(L.M. Otero/Associated Press)
Gary Qualls of Temple, who supports the war, kneels in front of a memorial to his fallen son, Marine Lt. Cpl. Louis Qualls, in Crawford Saturday.
Found this picture in a MySA.com article
Posted on 08/20/2005 4:27:02 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
A patriotic camp with a "God Bless Our President!" banner sprung up downtown Saturday, countering the anti-war demonstration started by a fallen soldier's mother two weeks ago near President Bush's ranch.
The camp is named "Fort Qualls" in memory of Marine Lance Cpl. Louis Wayne Qualls, 20, killed in Fallujah, Iraq, last fall. His father, Gary Qualls of Temple, said his 16-year-old son also wants to enlist, and he supports that decision.
"If I have to sacrifice my whole family for the sake of our country and world, other countries that want freedom, I'll do that," said Qualls, a friend of the local business owner who started the pro-Bush camp, Bill Johnson.
Cindy Sheehan of Vacaville, Calif., started the war protest Aug. 6 off the road leading to Bush's ranch. It has grown to about 100 core participants, and hundreds more from across the nation have visited, many staying a few days.
Sheehan remained Saturday in Los Angeles, where she flew Thursday after her 74-year-old mother had a stroke. Her mother has some paralysis on her right side but is in good spirits, and if she improves Sheehan may return to Texas in a few days, some demonstrators said.
In her absence, the rest of the group will keep camping out for the unlikely chance to question the president about the war that has claimed the lives of about 1,850 U.S. soldiers. Sheehan's 24-year-old son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, died last year just five days after arriving in Iraq.
Sheehan had refused to leave until Bush talked to her or until the end of his monthlong vacation, scheduled for Sept. 3. Bush has said he sympathizes with Sheehan but won't change his schedule to meet with her. She and other families met with Bush about two months after Casey died, before she became a vocal opponent of the war.
Large counter-protests were held in a ditch near Sheehan's site a week after she arrived, and since then a few Bush supporters have stood in the sun holding signs for several hours each day.
But Johnson, who owns the town's biggest gift and souvenir store Yellow Rose, said he created "Fort Qualls" as a larger, more convenient place for Bush supporters. The tent and a trailer on a vacant lot beside his store will be staffed each day, but people will probably not sleep there.
"A lot of people saw a problem (with the war protest) and said there needs to be relief," Johnson said Saturday afternoon, as patriotic music played at the tent containing a life-size cardboard cutout of Bush.
Qualls gained attention last week when he went to Sheehan's camp, which has hundreds of crosses as a tribute to troops killed, and removed one bearing his son's name. But he said protesters keep replacing it; he has yanked two more crosses, saying the protesters' views are disrespectful to soldiers.
Johnson and others at "Fort Qualls" have asked for a debate with those at the Crawford Peace House, which is helping Sheehan.
It's unclear if that will happen. But a member of Gold Star Families for Peace, co-founded by Sheehan and comprised of relatives of fallen soldiers, said her group would not participate.
"We're asking for a meeting with the president, period," said Michelle DeFord, whose 37-year-old son, Sgt. David W. Johnson, was in the Army National Guard from Oregon when he was killed in Iraq last fall. "We don't want to debate with people who don't understand our point of view."
Red Baiter writes: 4. Soldiers should realize that this is an illegal war and that following illegal orders is a violation of the Uniform Code Of Military Justice, The Geneva Conventions and the United Nations charter, which we have agreed as a nation to respect as international law.
6. Yes, dying for a lie is dying in vain. Pretending that it is not a lie doesn’t change the fact that the death had no legitimate purpose. That is why so many of us are outraged. Our soldiers should never die without a legitimate purpose.
You have touched on an important point here. The root cause of the problem can be defined as selfishness. It's like a man who lives in a community with violence all around. His neighbors are raped and murdered. Drug dealers stand on the corner peddling death, and the selfish man's mentality says, "as long as they don't come to my door, let them do what they will, let someone deal with it." Yet, the same selfish man will be the first to cry out for help when they come to his door after his wife and kids. The world has no cares or concerns for its neighbors, only themselves! They have no clue what God meant when He said, "as you would have men do unto you, so do unto them."
sorry (someone else)
What I find interesting is that this blog is hosted at http://www.wacotrib.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/sheehan/index.html
Now that would lead a person to think that http://www.wacotrib.com/ © 2005 Cox Texas Newspapers, L.P. - The Waco Tribune-Herald is hosting blogs, but that doesn't appear to be the case...in fact, it appears that this pro-sheehan Camp Casey blog is the only blog The Waco Tribune-Herald is hosting!
How's that for an impartial press?
Gary Qualls of Temple, who supports the war, kneels in front of a memorial to his fallen son, Marine Lt. Cpl. Louis Qualls, in Crawford Saturday.
Found this picture in a MySA.com article
Better than Syrup of Ipecac.
Thanks for the ping!
Great graphic! Now that's a woman to be proud of!!
This picture just breaks my heart......such a contrast to the dispicable ditch witch!
Love it! "My neighbor, George Bush"
Wonderful post. Thanks
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