploded bombs from farmland in Viet Nam and to address other current problems including contamination and disease from depleted uranium munitions.
Veterans Day (Armistice Day) Parade
9:30-10:30 am, Saturday, Nov 8
11 am ceremony at State Capitol Grounds
Veterans For Peace and supporters are invited to join the Eisenhower VFP chapter in the Veterans Day Parade which will start at 9:30am and finish at 10:30am, marching directly past the Swords to Plowshares Bell Tower. At 11:00 am, there will be a program featuring Gov. McCrory and Congressman David Price that will feature a ringing of the Swords to Plowshares Bell at 11:11 a.m.
"Eleventh Hour" Bell Ringing and Launch of "Heal the Earth from Waste of War" Pledge Dr
Tuesday, Nov 11th, 11:00 a.m.
Swords to Plowshare Belltower will remain at the Capitol through Veterans Day, Tuesday, November 11th. The Armistice ending "The War to End All Wars", which began 100 years ago, was signed on "The eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month" in 1918. Houses of faith and individuals are being encouraged ring bells in unison at this time. The bell ringing is part of WWI centennial effort to clean up unexploded bombs and rid the earth of chemical warfare agents such as Agent Orange and Depleted Uranium Munitions which make make the earth unsuitable for growing food (plowshares.) In the years leading up to the 2018 Centennial of the Armistice, Veterans For Peace will be working to rebuild the the transnational movement for disarmament to fulfill the “Swords to Plowshares” prophecy and redirect resources from war to sustaining life.