Posted on 08/17/2005 1:56:34 PM PDT by Kaslin
Natalie Healy made a decision this summer after losing her son in war-torn Afghanistan.
"I can't go to those mountains and climb them and I can't shoot a gun," she said. "But I can do everything I can to make sure we stay the course, and if that means speaking out, then that's what I want to do."
Less than two months after the death of her son, Navy SEAL Senior Chief Petty Officer Daniel Healy, the Exeter mother and small business owner is following through on her word.
Healy is making her feelings known in response to the nation's interest in a California mother who has camped outside President Bush's Texas ranch to protest the war in Iraq. Cindy Sheehan's 24-year-old son was killed in Iraq last year.
Healy said she initially sympathized with the grief-stricken mom. Now, however, as Sheehan's message continues to fill the airwaves, Healy said she fears a backlash against the war on terrorism.
"It's sort of like a tidal wave," Healy said. "And it's gaining and gaining and gaining. And I'm not sure what will stop it, to tell you the truth.
"My big concern is that the enemy will use Cindy Sheehan to their benefit. They will point to her and say, 'See? See how this American is calling the President a murderer? See how they're going to start weakening from within?'"
Healy said she was booked to speak on MSNBC's "Hardball" with Chris Matthews last night. The interview got bumped just a few hours before the show, she said.
But Healy said spreading her voice to support the war effort is her "new mission in life."
"I'm hoping, by having another mother who's lost a son speaking out loudly and strongly, that the troops will hear it and be heartened by it," she said. "Because we all know how they're always shocked when they get home and they find out what has been reported."
Several national polls show that a majority of Americans now consider the decision to invade Iraq a mistake. Healy herself said she initially had doubts about the war. She is now convinced the United States cannot leave Iraq just yet.
"The fact of the matter is, at this stage in the game, we're over there," she said. "We have to complete the mission."
Healy said she doubted Sheehan's son, Casey, would support his mother's mission.
Rather, she said, "I think my son would be happy that I was trying to remind people that we have to stay the course. We have to, without a doubt. And I know he'd be saying, 'OK, mom. Good. Good, mom.'"
Healy recognized the public's opinion of the Iraqi conflict is not the same as its opinion of the war in Afghanistan, where her son died June 28. Daniel Healy, a 36-year-old father of four, was one of 16 soldiers killed when insurgents shot down their helicopter.
But Healy said the two conflicts are part of the same war on terrorism, and it's a war the U.S. must continue to fight.
"I think fighting for freedom in Iraq and fighting for freedom in Afghanistan is one and the same," she said.
Healy is hopeful that the public will hear both sides in the debate over pulling U.S. troops from Iraq. It would be harmful, she said, if Sheehan's voice carried the day.
"I just don't want it to be the only story," Healy said. "I want the other voices to be heard so that the young men that fought with my son — that were broken-hearted from all their buddies getting killed — will know somebody else is speaking out for them. And maybe they won't be heard as much as Cindy Sheehan, but there's somebody trying, anyway."
She called into WRKO in Boston last week and stated that she had contacted the networks and Fox and had not gotten so much as a reply. She spoke to the host and the guest (can't remember who but he was a retired Army colonel). Very well spoken and I think we will hear a little more from her. But I'm sure nothing compared to Cry-lady Sheehan.
Bless this woman and her hero son. It's sad that a mother like Mrs. Healy needs to come forward and speak up. She would probably prefer to grieve quietly, but feels compelled to come forward to counteract the lunatic ravings of Cindy.
'COurse it won't. When some hog who's one out of a hundred thousand or so parents screams that he son was a Nazi and that she never met President Bush, it's 24/7 coverage, but when one OUT of a hundred thousand or so says her son DID NOT die in vain and that his cause was just....the media ignores it. Conflict sells. Truth doesn't...at least as far as the socialist mass media is concerned. If truth REALLY didn't sell of course, we'd never have heard of Rush Limbaugh.
She should camp out outside Pinch Sulzberger's office and ask to meet with him so she can tell him to stop undermining the war effort and making her son's sacrifice for naught.
Face it folks.....
Much of the MSM and TV talking heads are nothing more complex than ENEMIES of the Republic....
They do NOT seek the truth......they can't stand the truth.
They do NOT seek to inform......they propogandize to their agenda.
They can NOT be trusted.
They would open America to great risks, and sell America down the river in a heartbeat.
This fine woman, who serves her son's memory with dignity -- will never get the coverage the loony leftist bitch is getting...
Semper Fi
The same DUmmies worshipping Mother Sheehan will tell this woman to shut up, and say she's delusional.
The MSM are disgusting - Make calls, send emails lets help Natalie Healy make sure these networks allow her to express her thoughts (as every bit as much as they allow Mrs. Sheehan).
"CALLER: Absolutely. I'm a MOM, which stands for, "Mother of a Marine", and I'm looking for a bumper sticker that says, "Your son got an A in college; my son got a Purple Heart in Iraq." His vehicle ran over a land mine twice in one day. We always talk about "if" something would happen to my son, I would never dishonor him. I'm sorry. I'm getting emotional in this. I would never dishonor his actions by doing what this woman is doing...."
Excerpt. Caller of the Year Debbie in Indianapolis, the Voice of America
sound of crickets chirping
Good comparison, and a good example. More comparisons come to mind, some dealing with class, others dealing with honor and duty. Sheehan comes up much shorter on those than she does on Google hits.
Hey, why isn't the MSM falling all over itself with sympathy for this woman?
Wish I had. God bless her.
Anyone besides me notice the tilt towards the left (and the ensuing resemblance of the rest of the MSM) on Fox lately? Maybe it's just my imagination. Given my perception, then, it's not really surprising to me that Fox didn't want to give this great lady the time of day.
What's worse, she might even be harassed or threatened. That's how the left deals with anyone who dares to hold another viewpoint.
BTTT
The only thing we can do, as far as I can see, is get Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, wives, grandparents sons and daughters of our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq to begin banding together, wearing signs identifying them as the proud [relationship here] of a [military branch here] and camping outside Foxnews headquarters - where they and their signs can be seen in the background if not in the studio.
Thanks for the info. I am now going through the Google hits one by one and opening them. The least we can do is to help keep the woman from slipping off the front page immediately.
God bless this lady and her fallen hero. Unfortunately, if America doesn't wake up and start thinking like her, the War against terrorism is over......... and we lost.
There are just too many cowards and traitors in what was once a proud United States. Frankly, I am so sick of what America has become, I am almost ready for it to die.
This is no longer the Country my Grandfather fought for. I was lucky and arguably, I am all in one piece. But thanks to Nam, my brother will never be the same. Just like then, it is the "enemy within" that is killing us and our Country. History has taught us nothing.
Ditto, God bless you and yours too.
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