Parents of slain U.S. soldiers travel to Iraq

www.cnn.com ^ | 12/26/2006 | Associated Press

[Reaganite84]

Parents of slain U.S. soldiers travel to Iraq

LYERLY, Georgia (AP) -- After her son Justin was killed serving in Iraq, a grieving Jan Johnson resolved to see the place where he died and to better understand why it happened.

Johnson and her husband, Joe, who also served in Iraq, were among a group of seven parents who lost children in the war who were picked to travel to northern Iraq in November as a scout team for a bigger trip next year.

"I wanted to go see where my son died," she said. "You hear in the news how bad Iraq is, that it isn't worth saving. ... I wanted to go find out for myself."

Family members of U.S. casualties of war have made pilgrimages in the past to Vietnam and other war zones where their sons and daughters died.

But the fighting in Iraq was far from over, so a similar journey seemed unlikely until a nonprofit organization called Move America Forward decided to organize a trip.

By the time plans had been made, Joe had returned from an eight-month tour in Iraq and was willing to return for his wife's sake.

The trip cost between $5,000 and $7,000 per person, but donations came pouring in from across the country, including checks from soldiers. The seven were told to keep their travel plans hidden from the Department of Defense and even their own children.

Robert Dixon, the organization's director, said that because the Kurdistan Regional Government was hosting the group, there was no reason to clue the Defense Department in on their travels. He told them to keep tightlipped because "we didn't want to endanger anybody by telling people."

to view rest of article http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/26/iraq.soldier.parents.ap/index.html

[RWGuy]

This is truly a great story about the families of American heroes. It is about time the MSM got around to writing something about their historic trip.

Joe and Jan Johnson are also the subject of a great book, American Mourning by Catherine Moy and Melanie Morgan, that contrasts their reaction with Cindy Sheehan to the death of a child.

You can order the book here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1581825404?tag2=gopcounties-20

It is too late to give it away for Christmas, but definitely something worth reading.

[freema]

Ping

[Incorrigible]

Related Threads:

Parents of Slain GIs Travel to Iraq

Photos From Gold Star Parents' Trip To Free Iraq - Nov, 2006 (HEAVY GRAPHICS)

 

[Impeach98]

BTTT!

[RebekahT]

"Wherever they traveled, fellow mother Debra Argel Bastian of Lompoc, California, handed out wallet-sized photos of her son, Derek Argel, who was killed in a May 2005 plane crash near the Iranian border.

One mother tucked the photo into a framed picture of her two sons and husband, who had also been killed during Saddam's rule. "Now your son is my son," the woman told Bastian."

Wow. BTTT.