The bravest woman I know.

• Author: Kelly, Kathy
• Position: Cynthia Banas

CYNTHIA BANAS IS THE BRAVEST woman I know. An eighty-two-year old librarian from Vernon, New York, she has spent decades working for peace. She began her humanitarian work as an ardent supporter of UNICEF, and she brought supplies to beleaguered communities in Latin America and Haiti. Then, as part of Voices in the Wilderness, she joined our forty-day fasts, spent many nights in New York City jails, and through the 1990s helped lead several delegations to Iraq to break U.S./U.N. economic sanctions on the people there.

However, Baghdad in the spring of 2003 was her first time ever living in a war zone.

She flinched at each explosion. After the first day of bombing, I was worried she was going to have a heart attack.

Cynthia survived the bombing with her heartbeat as strong as ever, but yes, each blast struck her to the core. Mortars, anti-aircraft fire, cluster bombs, land mines, cruise missiles, Massive Ordnance Air Bombs, the roar of C-130 transports, JDAM missiles, rocket-propelled grenades--each and every one of these murderous, ugly assaults on human decency ripped into her, and she couldn't help cringing.

When the U.S. troops arrived, outside the Al Fanar Hotel, Cynthia quickly scooped up banners for us to hold, stating "Courage for Peace, Not War" and "War = Terror." She was dressed in her CodePink hat and a T-shirt bearing the slogan "War Is Not the Answer." We stared at the Marines, young men laden with many pounds of gear and weapons. They were sweaty, tired, thirsty, and, well, friendly.

"Where are you from?" they shouted to us. "Are you Red Sox fans?"

"They're just kids," Cynthia observed, and within minutes she was walking toward an Armored Personnel Carrier, carrying a six pack of bottled water.

Two days later, Cynthia approached the soldiers again, carrying a sign that quoted the Geneva Accords, which state that an occupying force is responsible to maintain law and order. Ever the librarian, she had the exact document at her fingertips.

When my colleague Cathy Breen and I packed our bags to leave Iraq, Cynthia had planned to go with us, but I wasn't surprised when she changed her mind.

It was conductor Hisham Al Sharaf, of the Iraqi National Orchestra, who encouraged Cynthia to stay. Months prior, before Shock and Awe, she had marked April 21 on our wall calendar: "Spring concert, Iraq National Orchestra." She didn't intend to miss it--not for the world. Because of the destruction of the U.S. attack and occupation, Sharaf...