Posted on 01/02/2003 9:39:14 PM PST by RCW2001
About 50 people who marched to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Charlotte on Wednesday to protest a possible war with Iraq were confronted by angry veterans who said their presence was an insult to fallen comrades.
A police officer intervened and said the protesters should be allowed to proceed. The dozen veterans stepped aside.
"I have no hate against anyone except punks like you," Edd Furr, 67, a Vietnam veteran from Concord, shouted at one of the protesters.
As they walked alongside the memorial several veterans exchanged words with the protesters and told them not to touch the wall, located in a park between and Third and Fourth streets just east of the I-277 loop.
"I have already touched that wall before," said David Dixon, 34, an organizer of the march.
"Then your finger must be burning," a veteran responded.
The protesters lined up in front of the wall, sang "God Bless America" and left soon afterward.
Before marching to the war memorial, the protesters gathered at noon at Marshall Park. As several people spoke, protesters carried signs with some reading "No American Blood for Iraqi Oil" and "War Kills / Peace is Patriotic." One person held a small American flag.
Some speakers criticized U.S. Mideast policy, while others spoke of the immorality of war.
To the veterans it was not the protesters' message that was upsetting. The veterans said they were angered by the protesters' attempt to use the memorial as way to make their point.
"This hurts," said Diran Tookmanian, 57, a Vietnam veteran, whose voice broke slightly as he appeared to hold back tears. "This hurts more than you can imagine."
Tookmanian said he served in Vietnam for a year in the infantry. Tookmanian and other veterans said they learned about the protest over the Internet.
"If they want to protest they can go in front of government buildings and scream and yell to their heart's content," Tookmanian said as he pointed toward uptown. "I object to the place they do it. To me this is like Gettysburg. It is like Arlington. This is hallowed ground to us."
Dixon, Charlotte coordinator of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, responded: "If we come here on New Year's Day it is to honor and respect those people."
Dixon said there was not a greater turnout because not enough people knew about the demonstration or the groups opposed to a war with Iraq.
"I would say the anti-war movement is in the majority," Dixon said.
"It's rare that I meet a person who is for the war."
One of those who attended the rally and spoke was David Marresh, 77, of Myers Park. Marresh said he would rather have been home, but: "I think it is wrong, and when I feel that strongly about it I have to speak up. I feel that a terrible action has been set in motion by the president, and it can only end in disaster."
What? No Republicans in your Marxist study cell?
Another attack on America, of any scale, would not change their minds. They are sheeple waiting for the next butcher to slaughter them. That makes them worthless cowards and pathetic wastes of humanity.
The next so-called "peacenik" that infers that Americans, and American fighting men in particular, are war mongers, I going to knock them into tomorrow, figuratively speaking of course.
Now I am not trying to deprive anyone of their right to free speech. It's just that there is a line that when crossed should have consequences.
I remember when I was a young boy, being around my uncles, no one would have dared say in public what many of these peaceniks feel so comfortable saying now for fear of a bloody nose.
Is the concept of "peace through strength" so hard for them to understand? Is it beyond their comprehension that the weak have no peace - because they are dead.
Peace through Strength.
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." -- John Stuart Mill
You mean gay men who prey on underage boys are in favor of the war...?
That's an oxymoron....
I like hearing rational, opposing views so I can filter mine through the deliberative minefields and see if they blow up in my face. In my West Texas ignorance of worldly things, I feel it would be unconscionable not to confront and eliminate the Iraqi evil and menace.
To those who say innocent Iraqis will be killed, I say . . . What about the innocent Iraqis already killed? What about the innocent Iraqis who will surely be killed by this evil and incestuous regime in the future?
To those who say American soldiers will die and the cost will be exorbitant, I ask . . . What price are you willing to pay for Freedom? Is fifty billion dollars and 10,000 American lives too high a price to pay? Okay, what about twenty billion dollars and 2,000 American lives? Okay, what about ten billion dollars and 100 American lives? Okay, five billion dollars and no loss of any American lives? To those still arguing, I say . . . Obviously, friend, there's no price you’re willing to pay for freedom and I thank my God every day that George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, FDR, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and all the other leaders who had to make the courageous decision to send American forces in harm’s way didn’t share your view.
Thru December 23, 2002, according to The History Guy and my calculator, 1,221,498 Americans have lost their lives in previous actions. Many of those killed were my relatives. Just as I’m sure they were yours if you or your family have been Americans for very long. Do we not do their sacrifices dishonor if this generation is not willing to pay WHATEVER price has to be paid to ensure our freedom and American way of life is protected?
I wonder what these 1,221,498 American heroes would say if we asked them?
To those who say Iraq is not a threat to us, I say . . . Saddam isn’t stockpiling bows and arrows. Weapons of mass destruction come in all shapes and sizes and any kook or zealot with a cause can use them against us.
To those who say North Korea poses the larger threat, I say . . . North Korea hasn’t used their weapons of mass destruction. Saddam has in the past, many times, and will again in the future if he’s not taken out.
To those who say America is a bully and/or a war monger and/or only wants to dominate the world and annex Iraq for her oil, I ask . . . Would you prefer it if the USSR had won the Cold War and been the only Super-Power left standing? Or, perhaps, China? And further, please give me one example where we defeated a foreign adversary and annexed their country or enslaved their people or did any other nefarious deed associated with our contemporaries from history past. Do you think Germans and the Germany economy are better off now or would they have been better off after living through 60 years of Nazi domination? The same for Japan? And South Korea? And . . . the list goes on and on.
The future prospects for defeated peoples and countries have always been improved, some amazingly so, by the United States’ involvement. Why? Because we believe in personal freedom and the bureaucracy is always, ultimately, subservient to the people themselves.
To those who say . . . this debate can go on and on.
And there might be some valid arguments as to why we shouldn’t go to war in Iraq. I just haven’t heard them yet. Or perhaps I’m just too stupid. Some say I’m a hopeless patriot. Hey, West Texans have been called far worst . . . and oftentimes there’s some merit behind the name-calling. I just have a real problem understanding those who disagree with their country’s policies, then offer no positive alternatives of their own.
So please enlighten me. I don’t know you, you don’t know me, but I bet we agree on one thing. Freedom is worth fighting for. Some quibble around the edges but most won’t disagree with the flat-out statement. The real question then becomes . . . Just what price are you willing to pay for freedom?
I say freedom is priceless.
Only if it strikes in a blue zone. They are not really against war or violence, but believe we are fighting on the wrong side.
Yep, I recognize the signs. Particularly the yellow ones (how appropriate). These commies never throw anything away, what a bunch of pack rats.
"End the Blockade of Cuba". Bet they also had "Stop Bombing Vieques" and "Free Mumia" in there too. And they wonder why their presence bothered the vets.
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