thedrifter
03-16-04, 04:35 PM
March 16, 2004
Deployed troops’ family members take part in D.C. protest march
By Karen Jowers
Times staff writer
Parents of troops who have been or are deployed to Iraq, military veterans, and family members of those killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were among more than 100 war protestors who marched six miles from Walter Reed Army Medical Center to the White House Monday.
It was the second leg of a two-day “Trail of Mourning and Truth” journey that began at Dover Air Force Base, Del.
“My son is over in Iraq, and he shouldn’t be there,” said Alycia Barr of Pine Grove, Pa. “Military families should have the courage to speak out.”
Barr, who carried a sign that read: “Antiwar protestors are the guardian angels of peace,” declined to name her son for fear of causing him problems.
“I was protesting the war before it began,” she said. “I told him I was doing it for him so he wouldn’t have to go.”
As Barr made her way toward the White House with the groups aiming to deliver their message to President Bush, drums marked a mournful pace, punctuated by a death knell struck on a makeshift bell. Many marchers carried black plastic wreaths.
A plywood coffin brought up the rear, rolled on a luggage-type cart. A group of about 200 gathered at Lafayette Park in front of the White House, where the names of the dead were read aloud and cards bearing the names were placed in the coffin.
Chanting, “Honor the Dead; End the War,” they ceremonially carried the coffin to one of the White House entrance gates and tried to push their way in to deliver the coffin to President Bush, but were stopped by Secret Service police. Some protestors said they believe the Bush is trying to hide the human cost of the war.
The protests were not universally supported. Betsy Deming, of Takoma Park, Md., was upset that the protestors held a rally in front of Walter Reed, where many troops wounded in Iraq are recovering. She took the day off from work to “counter-protest” at the antiwar rallies.
“They’re using our wounded as a platform for their propaganda,” she said. “They’re wallowing in the blood of our wounded for a political agenda.
“This should be a quiet zone where people are trying to recover,” she said. “Our guys look out the window and see this and wonder if America supports them. If there’s anything else I could do to support their service, I would.”
Sharon Jumper, of Cornelius, N.C., got into a shouting match with Deming outside Walter Reed. She and her husband, both Army veterans, have a son serving in Iraq.
“As a veteran and a parent of a child in Iraq, I’m deeply offended when those who support the war challenge our patriotism,” Jumper said. “Many who support the war never served and frankly, I don’t think they have the right to challenge my patriotism.”
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-292925-2736717.php
Ellie
Deployed troops’ family members take part in D.C. protest march
By Karen Jowers
Times staff writer
Parents of troops who have been or are deployed to Iraq, military veterans, and family members of those killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were among more than 100 war protestors who marched six miles from Walter Reed Army Medical Center to the White House Monday.
It was the second leg of a two-day “Trail of Mourning and Truth” journey that began at Dover Air Force Base, Del.
“My son is over in Iraq, and he shouldn’t be there,” said Alycia Barr of Pine Grove, Pa. “Military families should have the courage to speak out.”
Barr, who carried a sign that read: “Antiwar protestors are the guardian angels of peace,” declined to name her son for fear of causing him problems.
“I was protesting the war before it began,” she said. “I told him I was doing it for him so he wouldn’t have to go.”
As Barr made her way toward the White House with the groups aiming to deliver their message to President Bush, drums marked a mournful pace, punctuated by a death knell struck on a makeshift bell. Many marchers carried black plastic wreaths.
A plywood coffin brought up the rear, rolled on a luggage-type cart. A group of about 200 gathered at Lafayette Park in front of the White House, where the names of the dead were read aloud and cards bearing the names were placed in the coffin.
Chanting, “Honor the Dead; End the War,” they ceremonially carried the coffin to one of the White House entrance gates and tried to push their way in to deliver the coffin to President Bush, but were stopped by Secret Service police. Some protestors said they believe the Bush is trying to hide the human cost of the war.
The protests were not universally supported. Betsy Deming, of Takoma Park, Md., was upset that the protestors held a rally in front of Walter Reed, where many troops wounded in Iraq are recovering. She took the day off from work to “counter-protest” at the antiwar rallies.
“They’re using our wounded as a platform for their propaganda,” she said. “They’re wallowing in the blood of our wounded for a political agenda.
“This should be a quiet zone where people are trying to recover,” she said. “Our guys look out the window and see this and wonder if America supports them. If there’s anything else I could do to support their service, I would.”
Sharon Jumper, of Cornelius, N.C., got into a shouting match with Deming outside Walter Reed. She and her husband, both Army veterans, have a son serving in Iraq.
“As a veteran and a parent of a child in Iraq, I’m deeply offended when those who support the war challenge our patriotism,” Jumper said. “Many who support the war never served and frankly, I don’t think they have the right to challenge my patriotism.”
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-292925-2736717.php
Ellie