Some Facts About Cindy Sheehan's Son, Casey

FrontPage Magazine ^ | August 12, 2005 | Lee Kaplan

[Sam Hill]

Some Faces About Cindy Sheehan's Son, Casey

Excerpted from this excellent article:

SFSU Hosts a Terrorist
By Lee Kaplan
FrontPageMagazine.com | May 2, 2005

While one might dismiss some of Sheehan’s hyperbole due to grief over her son’s death, a little research about Casey Sheehan revealed that contrary to being tricked by military recruiters, Casey Sheehan had re-enlisted in the U.S. Army voluntarily when he was 24-years-old, after serving his first hitch successfully. Casey Sheehan was in fact a hero who received a Bronze Star. He was attached as a mechanic to the artillery division of the 1st U.S. Cavalry in Iraq. When a convoy of soldiers from Casey’s unit was attacked in Sadr City by insurgents, Casey volunteered to join a rapid rescue force to get them out. His commanding sergeant told him he did not have to go into combat, because he was a mechanic and not an infantryman. Casey was quoted telling his officer, “I go where my chief goes.” He was tragically killed during the rescue attempt. The source for this story? Cindy Sheehan herself.

I also visited an army recruiting office on my way home and asked about Casey being promised a job as a chaplain’s assistant only to be thrust into harm’s way. The recruiter explained to me that on re-enlistment, the Army’s B.E.A.R. program (Bonus Extension and Retaining) guarantees everything in writing. If Casey was a mechanic during his first hitch, that was the only thing he would have been guaranteed per his re-enlistment contract. Further research showed that a chaplain’s assistant is a combat infantry position, whereas Casey was deployed in a non-combat job as a mechanic. Casey Sheehan sought combat duty for his country and should be honored for it, not used as a symbol of how evil the United States is.

SFSU Hosts a Terrorist
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=17915

[daybreakcoming]

I wonder if she realizes that she is a walking propaganda campaign for the illegal combatants that killed her son

I read yesterday that major Arab newspaper had picked up the "grieving mother's story". I'm sure we will be hearing the gunshots in the air celebration once Zarc's gang of thugs hear about it. Thank you Cindy, American MSM, and other braindeads.

[11Bush]

" Is Cindy Sheehan the new Rosa Parks?"

No, Rosa didn't have her own bus.

[Earthdweller]

We must turn our backs on this woman in protest for all our fine soldiers.

Ignore her...totally.

[PilloryHillary]

Cindy dearest isn't the only one lying. I listened to SeeBS Radio News earlier today and they touted the new TV ad featuring Cindy spouting off about the war etc. They featured a soundbite of her whining about no weapons of mass destruction. After that the reporter said something like "According to his spokesperson, Mr. Bush has no intention of meeting Cindy Sheehan. Today, Mr. Bush is off to a GOP FUNDRAISER and had nothing to say about her request to meet with him." NOT ONCE did they mention that Pres. Bush had ALREADY MET with Cindy and the implication was clear: Bush is too busy going to GOP fundraiser to make time for a "grieving mother" who has lost her son in Iraq. The media is supporting this woman in her agenda to take down this president. It has nothing to do with her son, who is a hero. Hard to believe he came out of Cindy Sheehan's womb.

[gimme1ibertee]

"..I can't really be sure that Ms. Sheehan is being taken advantage of, or is a willing participant in this propaganda ploy."

Probably a little of both, I would say. I was just browsing the Washington Times Nation/Politics section.I came across a piece about Ms.Sheehan's family,and how they definitely DO NOT share her view of the war and President Bush.Sounds as if she's out there on her own and the vultures of the anti-American,antiwar left have scooped her up into their waiting arms and took her to their bosom.
Not a very nice testimony to her son's heroic sacrifice.Very sad indeed.

[Sam Hill]

"Yet, they always use the mantra, "We support the troops" someone should point out that the "troops" have an American flag on their shoulders not a dish towel on their heads."

One of Cindy's pals and a partner in her Gold Star Families operation went to FALLUJAH to distrbute $600,000 in aid to the "resistance."

