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Norma Castillo, US CO Camilo Mejia's aunt
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speaking on behalf of her nephew Listen to audio at: http://www.archive.org/download/dn2004-0322/dn2004-0322-1_64kb.mp3 On behalf of my nephew, Staff Sergeant Mejia, who has been restricted to his base, Camilo, has been to war as a soldier. When he was in Iraq, he saw no weapons of mass destruction. He saw no chemical weapons. He saw no reconstruction. What he saw was innocent people being killed. Destruction in a nation being humiliated. He wanted me to read this to you: “I would like to thank everyone for coming here today. I cannot get tired of saying that what I have done and what you people are doing today is something that goes far beyond one man, or even one nation. We are asking for an end to a war that represents a crime against all mankind. We are doing this for the soldiers and their families who are victims of this war. We are doing this for the people of Iraq, who are being oppressed for the oil. We are doing this for humanity, which has already paid a high price for this in every war. Thank you for uniting with me with this cause, which is the cause of peace. Pray with me to put an end to this and every war.” Now I want to invite you to pray with me something that my nephew used to pray every night before he went to sleep in Iraq, if he could go to sleep. This is what he prayed. I want to invite the people outside to pray with me. “Dear lord, thank you for allowing me to live one more day. Forgive me for all of my sins, for all of the things that I should have said and done but did not. I ask you to soften the hearts of our leaders and to soften the hearts of those who attack us. Let there be no more war, and put an end to all violence. Protect my comrades and protect all of those who are affected by this war. Give comfort to the families of the dead and wounded. Give them the wisdom to accept your decision. Put peace in their hearts. Should you decide to take me from this world, I will accept your will. Give strength to my family, and protect my little girl. Let there be peace in all the world. Thank you, God. Sincerely and deeply yours, Camilo." |