FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE- 100 years of "11th Hour": Touring Belltower at State Capitol Through Veterans (Armistice) Day - With NC Humanities Council Funded Photo Exhibit
(Public Invited to Inscribe Plaques on Tower and Ring Bell to Remember Costs of War, share stories for the documentary project, and join in procession from Belltower at NCSU to Swords to Plowshare Belltower at State Capitol)
Contact: Roger Ehrlich (919) 696-5995, progerehrlich@gmail.com
When: Nov 2nd-11th, 24 hours (specific event details below)
Where: NC State Capitol, South Patio, Fayetteville St. and Morgan St.
What: A 24-ft-tall touring "Swords to Plowshares Memorial Belltower" covered with memorial plaques made from recycled cans that are being inscribed by visitors to bear witness to effects of war on veterans and victims of war on all sides (including recent wars, veteran suicides, effects on families, Agent Orange, etc..) Visitors may share stories for a documentary project. There will also be an outdoor mounted photo exhibit with large photographs of past visitors to the Belltower and excerpts of interviews with them about the memorial plaques they added to the tower, and their thoughts about how we might 'Beat Swords into Plowshares,' or redirect resources from war to rebuilding civil society in a way that helps all veterans and victims of war.
All are welcome to join a small procession to observe the Centennial from the Memorial Belltower at NCSU departing at 1:11 pm on Sunday Nov 11th 1.5 miles down Hillsborough St to the Swords to Plowshares Belltower where a bell ringing ceremony will be held at 2:11 pm.
Watch the Intro Video! (3'30") (News media are free to excerpt this footage and other video and footage available at Swords to Plowshares Belltower website
Who: Hosted by Eisenhower Chapter 157 of Veterans For Peace, with grant support from North Carolina Humanities Council.
Why: To remember the Centennial of Armistice Day, signed on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, when bells rang around the world to celebrate the end of what was supposed to be "The War to End All Wars," mourn ALL the dead and wounded, and usher in a period of rebuilding. Wars are ongoing, Armistice Day became Veterans Day after the Korean war, and the day lost some of its emphasis on International Peace building. But efforts to redirect resources and rebuild to meet needs of returning veterans, refugees and other victims of war are urgent. The bronze door on the WWI-Era Memorial Belltower at NCSU is a reminder of the original spirit of Armistice Day. The Old Testament passage, reproduced on the touring Belltower, "And They Shall Beat Their Swords into Plowshares" is taken as prophetic by Jews, Christians, Muslims and others. The touring Belltower is at the State Capitol for the fourth time and has travelled from Raleigh all the way to the National Mall in DC to be installed near the Vietnam Memorial four times. A grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council has been received to help document the memorial plaques, now in many different languages, as the Centennial of Armistice Day approaches.