Cindy Sheehan's Partner - Nadia McCaffrey - Attempted Suicide Twice
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1461624/posts

[orionblamblam]

> Chaplains do not carry weapons

Well, my father (VN vet) has mroe than one tale of chaplains packing - and using - heat.

> as doing so would be a "conflict of interest."

That's why the Army needs to start hiring Asatru or Sikh chaplains. No such conflict exists in those religions.

[kcvl]

Cindy Sheehan: Evan Ashcraft was suffering from dysentery before he died. He lost 25 pounds because of dirty drinking water and bad food. Sometimes they are rationed to one bottle [of water] a day.

Army Sgt. Evan Asa Ashcraft , 24, an infantryman with the 101st Airborne Division, was one of three soldiers killed in Iraq on July 24 when the convoy in which he was traveling came under attack from gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades. Ashcraft's division led the fiery assault in northern Iraq that killed Saddam Hussein's sons Odai and Qusai Hussein.

While his country will remember him as a hero, his family remembers him as a man of exceptional character. He was an accomplished student and musician, and aspired to complete his college education upon completing his military career.

"He was a person who really wanted to help other people, to protect them," says his wife, Ashley.

The Evan Ashcraft Memorial Scholarship Fund has been established by his family to distribute college scholarships for United States military personnel living or deceased who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom or for their dependents. Those who wish to contribute to this fund can do so above.

For his exemplary military service and the valor he exhibited in rescuing two soldiers from a disabled vehicle in April, he has been awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star medals. Evan Ashcraft was buried with full military honors in Chatsworth on Saturday, August 2, 2003.

[Sam Hill]

URGENT: Send Humanitarian Aid to Iraq

 

DONATE NOW

When the US bombed a hospital in Falluja and seized another, leveled virtually the entire city, killed hundreds of desperate civilians, refused to let humanitarian aid workers into the city, and left an estimated 50,000 civilians without water, electricity and food, we here at Global Exchange knew we had to do something—FAST—because Falluja is just one terrifying example of the escalating devastation in Iraq.

So we have put together a delegation of parents who lost loved ones in Iraq and on 9/11, as well as health care workers, to take a shipment of humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq. This delegation will take desperately needed medical supplies to the Iraqi/Jordanian border, where we will meet with Iraqi humanitarian aid organizations that will take the supplies to Falluja and to those in the most need.

These supplies will only get to those in need if each of us does our part. We need you to DONATE NOW

As Global Exchange was busily preparing for the year-end humanitarian mission to the Jordanian/Iraqi border, we received an urgent message. It was from our dear friend Dahr Jamail, an amazing American independent journalist who has been risking his life to get the true story of Fallujah to the American public:

I have just come from a refugee camp in Baghdad with families from Fallujah. The suffering is beyond description. It's worse than anything you've read or anything I've written so far.

This is a humanitarian crisis. They need medicines for their camp and the other camps immediately. We have an organization set up of doctors who can distribute the medicines and supplies. BUT WE NEED THEM NOW! THIS CANNOT WAIT!

While George Bush was on the campaign trail talking about moral values, his administration was busy preparing the assault on Fallujah that was launched immediately after the election. We MUST show the Iraqis and the world community that there are indeed kind, compassionate Americans who are appalled by the immoral behavior of our government and want to help—not kill—the Iraqi people.

PLEASE HELP US GET MEDICAL AID TO THE PEOPLE OF FALLUJAH. Your donation will directly support the purchase and distribution of vital medicines as well as educate the U.S. public about the the human toll of the war in Iraq.

DONATE NOW securely online and challenge your friends, family and co-workers to MEET or BEAT your donation.

Or send checks made out to "Help Iraqis/Global Exchange" to: 2017 Mission St. #303 San Francisco, CA 94110.

KEEP INFORMED and ACTIVE. Here are three links to update you on the current crisis:

Dahr Jamail reports on the assault on Fallujah and mounting casualties.

Children Pay Cost of Iraq's Chaos : Malnutrition Nearly Double What It Was Before Invasion.

Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq

Photographs of Fallujah under siege (Warning: Graphic)

Thank you for helping the people of Iraq.

