Sentiments that a few months ago were reserved for extremist rallies are now part of 4th of July parades?
Posted on 07/10/2004 9:28:38 PM PDT by JohnD9207
Friday, July 9, 2004
Veteran gets rude welcome on Bainbridge
By ROBERT L. JAMIESON Jr. SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST
Think about the Seattle area -- Bainbridge Island to be exact -- and you think scenic views and liberal-minded tolerance.
At least the killer views are still there.
The bucolic island's deep reputation for civility got a gut check this week during the annual Grand Old Fourth of July celebration.
That's when Jason Gilson, a 23-year-old military veteran who served in Iraq, marched in the local event. He wore his medals with pride and carried a sign that said "Veterans for Bush."
Walking the parade route with his mom, younger siblings and politically conservative friends, Jason heard words from the crowd that felt like a thousand daggers to the heart.
"Baby killer!"
"Murderer!"
"Boooo!"
To understand why the reaction of strangers hurt so much, you must read what the young man had written in a letter from Iraq before he was disabled in an ambush:
"I really miss being in the states. Some of the American public have no idea how much freedom costs and who the people are that pay that awful price. I think sometimes people just see us as nameless and faceless and not really as humans. ... A good portion of us are actually scared that when we come home, for those of us who make it back, that there will be protesters waiting for us and that is scary."
On the Fourth, Jason faced his worst fear.
It was such a public humiliation -- home front insult after battlefield injury.
It really shouldn't have happened for two principal reasons.
Reason No. 1? History.
The past informs us that the men and women who fight our wars are not just following orders.
They are risking life and limb.
When they return from the battlefield they should be embraced regardless of the public popularity about the conflict, regardless of the politics.
Have we so quickly forgotten the painful lessons of Vietnam?
Frederick Scheffler, whose daughter and son-in-law marched with Jason on Sunday, hasn't.
Scheffler -- an Army veteran of two tours in Southeast Asia -- was shot in the leg during that long-ago conflict.
He came home with a cane, only to discover the American public was either indifferent to his sacrifice or downright hostile.
"I didn't think in this day and age combat veterans would be treated in this manner," Scheffler, 60, tells me, reflecting on Jason. "I saw it happen to veterans in Vietnam. I'm not going to let it happen today, not to these kids."
Reason No. 2? The rules.
The Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce, which put on the community celebration, permits freedom of expression at the event but asks that parade announcers not act in a manner that is partisan or prejudicial.
Jason's mother, Tamar, says a female parade announcer locked eyes on her son who was walking behind a pro-Republican group called Women in Red, White and Blue. The group supports President Bush and the troops in the fight against terrorism.
According to Tamar, the female announcer sarcastically asked Jason: "And what exactly are you a veteran of?"
The perceived mocking, the mother adds, set off some people in the crowd, loosing a flood of negative comments, "like a wave... a mob-style degrading."
Kevin Dwyer, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, spoke with the announcer after the allegations reached him this week.
He says the woman denies using sarcasm; she just wanted to know which war Jason was a veteran of so that she could "honor him" in public.
"It wasn't her intention to incite anything -- that's what she told me," Dwyer said. "But if she acted out of school, that's not what we're about."
Dwyer added: "I believe (Jason's) mom when she said her son was called 'a murderer.' But I'm sure it wasn't so much directed at the kid as it was the president. A soldier with a sign represents that."
The female announcer told Dwyer that some in the Bush-Cheney contingent in the parade seemed "militant."
And so, battle lines are drawn.
From the outside looking in, the fuel for this conflict seems obvious.
The left-leaning island hosted a group of people who support Bush's controversial war. (On the same parade route, people bearing pro-Kerry signs were cheered and applauded for, among other things, tooling around in an environmentally responsible car.)
Against such a roiling backdrop, an unfortunate tone of voice or the wording on a sign can spark, well, something -- something unconscionable it appears.
But less obvious factors are undoubtedly at work here, too.
The female announcer at the parade had a father who fought for America in a previous U.S. conflict. He never made it back home.
Jason's mother -- unbeknownst to many observers along the parade route -- is a tireless activist behind the pro-troops movement in the Puget Sound region.
Such a combo on a day of red, white and blue can only lead to fireworks -- snap, crackle and popping off during what locals call the "best small-town parade in America."
