Posted on 08/25/2005 1:01:05 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
CRAWFORD - With singing and tears, protest mom Cindy Sheehan returned to her vigil near President Bush's ranch Wednesday, less than a week after leaving to care for her ailing mother.
Alighting with an armful of flowers from a van that brought her from the airport, Sheehan's first act on returning was to find the cross with her son's name on it amid dozens set in the ground at her new campsite.
"Does anybody know where Casey's cross is?" Sheehan said.
She placed the flowers, then joined other mothers of fallen service members for a group hug.
Rick Burnley, a New Mexico poet with bare feet and long, salt-and-pepper hair, played a Jethro Tull song on a soprano recorder while a small clutch of women sobbed and hugged Sheehan.
"This is the center of the world," Burnley said.
Asked later how it felt to be back at "Camp Casey," Sheehan gave two thumbs up. Her supporters, who have dwindled significantly in numbers during her absence, are hoping that Sheehan's return will rejuvenate their anti-war effort by bringing more attention back to Crawford.
Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq, is demanding a meeting with Bush so he can explain his statements that the war is a noble cause. She is vowing to remain at her encampment near the Western White House until he meets with her or returns to Washington.
In downtown Crawford, meanwhile, another grieving parent is gaining attention.
Gary Qualls, a Temple man whose son, Louis, was killed in Iraq, came to Crawford as a protest to Sheehan's protest. A soft-spoken veteran and Bush supporter, Qualls is presiding over an orderly series of tents dubbed "Fort Qualls" behind the Yellow Rose gift shop.
"I am here to bring back and keep respect for fallen heroes and for President Bush," Qualls said.
Opposition on the way
Of his counterparts at Camp Casey, Qualls said, "It's more than apparent they have come here to wage war against decent people."
This weekend, a caravan of demonstrators opposed to Sheehan's vigil are due to arrive in Crawford from San Diego. The "You Don't Speak for Us, Cindy" tour is expected to bring at least 10,000 more demonstrators to this tiny ranching community.
Gregg Garvey, whose son, Justin, was killed in Iraq, drove up to Crawford from Florida and pulled into town on Tuesday. He and Qualls have both retrieved from Sheehan's camp the memorial crosses bearing their sons' names.
"It didn't make me feel good that my son's cross was sitting in a ditch," Garvey said.
The two crosses joined those of several others whose parents also objected to Sheehan's memorial, in a small patch of dirt in front of the Fort Qualls tent.
Dueling protests
The two dueling protests have grown intensely hostile, with each side sharply criticizing how the other has chosen to grieve. Much of the back-and-forth has centered on the hundreds of small white crosses that Sheehan's camp built as part of their anti-war protest.
Qualls, who has challenged Sheehan to a debate, grows teary and emotional when describing his shock on learning his son, a Marine, was killed in Fallujah.
"The people on this side are righteous," Qualls said of his supporters and those in town to show support for Bush and the troops. "I have to stand up for what's right."
Barry Crimmins, a writer for the liberal radio network Air America, has been covering the Sheehan vigil and said he believes her efforts are serving as a "flashpoint" for a growing, national anti-war effort.
"They've turned Bush's vacation home into Baghdad airport," Crimmins said.
julie.mason@chron.com
***....Wolf Corrington, a Persian Gulf veteran who knew Casey Sheehan as a youth, helped coordinate his funeral at St. Mary's last year. He said he doesn't question Cindy Sheehan's right to protest. But Corrington wonders whether Casey would have agreed with her.
"It's her American right, and she can knock herself out and speak her mind," said Corrington. But he noted that Casey Sheehan volunteered for the Army. ...***
http://www.detnews.com/2005/nation/0508/25/A04-292993.htm
Funny, isn't it, how she bounces from photos 2 and 3?
(wicked laugh)
She makes me sick!
(PS, use keyword - CINDYSHEEHAN) Added here.
Excellent!
A pro-war caravan to Texas stopped Wednesday in Glendale, where hundreds gathered to show their support for the war in the face of a few demonstrators who oppose it.