In peace and solidarity,

Medea Benjamin, Global Exchange and CODEPINK

Amalia Avila, mother of Lance Cpl. Victor Gonzalez, died in Iraq on October 13, 2004

Nadia McCaffrey, mother of Army Spc. Patrick McCaffrey, died in Iraq on June 22, 2004  <----- Cindy's fellow Gold Star Families founding member

http://tinyurl.com/as5ta

[Asphalt]

bump

[GivemeaBREAK!]

Bankrupt in mind and spirit, no surprise here.

These people are not main stream, they are down stream from the latrine. What they wallow in suits them just fine and there is no understanding their 'logic' or any point in trying to change their minds.

[kcvl]

"Not In Our Name"


Statement by Jane Bright read before congress

Jane Bright
September 9, 2003

My son, Sgt. Evan Ashcraft, was killed July 24, 2003 at 2:30 in the morning on a lonely road near Mosul, Iraq. He was 24 years old. He died alone, no family nearby, no one to hold his hand or pray over him as he left this world.

Evan was a gifted student, musician and athlete. He started college courses in mathematics and computer science when he was 13 years old. He played classical piano. He had hopes and dreams. He and his soul mate, Ashley, had big plans. Evan planned to get his college degree after he left the Army. Evan and Ashley had been married 3 years.

Evan was one of the best and the brightest. He was a leader, his team loved him and he them.

The young men and women who are dying in Iraq are our future generation of leaders. They are the future of America. They represent the best that America has to offer. Those who survive Iraq will undoubtedly face years of anguish over what they have witnessed in this immoral war, all in the name of oil. In the meantime we, the American public, sit by, mute, as we watch our young die. We must halt this unconscionable action in Iraq immediately and bring our young people home.

It's too late for my son, but it's not too late for the many tens of thousands still in Iraq. Bring them home now!

Jane Bright
Mother of Sgt Evan Ashcraft, Deceased


******


Before going to Iraq, Evan told his mother he was aware of her reservations about the war. She told him it didn't matter; she'd do what a mother does.

She'd love him. She'd believe in him. And she'd support him and his fellow soldiers 100%.

"He believed in what he was doing, and I told him, 'Go do your job. Do what you were trained to do," Bright says. "And come home safe.' "


******


October 24, 2003

War Splits Military Families

The Moral Authority Military Parents Lend to the Peace Movement Comes at a Price

snip

Jane Bright's son joined the military three years ago for many of the same reasons as Roesler's son. The discipline. The structure. A natural leader,

Evan Ashcraft was promoted quickly, rising to the rank of sergeant in the 101st Airborne Division.

A year ago, his mother began attending anti-war demonstrations in Los Angeles, where she lives, hoping to keep the war from starting and stop her son from being sent to fight it.

When she failed and Ashcraft was sent overseas, she continued to lobby to bring American soldiers home. Mother and son never discussed her protests; she didn't want her son to feel that she disagreed with what he was doing.

On July 24, the Jeep in which Ashcraft was riding was ambushed by a grenade attack. Ashcraft died instantly, leaving behind his wife of three years. He was supposed to come home this month.

A few weeks after Ashcraft's death, the military sent home the contents of his pockets to his wife. "I don't want to know what was in there,'' Bright said. "I can't. It's too poignant."

Instead, she will honor his memory by continuing to speak out against the war that killed her son. No matter what other people say to her.

"To me," Bright said, "supporting the troops means bringing them home now. ''

[Sam Hill]

Good get. As you probably know, Cindy goes around citing all kinds of stories she says she has been told--or sent by email.

Most of them sound completely made-up:

Stories From the Front

The only way to support our troops is to bring them home from this mess -- now.

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
By Cindy Sheehan, Cofounder of Gold Star Families for Peace

Lisa from Washington State writes:

My son-in-law in Iraq said they are being pressured round the clock to re-enlist or face stop loss. They are being offering $30,000 signing bonus, tax free and told if they don't re-enlist, they are going to be stop lossed and get zero dollars. They are pushing the troops round the clock and Mark only got 3 hours sleep in 48 hours and when they get back, they are faced yet again with re-enlisting. Mark said many guys are scared and signing up and their families at home are very upset. (with good reason) We really need to push our media and congressmen to expose the horrible way our troops are being treated.

