Anti-war Activist Cindy Sheehan To Speak Oct. 24 At UI

The Women's Resource & Action Center (WRAC) will sponsor a lecture by noted anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24 in Macbride Auditorium on the University of Iowa campus.

There is no admission charge for the lecture; however, tickets are required. Tickets for the general public, as well as UI students, staff and faculty, are available at the University Box Office in the Iowa Memorial Union on a first-come, first-served basis.

Sheehan's lecture, "One Person Can Make a Difference," is sponsored by WRAC as part of its 35th anniversary celebration this year.

Sheehan's lecture will focus on her story of being called to work for change. Her son, Casey Sheehan, was serving in Iraq with the U.S. Army when he was killed in 2004. He posthumously received a Bronze Star Medal with a V for Valor and a Purple Heart.

In the years since her son's death, Sheehan has been a prominent and sometimes controversial figure, engaged in U.S. and in international protests against the United States' role in Iraq. Along with a group of military families, she founded the Gold Star Families for Peace in January 2005. In August 2005, she set up camp near President Bush's home in Crawford, Texas, drawing hundreds of supporters who joined her resistance to the war in Iraq. She has met with military parents and world leaders, with local activist groups, and with President Bush.

Founded in 1971, the Women's Resource and Action Center is one of the oldest university-based women's centers in the United States. Among its services - which are available both to UI students, faculty and staff, and to the general public - are information and referral, advocacy, support and discussion groups, individual counseling, and a wide variety of educational programs including seminars, workshops, festivals and discussions.

More information about the Center, its services, and its upcoming activities is available on the web at http://www.uiowa.edu/~wrac.

For more information, or to request a needed accommodation to participate, please call 319-335-1486.

STORY SOURCE: University of Iowa News Services, 300 Plaza Centre One, Suite 371, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-2500.

MEDIA CONTACT: Laurie Haag, 319-335-1486, mailto:wrac@uiowa.edu. Writer: Linda Kroon

FROM EMAIL

My name is Catherine Moy and I'm a columnist at Cindy Sheehan's hometown newspaper, The Vacaville Reporter. The truth that I've come to learn about Cindy Sheehan is a far cry from the story you've heard reported in the mainstream media, and with your help we will set the truth free.
I've teamed up with my friend Melanie Morgan (Chairman of Move America Forward, radio host on KSFO 560 AM - San Francisco, and columnist for WorldNetDaily) to tell the American people the truth about Cindy Sheehan and the anti-war movement. This week we've released the book, "American Mourning" that chronicles the actions of Cindy Sheehan and contrasts them with the story of another Gold Star Family who lost a son in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Only, in the case of this other family (Joe and Jan Johnson of Rome, Georgia), they become patriots who honor the service of their son.

The day I heard that Iraqi terrorists killed Casey Sheehan, I was sickened.

I thought first of his parents, Pat and Cindy Sheehan, who lived in Vacaville. I knew the pain of a parent who loses a child. My little brother, Tommy, died suddenly when he was 8. My mom and dad were forever broken.

U.S. Army Specialist
Casey Sheehan
I wrote a column that was really an open letter to the Sheehans telling them how sorry I was and how I felt a bit of guilt because I support the war in which Casey died. One of my close friends handled the funeral for the Sheehans, caring for Casey's body and soul until the day he was lowered it into his grave.

A few months after Casey died on April 4, 2004, Cindy Sheehan and her daughter, Carly, became die-hard anti-war activists. I know now that the John Kerry presidential campaign hooked up with the Sheehan women and used them for national commercials against the war and against President George Bush. You can watch this commercial for yourself right here.

I was torn again. Something in my gut told me that Cindy was on a misguided mission. I thought it wrong to attack our Commander in Chief who was trying to protect Americans during wartime. I decided to write a column pointing out my opposition to Cindy's antics and spoke with my husband about it. I knew it would be controversial. Vacaville residents treated the Sheehans as royalty after the death of their son. But that didn't matter - I am not one to run from controversy if in my heart I know what I am doing is the right thing to do.

I wrote that column, and it was the first such column from a professional journalist criticizing Cindy Sheehan. I even pointed out that the premise of Cindy's media spectacle was based on a false pretense. Sheehan and her supporters complained endlessly that President Bush would not meet with this Gold Star Mother. The truth, however, was that Bush and Sheehan had already met.

Cindy Sheehan didn't want the public to know the truth about that, but our newspaper reported it anyways and the Drudge Report picked up the report and broadcast it to the world.

The hate-mongers from the left came up with all kinds of hate mail. I was not deterred and never have been when it comes to the truth.

Cindy responded to my columns about her by calling me names and telling me not to pray for her. She said she was no longer a Christian. Hate spewed from her in several e-mails to me.

When I found out about Move America Forward's "You Don't Speak For Me, Cindy" caravan I was elated. I was proud to stand among the crowd when the caravan made its stop in Vacaville, California. I then traveled to Texas and joined the caravan once more for the final leg into Crawford.

After Crawford, I told Melanie we should write a book about everything that had happened. We both knew so much about the controversy. I had followed Cindy since the beginning, and her group, Move America Forward, put together the tour supporting our troops that responded to Sheehan's anti-American protests.

We agreed to do it. Our research led us to Justin Johnson, a close Army buddy of Casey who died six days after Casey. Justin's father, Joe, was proud of his son, President Bush and the War on Terror. He joined up and went to fight the terrorists who killed Justin and Casey.

Melanie and I knew that we had one of the greatest American stories ever told: Two buddies who died defending America and whose parents took polar opposite routes in their actions in their mourning.

That is the short story of the birth of American Mourning.

I invite you to read the story for yourself. The book is filled with so many things that have never been reported - things that will shock you about Cindy Sheehan... things about Joe & Jan Johnson will inspire you, and give you hope for our nation and the determination for so many military families to stay focused on the work that must be done to defeat the terrorist threat.

Thank you for reading my note to you. I hope you will take the opportunity to pick up a copy of "American Mourning".

Kindest Regards,

Catherine Moy
Co-Author, American Morning
Columnist, Vacaville Reporter

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