The "You Don't Speak for Me, Cindy" tour landed at the Arrowhead Towne Center for an event hosted by local radio station KFYI-AM (550). The group, led by military families and veterans who strongly disagree with Cindy Sheehan, are on their way to Crawford, Texas, to show support for President Bush's Iraq policy.
Sheehan is the Vacaville, Calif., mother of a fallen soldier who made national headlines by camping out outside Bush's Crawford ranch. She has repeatedly criticized Bush's decision to stay in Iraq.
The largely pro-war crowd of about 300 cheered when Deborah Johns, the California woman organizing the caravan against Sheehan, pulled into Arriba Mexican Grill just before 6 p.m.
"Continue to step to the plate with me and let our voice roar like thunder," Johns told the crowd. "We need to let the liberals know that we're not going away."
The caravan began on Monday in northern California and is expected to reach Crawford by the end of the week.
Johns said her group stopped in Glendale to let Arizona know there are people who strongly disagree with Sheehan and still support Bush.
Tina Lapka of Peoria was among the supporters. Lapka's son, Christopher, died in the early months of the war while returning from a rescue mission. A suicide bomber killed the 22-year-old and several in his group.
Christopher joined the Marines after the Sept. 11 attacks and supported the war, Lapka said. That is why she attended the event, holding a picture of her son.
"She (Sheehan) doesn't speak for all the Gold Star moms," said Lapka, referring to the medal she was given after her son died in combat.
Not everyone was there to praise Bush. About 15 anti-war demonstrators staked out a corner of the parking lot, wielding signs and chanting slogans. At one point, the hostility among the opposing groups spilled over.
"The United States is the biggest terrorist in the world," Roger Finnern of Tempe said to those around him.
"Are you calling my brother a terrorist?" asked Mike Broomhead of Phoenix, stepping closer to Finnern. "My brother believed in what they were doing."
Finnern retreated from his statement when a few men joined Broomhead in the debate. Broomhead's brother died in the war.
Inside the restaurant, defenders of the war downed margaritas and listened to KFYI radio talk-show host Joe Crummey. Flanked by a cardboard cutout of the president wearing a KFYI T-shirt, Crummey prompted cheers when he yelled, "Do we support the United States military?"
Crummey also drew applause when he condemned liberals and said they are giving moral support to Islamic fascists. "I wonder whether or not they really understand that they (terrorists) hate us for our freedom," he said.
Cindy Sheehan, left, is escorted by supporter Jeff Key after arriving at Waco Regional Airport in Waco, Texas, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2005. Sheehan, a fallen soldier's mother who started an anti-war demonstration near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, returned Wednesday after a weeklong absence for a family emergency. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
He plays musical intruments too.
Cindy Sheehan, left, holds a cross as Jeff Key, center, plays taps with Joan Baez amid crosses at Camp Casey near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2005. Sheehan has returned to Texas and her anti-war vigil in honor of her son killed in Iraq. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
"played a Jethro Tull song on a soprano recorder"
Which one?
Wounded, Old & Treacherous?
Saboteur?
Bad-Eyed And Loveless?
Crazed Institution?
Serenade To A Cuckoo?
;-)
Yeh, that's it.
;-)
The time has come for you to stop crying for yourself, Cindy and let your boy rest.
I'll betcha 10 bucks it was "For A Thousand Mothers".
[or maybe "War Child"]
Now that you mention it....LOL
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
I think that guy looks like he thinks he's going to get lucky.
;-)
He's drinkin' a Texas longnecker glass of beer.
;-)
Thanks for the Phoenix photo. We need to see more of these, but I guess the AP photographers were too busy covereing the anti-war crowd.
I'd had the Timeline on sheehan's transformation into a card carrying, American-hating radical worked out but I was having trouble figuring out just what prompted her sudden and sharp turn to the left! Mom of Two Soldiers posts have really shed some light on sheehan!
See her comments in this thread ~ Move America Forward's "You Don't Speak For Me, Cindy!" Caravan
and in these two posts she made:
1). Personal Message From Vacaville
2). Kerry: Terrorist Shiite Al-Sadr 'a Legitimate Voice' (Kerry and Cindy Sheehan)
FOFL! That's what I was thinking.
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