Lietta, also from Washington State, writes:

Yes, I have been trying since January 05 to get the word out regarding my own 2 loved ones and the soldiers in their division. Both served in Iraq, and their division, 1st Armored, was the first to be 'extended,' so they served 15 months in Iraq, April 03 - July 04. They came back to their bases in August 04. A mere 5 months later, Jan 05, their division was told they were under orders to redeploy to Iraq and Stop Lossed and would redeploy in Fall 05. And I have been trying to call attention to the 'Retention' practices ever since.

March 05, it was time for both to make decision to re-enlist. As already under orders to redeploy; as already under Stop Loss; their choices = 1) don't re-enlist but you will wind up in Iraq anyway under Stop Loss or 2) re-enlist and while you'll still wind up in Iraq under Stop Loss, at least you'll have the attractive bonus being offered.

The point is that the 'Retention' rate that is being touted as demonstrative of soldier's fervor and good faith in the war is another deception being foisted on the media and public. Closer to the truth of the situation is that one they are in, they cannot get out and it is entrapment from the front end with deceptive recruitment practices, again at re-enlistment time with the threat of deployment to Iraq under Stop Loss, again when contract ends and they are kept in and deployed via Stop Loss. What continues to be called an 'all voluntary military' has become an 'involuntary' military through the use strategies of deception and legal maneuvering for which there seems to be no remedy in the Stop Loss.

Tia from Baltimore writes (her stepson was KIA in Iraq):

But I will never forget one thing: the day we dropped David off for boot camp - the day his father and I first met the recruiter - the recruiter put out his hand, smiled at me, shook my hand and said "you'll never have to worry about him again". I was shocked. I can only speculate what this person was telling David.

These are not isolated stories from the illegal occupation, but they are illustrative of what is happening to our young people who thought they were doing the right and honorable thing by enlisting in the military. This is an immoral war that our troops never should have been sent to in the first place, and once they are there and have done their time, it is very difficult for them to get out of the distant mental desert and come home to their loved ones.

Not only are the backend policies of retention shady, but the front-end policies of recruiting our vulnerable youth are often downright unethical. Few citizens in our country (I know I didn't) realize that an enlistment contract is only binding on the recruit. Once the recruit raises his/her right hand and swears allegiance to the government, that recruit becomes the property of Uncle Sam and is bound by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Ethics, promises, and moral correctness often fly out the window as servitude, hardship, and heartache fly in.

The only recruiting story I know by heart, and can effectively comment on, is my son Casey's. I have heard too many similar stories, however. When he was recruited in May 2000, he was promised the moon to get him to join, and he ultimately got an early grave. He was promised a $20,000 signing bonus: he received $4500 and was told that he could use the rest for college. Casey wanted to be a deacon in the Catholic Church, so when he enlisted in the Army, he was promised he could be a Chaplain's Assistant (don't believe the Army Band stories, either). When he got to boot camp, he was told that his promised specialty wasn't open, and he had the choice of being a Humvee mechanic or a cook. His recruiter told him he could finish college while in the military; he could never even get approval to take one class.

All of these broken promises mean nothing to me. One does, however. After Casey enlisted, he knew I was upset. He told me, "Mom, you don't have to worry, Sgt. (I forget his name) told me that since I scored so high on the ASVAB (military competency) test, I will never see combat, even if there is a war. I will only be in a support role."

I can still hear his voice saying those exact words to me. Those words chilled me to the bone then, and have haunted me since 9/11. First of all, because I thought Casey would be sent to fight terrorists (and "terrorists") wherever they might be, and I could see George and his warmongering band of neocons rushing us into a crazy invasion of Iraq.

My premonition came true and Casey was KIA 04/04/04: a mere 5 days after his unit arrived in Sadr City, Baghdad: IN COMBAT. The most troubling thing is, though, that some recruiters are still promising young people that they won't have to go to Iraq if they sign up. I am being told that all the time by young people who talk to the multi-level marketers working towards their bonuses -- oops, I mean military recruiters.

