'Million Vet March' Draws Protesters From Around US as Crowds Demand Memorials Open
The Million Vet March took place over the weekend with supporters coming from all around the country to lend thier support amid the government shutdown.
Protesters gathered in Washington D.C. to protest the closure of national war memorials as a result of the government shutdown. Some of those protesting took down barricades that had been erected at the World War II memorial. The memorial has been closed since Oct. 1, when the shutdown began.
Those who took part in the protest chanted "Tear down these walls" and also sang "God Bless America."
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"The shutting down of these memorials, if one looks at right and wrong, that's clearly wrong," Bruce Wing, who traveled from Atlanta with his wife to support the veterans, told ABC News affiliate WJLA-TV in Washington D.C.
George Rathmell, who spent 20 years as an Army chaplain, said military personnel should be recognized for what they endure during their service.
"Whether it's peacetime or war, our people do so much. The military's done so much," he said. "The scars, many of them never heal. Even if they're not on the outside, they're on the inside."
According to the Million Vet March website, the organizers were not concerned about a person's political leanings so long as they felt outrage over the closures.
"We do not care what political leanings you may be; be it liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent or whatever. The actions of the U.S. government this week with regard to barricading and shutting down the World War II Memorial to veterans, that may or may not be on their last trip to Washington DC, is a despicable act of cowardice," the website reads.
Other open air monuments, such as the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and the memorials for those who fought in the Vietnam and Korean wars, were also barricaded.
