Peace activists want war item on fall ballot By Harry Hitzeman Daily Herald Staff Writer Posted Wednesday, May 24, 2006 When the U.S. invaded Iraq, members of DuPage Against War Now hit Roosevelt Road to protest and were met with catcalls and obscenities. More than three years later, the Glen Ellyn-based activists said they hope to get a different response this one at the ballot box. The group is trying to collect more than 25,000 names this summer to get a nonbinding referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot for all of DuPage County. The question: Should the U.S. "immediately begin an orderly and rapid withdrawal of all its military personnel from Iraq, beginning with the National Guard and reserves?" Anti-war co-founder Amy Tauchman said she hopes voters answer yes. But either way, she said she hopes it will make people realize the human and economic toll of the war. "We read that a majority of the American people are against the war, we read that a majority of the Iraqis are against the war and we read a majority of the soldiers want to come home, but we don’t ever do anything about it," she said. "It’s a chance to talk about what is really happening," she added. "It looks to people like a credit card right now, but we’re going to have to pay for that with our schools, health care, our streets." The group will host a candlelight vigil at 7 p.m. Monday Memorial Day at Main and Duane streets in Glen Ellyn. They said they hope to collect signatures, along with supplies for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and the wounded at the Hines Veterans Hospital in Maywood. Fox Valley Citizens for Peace and Justice also are collecting signatures for a ballot question in Kane County, outreach coordinator Siobhan Kolar said. DuPage County Election Commission Executive Director Robert Saar said the deadline to submit petitions is Aug. 21. He could not specify the exact number of signatures of registered voters needed. "They do have a right to do it, if they have enough signatures" and it passes any challenges from the public, Saar said. In April, 24 Wisconsin towns passed nonbinding questions on withdrawing troops. Several other towns rejected it. The DuPage anti-war’s effort didn’t sit well with some local veterans. "It’s like jumping ship. It’s like a coward running away," Chuck Scheckel, a World War II veteran, said of an immediate troop withdrawal. "We’ve made a commitment. We’ve spent the money. We’ve given lives." The West Chicago resident considered the group’s efforts a slap in the face to veterans. "I think that’s just what the terrorists would love to hear. To me, quitting isn’t the way," he said. Added Ken Richardt, a West Chicago veteran who lost his brother in World War II: "Can you imaging what the country would be like if Hitler had won?" Another Glen Ellyn outfit of a seemingly different political stripe, the Illinois Family Institute, has submitted petitions for a statewide question on a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman. Kolar said her group’s ballot question doesn’t target people of any political ideology. "Our question really is to get the people to speak on Iraq," she said. "It doesn’t deal with the hot-button social issues. (Gay marriage) is a wedge issue and I don’t think the war is. From http://www.dailyherald.com/search/searchstory.asp?id=192705.