[bluecollarman]

"This is a tragedy that demands respect. Prayers for this man."

Respect? No..I don't think so, sympathy maybe but respect?.

Prayers won't help him....cause he's dead and he died stupidly for no reason. He wasted his precious gift of life. He was reckless, selfesh, and obviously incompetent at high altitude sign hanging.

You might say a prayer for his folks though, I am sure they are having a hard time with it.

[Chad Fairbanks]

I offered no prayers... look again :0)

[kcvl]

19 Mar 2003 22:18
Apparent protester dies in Golden Gate Bridge leap

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(Adds police details throughout)

SAN FRANCISCO, March 19 (Reuters) - A man who may have been protesting the looming U.S. war on Iraq plunged to his death from San Francisco's famed Golden Gate Bridge on Wednesday, officials said.

The unidentified man, who handed authorities a statement before jumping, survived the initial fall into the frigid San Francisco Bay but died soon after Coast Guard rescuers scooped him up and rushed him to shore for treatment, police said.

"He jumped, he wasn't pushed," said California Highway Patrol spokesman Wayne Ziese, who called the death a suicide. "Apparently he had a statement to give to police and jumped."

Authorities had initially said the man slipped or jumped while hanging a banner on one of the bridge towers protesting a U.S. war on Iraq.

But U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Dan Brophy later said rescue workers so far had not found the banner indicating the man was a protester.

Either way, the soaring span connecting San Francisco and the Marin Headlands represents one of the top spots in the nation for suicides. Out of the 1,000 people who have jumped off the 225 foot- (69 metre-) span only about 15 have survived.

Anti-war sentiment is strong in the San Francisco Bay Area, where tens of thousands of protesters marched last weekend to rally against military action. The death of the man in his 30s, however, would be the first related to the latest protests over the U.S.-led war against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

[2nd_Amendment_Defender]

He wasted his precious gift of life. He was reckless, selfish ...

I agree. What a way to waste your life. Life is so precious and worth living.