As long as our young people are being lied to and used so dishonorably in an unjust invasion and occupation of another country; as long as they are fighting for a corrupt government and still without the proper equipment, food, training, or leadership; as long as moms are having to hold bake sales to buy their sons body armor; as long as our soldiers are being held against their wills long after they have done their duty; as long as they are being sent to kill innocent people; military service should be opposed.

Let's affirm life in the fullest for everybody: the unfortunate, uncounted people living Iraq who are "acceptable" collateral damage to the war hawks, and our own indispensable loved ones. The only way to support our troops is to bring them home from this mess --now.

The American public and Congress need to hear more stories from the front. The tragedy and atrocities of this occupation need to be in the forefront of every American's mind, so there can be an uprising of peace. If you have a story similar to the ones I have told, please forward them to me. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Oh) would like to put these stories, now engraved only in our hearts, into the Congressional Record. Thank you.

Cindy Sheehan
SCindy121@aol.com
Cofounder of Gold Star Families for Peace
www.GSFP.org

[Christian4Bush]

bttt

[Sam Hill]

 

 

Cindy Sheehan, of Berkley, Calif., wipes away a tear Monday, July 11, 2005, at San Francisco City Hall in San Francisco, while discussing the death of her son Casey, who died on April 4, 2004, five days after he arrived with his Army unit in Iraq. Sheehan said that the recruiter who persuaded her son to join the Army four years earlier promised Casey he would never see combat and reneged on most of the signing bonus he was guaranteed. (AP Photo/John M. Harris)

[kcvl]

Army Cpl. Evan Asa Ashcraft, 24, West Hills, Calif.;

Considering himself a protector, Cpl. Evan Ashcraft believed in his mission in Iraq and hoped to become a police officer when he returned home.

The 24-year-old infantryman was one of three soldiers killed July 24 when the convoy they were traveling in fell under attack from gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades. The attack at about 2:30 a.m. came in the middle of the desert as the convoy traveled toward Qayyarah, 185 miles north of Baghdad. Ashcraft's division led the fiery assault in northern Iraq that killed Odai and Qusai Hussein.

"He absolutely wanted to be there," said his father, Asa Ashcraft. "In his last letter, he said, 'Dad, I've seen an awful lot of stuff. We'll talk about it when I get back.'"

Ashcraft, a San Fernando Valley native, planned to join the Los Angeles Police Department upon his scheduled January discharge from the Army, said his wife, 23-year-old Ashley Ashcraft.

"He was a person who really wanted to help other people, to protect them," she said. Asa Ashcraft said his son was excited about joining the SWAT team, "And he would have made it, too. He set goals and achieved them."

[WHBates]

I guess she really is dancing on his grave. If it is true that he reenlisted, it makes her entire act a disgrace of her son. As I said on another thread it is a truly very, very sad situation. We should not be witnessing this breakdown in public.

[Hoboken]

Thanks for your touching post. This poor woman has been radicalized in her grief by the pinko propagandists. I wish her serenity and thank her for her sacrifice. The MSM and the America haters egging her on deserve nothing but scorn.

[alisasny]

and dont forget she refers to her son as a MAN CHILD...

yikes

[fatnotlazy]

I know a woman who lost her son in Vietnam. She was opposed to the war and I'm sure this made her tragedy all the more difficult to bear. However, unlike Ms. Sheehan's son, this woman's son was DRAFTED. He did not CHOOSE to go and serve. I can have considerable sympathy for this woman. At the very least, she did not to my knowledge try to go out and bash the President at the time. However she felt, she kept silent.

Mrs. Sheehan is grieving...I can understand that...and perhaps someone in grief would tend to lash out at other people, and not hold in like the woman I mentioned above. It is said there are various stages to grief -- anger is one of them. But for Mrs. Sheehan to throw in with the kooks and loonies (and in some cases, downright traitorous groups) is just not right. In the end, she is going to cause herself still more grief.