Thanks for the post! A number of us gold star parents have occasionally expressed concerns.
Maica, as to your comment “It is strange that this author claims that Casey’s father only recently learned the details of his last battle, and death. Those details were on Free Republic as soon as Cindy Sheehan became a news item.” When you lose a son, time and facts and emotions can become distorted. On one hand, you might know some of the little details from an autopsy report, yet be in doubt about more general things, or miss some “well known” facts entirely. It isn’t that unusual to have pertinent information surface a couple of years after the fact, or for us to finally notice and deal with it. Unlike most who want to know all the facts right away, it wouldn’t surprise me if Pat, like many of us, has been a bit out of sorts. After all, we have the rest of our lives to think about it and try to live with it.
I will make some inquiries and pass this post around the Gold Star parents whom I know to see if I can add to this discussion.
Semper Fidelis.
No matter how distorted emotions can make facts, it really is hard for me to believe that Casey’s father did not know that Casey went directly from Mass to his final mission. Palm Sunday is a pretty significant day in the Catholic Church.
Perhaps what Mr Sheehan said and how I, or the journalist, interpreted his words are two different things. At any rate, I feel great compassion for Mr Sheehan and for Casey’s siblings, and immense respect for Casey and for all our brave volunteers who seek to be part of the solution, not the problem.