More headlines and info from Bainbridge Island.
P-I columnist Robert L. Jamieson Jr. can be reached at 206-448-8125 or robertjamieson@seattlepi.com
Sorry...I was so pi$$ed I thought the article said he was wounded. Doesn't change the post, or the rage I feel...but I want this post to be accurate. Thank's
John
Blood Pressure Warning Ping
Yeah the northwest has brought us such brave people Jim McDermott...some people have no shame
Gee, where do these kids get these ideas?
Video Link: http://play.rbn.com/?url=demnow/demnow/demand/2004/feb/256/dnB20040220a.rm&proto=rtsp&start=5:15
Audio Link: http://stream.realimpact.net/rihurl.ram?file=webactive/demnow/dn20040220.ra&start=5:15
JOHN KERRY: Several months ago, in Detroit, we had an investigation at which over 150 honorably discharged, and many very highly decorated, veterans testified to war crimes committed in Southeast Asia. These were not isolated incidents, but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis, with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command. It is impossible to describe to you exactly what did happen in Detroit--the emotions in the room, and the feelings of the men who were reliving their experiences in Vietnam. They relived the absolute horror of what this country, in a sense, made them do.
They told stories that, at times, they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Ghengis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam, in addition to the normal ravage of war and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country.
We call this investigation the Winter Soldier Investigation. The term "winter soldier" is a play on words of Thomas Paine's in 1776, when he spoke of the "sunshine patriots," and "summertime soldiers" who deserted at Valley Forge because the going was rough.
We who have come here to Washington have come here because we feel we have to be winter soldiers now. We could come back to this country, we could be quiet, we could hold our silence, we could not tell what went on in Vietnam, but we feel, because of what threatens this country, not the reds, but the crimes which we are committing that threaten it, that we have to speak out.
Excerpted - click for full article ^
Source: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/02/20/1535232
Sentiments that a few months ago were reserved for extremist rallies are now part of 4th of July parades?
Apparently he was - from your article:
To understand why the reaction of strangers hurt so much, you must read what the young man had written in a letter from Iraq before he was disabled in an ambush
What everyone fails to understand, is that those people are the new and improved "progressives". Nothing like the uninformed, drugged up, idiots from the 60's and 70's that could not think past the "free love" and the "mind altering experiences".
Historically...Washington state has had the "nuts" since the day it became a state. Up through the 1920s and 1930s...it was the one potential state that might have easily gone socialist. McDermott is simply a product of the state...there are more like him. As for the behavior of these folks toward the wounded Vet...he would have been treated alot better down in Texas or Mississippi. We stand by our guys.
How can we exploit this for political gain? I think most Americans would be appalled at this if they knew about it. We have to find outlets b/c the mainstream media will not do it.
And for that 150 there are THOUSANDS who served honorably, and with dignity. I believe that liberals suck off the sic and try to picture the majority as the few.
WE should HAIL the bravery of those who helped orphanages, fed the starving, and made life better for the Vietnamese. They so far outnumber the few that acted irresponsible that I can't believe we give that crap airtime or paper.
There are a number of conservatives here. It's just that most of them live outside Seattle - and Seattle residents flex a lot of voting muscle.
hogwash
You know, I would like to think that had I been there, or if I ever am around anyone that says that B.S. to a veteran of ours that I'd beat the daylights out of them, it would be worth the arrest and charges later.
I'm with you, if I saw that kinda of trash spewing that nonsense I would open a huge can of whoop ass on them.
Had I been present there would have been a "disturbance". I remember how I felt when it happend to me and I swore I would not stand for it happening again.
Thanks to creeps like Michael Moore, Howard Dean, and the DNC this kind of anti-war hate and resentment is on the rise in America. All part of the hate campaign that hopes to unseat our President.
Note to anyone who would do this to one of our fantastic veterans:
Since you have no God, pray, (and I mean PRAY HARD), to whatever slimy rock you crawled out from under and call your momma that you never, ever do this while I'm within earshot.
You will be changed.
This was posted first last night--In that thread people gave the addresses and numbers of Bainbridge's Chamber of Commerce. I emailed them all. AFeel free. Another story later today said they are disputing some of the story, but have been swamped with protests about this behavior. This story indicates their spokeswoman set it off with her question to him. Most galling is no one had the guts to take the microphone and tell the creeps to shut up.
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