God have mercy on us." Those were the words Joe Colgan remembers saying to his son, Ben, upon hearing that air strikes on Baghdad had begun.
Seven months later, Lt. Ben Colgan was dead: killed by a roadside bomb in a trap set by a duplicitous Iraqi translator. He left behind a pregnant wife and two children. A Catholic brought up to forgive, after about a week, "My wife and I forgave the fellow responsible for Ben," he says. Forgiving the president took a year. Disappointment, not anger, is what he feels: with politicians and an American public that isn't acting on its expressed opposition to the continued occupation.
Every week, Colgan stands outside the Federal Building offering postcards to passersby that ask Congress to de-fund the war. A dozen people join him: people of all faiths or none, fellow veterans, another father with two children in Iraq, people united by a basic sentiment: "We all care about humanity."
In numbers and impact, the weekly vigils are "a pretty insignificant thing, but still, I think it makes a difference," he says.