In the 1994 drama film based on a novel by Winston Groom, the world was
captivated by a simple man called Forrest Gump and his journey through life.
In a famous scene, he starts running and he explains his reasons for running
in the following way: " That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go
for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road... to the end of town...
across Greenbow County... across Alabama... clear to the ocean. When I got
to another ocean, I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well just
turn back, keep right on going."
Forrest Gump was running because of a broken heart, and along the way
thousands of people began to join him; one man with a broken heart and a
whole march for hope was started.
Those were the days... at least in the
movies.
Back to reality, on July 25th the International Herald Tribune ran a piece
titled; "Teens march across America in lonely opposition to war." The
article talked about nineteen year old Ashley Casale and eighteen year old
Michael Israel who started their 3,000-mile walk from San Francisco to
Washington opposing the war in Iraq and hoping that others would join them.
The pair did pick up a third marcher, nineteen year old Tom Garrett, but the
masses were absent; What happened to them? What happened to all those
Americans opposing the war?
If we follow the old saying of two's company; three's a crowd, it is evident
that we have an anti-war movement growing on the ankles of these young
courageous men. Granted that taking into account the US population numbers
of 302,465,868 people according to the US census Bureau, three people is a
tiny representation for opposition to the war, but at least there are three.
After all, it was U.S president Lyndon B. Johnson who said; "Peace is a
journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time."
Who knows, Forrest's mum did say that "life is like a box of chocolates; you
never know what you gonna get." Maybe peace loving people will understand
the need for this run to continue, and just like Jennie yelled out to
Forrest, "run Forrest run", we will all shout to Ashley, Michael and Tom,
'run guys run'. Maybe then, funding will flow in order for this run to
continue, people will take the streets and go from coast to coast until out
of breath and with the war stopped, just like Forrest did, they will
proclaim; We're pretty tired... we think we'll go home now.
Forrest's run across the country took three and a half years, maybe a run to
stop this war will take a lot longer, but then again, running is good for
our health, and running for a good cause must be promoted. Who knows, maybe
this is America's chance to embark on an epic journey of healthy change, and
prompt foreign runners to join their race, after all many people around the
world are waiting to see signs of change to rally behind the American cause;
three runners marching for peace, is inspiring, but is simply not enough to
stop the war.
Hopefully those Americans looking for something bigger than a weekend rally
will follow the footsteps of their three fellow patriots. When pro justice
and peace groups chant in unison 'run America run', America will run and run
and run. It will run so much and so hard that the braces will brake from its
legs and it will never have to wear them again.
-Pablo Ouziel is an activist and a free lance writer based in Spain. His
work has appeared in many progressive media including Znet, Palestine
Chronicle, Thomas Painešs Corner and Atlantic Free Press.
Writings 
In the 1994 drama film based on a novel by Winston Groom, the world was
captivated by a simple man called Forrest Gump and his journey through life.
In a famous scene, he starts running and he explains his reasons for running
in the following way: " That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go
for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road... to the end of town...
across Greenbow County... across Alabama... clear to the ocean. When I got
to another ocean, I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well just
turn back, keep right on going."
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