Posted on 04/23/2005 3:26:56 PM PDT by SmithL
LAKEPORT, Calif. - Activist Marla Ruzicka was remembered Saturday for her dedication to humanitarian causes and her personal mission of counting civilian war deaths in Iraq.
Friends, family, colleagues and journalists offered memories of a passionate, dedicated, young woman who accomplished much in 28 years. Mourners came from around the world for the service, which lasted more than three hours.
Kevin Danaher, co-founder of San Francisco-based Global Exchange, a nonprofit international human rights organization, said Ruzicka's magic was understanding and showing unconditional love.
"That's why a 28-year-old woman from a small town in Northern California has so many people around the world grieving for her," Danaher said.
Ruzicka's mission as founder of CIVIC, the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict, was to tally the toll of civilian deaths. Last Saturday, she became one of those statistics when she was killed in a car bombing in Baghdad, along with her interpreter and another foreigner.
More than 400 people packed into St. Mary's Catholic Church and more than 200 stood outside under darkening skies in Ruzicka's hometown, a city on the shore of Clear Lake in remote Northern California, about 350 miles north of San Francisco.
The Rev. Ted Oswald celebrated the Mass honoring Ruzicka. He offered a mix of personal anecdotes, referred to the recent death of Pope John Paul II and compared her to Mother Teresa. The upbeat homily brought laughter and applause from the congregation, which included actor Sean Penn, who also has spent time in Iraq and said he counted Ruzicka among his heroes.
Oswald told of how, as an 8-year-old, Ruzicka sold rocks door-to-door for a quarter, then used the money to buy her mother flowers.
He said she had done things in her own quiet way - and in a not-so-quiet way.
"There's no doubt in my mind that the good Lord has his hands full right now," Oswald said, referring to Ruzicka's outspoken nature. "Not only does he have his hands full, but heaven will never be the same."
Several journalists offered accounts of how they had met her, the social events she organized in Afghanistan and Iraq, her boundless energy and her commitment to her cause. They also told lighter stories about how she arrived unprepared, bumbled with her cell phone, but quickly won them over.
"She made me feel like I was the greatest person on earth," said Quill Lawrence who works for BBC. "I have it in writing. And I know all of you do as well."
Several speakers said no one in the church during the course of much longer lives would be able to accomplish what she had in her short lifetime.
But Bobby Muller, chairman of Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, said the true value of her work was that she countered the festering cynicism that has left people feeling powerless.
"Marla demonstrated the fact that an individual can make a profound difference in this world," Muller said. "This woman was our inspiration."
Every time an anti-American fellow traveller dies, an angel get's his wings.
So when is the Beatification?/sarcasm
"Last Saturday, she became one of those statistics when she was killed in a car bombing in Baghdad, along with her interpreter and another foreigner. "
This is sad but also there is a good lesson to be learned here -- the left won't of course get it.
THEY DON'T CARE WHO THEY KILL. An Infidel is an infidel is an infidel, is an infidel is an infidel, is an infidel is an infidel, is an infidel is an infidel, is an infidel is an infidel, is an infidel is an infidel,is an infidel is an infidel, is an infidel is an infidel, is an American with their co-infidels.
As long as they weren't Americans.
Sounds kind of conditional to me.
But, that implies the Leftist becomes the angel? Doesn't that violate their core beliefs?
Oh, the irony!!
Unless their internal polling told them otherwise.
We need to start a ticker that tracks the death toll for anti America activists. Something similar to how the MSM counts our dead military heroes.
I get a bad feeling just hearing her get slammed because she was counting the dead. I don't know her any better, but whatever her motives for being in Iraq or her political leanings, she's dead now. That said I wish young naive people would not feel compelled to go there, I hate reading about their deaths. It's a warzone and the only Americans who need to be in that country are those rebuilding it, and those fighting the war.
Archie Bunker on steroids wrote:
We need to start a ticker that tracks the death toll for anti America activists. Something similar to how the MSM counts our dead military heroes.
--> I knew you guys would be so heartless and uncaring when i saw this thread SOB/Sob/sob i'm crying my eyes out. /sarc!
No doubt this is one of those activists screaming Bush killed 100,000+ civilians huh? I'm sure there's another "bleeding heart activist" taking her place already.
People working as a field agent for Code Pink/Global Exchange are up to a lot more than counting the dead. How about helping to get 650,000 dollars for Fallujah, protesting the recruiting offices in the US. She slept with dogs and got more than flea bites.
nice tag
She's the one killed by a car bomb. She was on a campaign for the Iraqi civilians and civilian war dead.
>>people packed into St. Mary's Catholic Church <<
Ewwww, I thought for sure it was going to be a Unitarian church.
The Unitarian Church is just a front for the Communist Party USA.
I wondered if she counted the number of civilians Saddam had murdered?
That's why I figured it was the Unitarian church. They're nothing but a den of socialist vermin who are looking for a "convenient" so-called religion that fits their template.
My own comment on this whole story is that she was a fine example of American idealism, similar to the missionaries and peace workers who have given up their comfort, and sometimes their lives, in many places.
She was a mis-guided anti-war activist, but I'll give her credit for putting herself on the line for her beliefs.
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