Veterans for Peace plan Armistice Day events in Iowa City

IOWA CITY - Veterans for Peace, Iowa City Chapter 161, will mark the 101st observance of Armistice Day, also known as Veterans Day, on Monday with two events.

Whistleblower Coleen Rowley, a former FBI agent and 2002 Time Woman of the Year, will speak at a University of Iowa Lecture Series at 7:30 p.m. in the Senate Chamber of Old Capitol.

Army Maj. Danny Sjursen, retired, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, taught at West Point and is a critic of U.S. perpetual wars, will join her.

At 10:45 a.m., the public is invited to hear Ross Porch play the bugle call for assembly on the Iowa City Ped Mall.

The annual tolling of church bells at 11 a.m. will follow a brief ceremony featuring Veterans for Peace members from across Iowa.

The ringing of church bells to mark the end of World War I Nov. 11, 1918, has been repeated every Armistice Day since then.

Iowa City Mayor Jim Throgmorton, a veteran, will unveil a new Peace Pole for the Ped Mall. Guitarist Jean Littlejohn and members of the Family Folk Machine will lead the crowd in singing a song of peace. Taps will close the observance.

A free lunch will follow, with an open mic, in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library.