People's Democracy

ON September 11, as the world looked on in horror and disbelief, my husband, Craig Scott Amundson, of the US army, lost his life in the line of duty at the Pentagon.

Losing my 28-year old husband and father of our two young children is a terrible and painful experience. His death is also part of an immense national loss, and I am comforted by knowing so many share my grief. But because I have lost Craig as part of this historic tragedy, my anguish is compounded exponentially by fear that his death will be used to justify new violence against other innocent victims.

I have heard angry rhetoric by some Americans, including many of the nations’s leaders, who advise a heavy dose of revenge and punishment. To those leaders, I would like to make clear that my family and I take no comfort in their words of rage. If they choose to respond to this incomprehensible brutality by perpetuating violence against other innocent human beings, they may not do so in the name of justice for my husband.

Such rhetoric and imminent acts of revenge only amplify our family’s suffering, deny us the dignity of remembering our loved one in a way that would have made him proud, and mock his vision of America as a peacemaker in the world community.

Craig enlisted in the army and was proud to serve his country. He was a patriotic American and a citizen of the world. Craig believed that by working from within the military system he could help to maintain the military focus on peacekeeping and strategic planning – to prevent violence and war. For the last two years Craig drove to his job at the Pentagon with a "Visualize World Peace" bumper sticker.

This was not empty rhetoric or contradictory to him, but part of his dream. He believed that his role in the Army could further the cause of peace throughout the world. Craig would not have wanted a violent response to avenge his death. And I cannot see how good can come out of it. We cannot solve violence with violence. Revenge is a self-perpetuating cycle.

I ask the nation’s leaders not to take the path that leads to more widespread hatreds – that makes my husband’s death just one more in an unending spiral of killing. I call on them to find the courage to respond to this incomprehensible tragedy by breaking the cycle of violence. I call on them to focus on working for justice and peace around the globe.

In these dark days of intense sadness. I have been inspired by the lyrics from a Tracy Chapman album that Craig bought me when our first child was born. They said:

It’s time to stop and start all over, make a new beginning."

AMBER AMUNDSON

Washington