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View Full Version : An Open Letter to Cindy Sheehan From the Proud Father of a U.S. Marine



marinefamily5
08-24-05, 05:25 PM
Ms. Sheehan,

By your actions over the past two weeks it is clear that you missed an important aspect of Civics 101: With rights come responsibilities. You certainly have the right to voice your opinion against the war in Iraq and the President's policies. You even have the right to camp outside the President's home in Crawford and demand he meet with you. Your status as a mother who has lost a child in the war also gives your words and actions a credibility and a larger audience than otherwise would be the case.

Now that your supporters have given you a broad forum from which to be heard, making you a national figure, its time you considered your responsibilities to all of us. I have a daughter set to deploy to Fallujah in two weeks and I have a serious concern with how your
irresponsible and short sighted actions might impact on her. She is, after all, a volunteer, like your son, and she is going in harm's way because she believes it is her responsibility to protect your rights and freedoms.

Well meaning people like you always seem to forget the law of unintended consequences and in your vanity and arrogant self-righteousness never bother to think through what it is you are trying to do versus what you may actually accomplish. I am here to inform you, Ma'am, that you will not change the policy of our government by sitting outside Crawford
making a spectacle of yourself in the name of your rights to free speech; what you will do is provide more propaganda for our enemies and cost the lives of even more brave and selfless American warriors.

How long do you think it will be before you become a star on Al Jazeera?
For all I know, it may have already happened. One thing is certain, though, and that is that your actions and words will further embolden a ruthless and evil enemy and more American blood will be shed and some of it will be on your hands. I pray that my daughter will not be one of them. If she is, then I will hold you and those like you partly responsible. Yes, my daughter's fate will depend mostly on her own courageous decision to serve, but only the most naive among us can deny the impact our own words and actions here in America have in a world grown smaller by the revolution in communications technology.

I am sure you believe that you are serving some great cause by putting our servicemen and women in more danger and that you can, by your irresponsible exercise of free speech, help end a policy you disagree with. Your emotion may be compelling but the reality is that you will not set in motion any process that will change or undo what has been done. The war will go on because to end it now would dishonor the sacrifice of all of our fellow countrymen who have died in the cause of fighting terrorism.

Rational Americans will not allow that. Too much is at stake. Unfortunately, shallow and irrational ones, such as yourself, will continue to put the lives of our sons and daughters in danger by aiding and abetting an enemy who sees propagandizing in the mass media
as its main weapon in a war it could otherwise not win standing on its own wretched and evil justification of radical Islam, or by force of arms.

You, Ma'am, have joined forces with an evil you neither understand nor apparently have tried to comprehend. You direct your anger toward our country while the enemy plots to kill and maim the innocent. You make a mockery of responsible free speech while thousands of young men and women fight desperately to preserve your safety. Instead of honoring your son's sacrifice you are inspired to comfort an evil enemy.

You clearly do not understand the challenge we face as a nation and have not tried to put it in historical perspective. It is a sad fact that it is those of your thinking that have led us to where we are today.

Decades of appeasement to these haters of everything we hold dear has cost thousands of American lives from Beirut to New York and in dozens of other forgotten places.
Remember Lockerbie? The Achille Lauro? The USS Cole? We as a people were dragged into this war, much like December 7th, 1941, and we must fight and win it wherever the enemy hides and against whomever would support him.

Make no mistake about Iraq. It is both a legitimate and crucial campaign in this much larger, global war of radical Islam's making. These people hate us for who we are, not what we have done. We did not bring this on ourselves, as many would have us believe, by our policies and actions abroad. We brought this on ourselves in 1775 when the Founding Fathers embarked on a course of freedom, tolerance, and liberal democratic and social ideals.

These haters of all we hold dear strive to destroy forever a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people" that Abraham Lincoln hoped would never "Perish from the earth". They would replace it with an oppressive world theocracy unlike anything modern history has ever seen for its ruthless disregard for personal freedom and liberty. If more appeasement is your answer for an alternative policy, spare us. We have suffered enough from cowardice and inaction.

An historical analogy screams to be let out here. It is one of two men, both named Chamberlain. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, a school teacher turned soldier in the American Civil War, found himself in the cross hairs of history on a warm July day in 1863 on a small hill in Pennsylvania. Commanding the 20th Maine Regiment on the extreme Union left at Gettysburg he was in a most perilous position. Should he fail to hold against a strong Confederate attack, the Union could be lost. You see, he was serving in an increasingly unpopular war at home against a resurgent enemy, and for a President fighting for his political life.

Colonel Chamberlain, stoic but determined, refused to yield. His small regiment held against an onslaught of Confederate attacks, an action many historians believe turned the tide of the war. He was later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

The other half of this analogy focuses on Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Great Britain in the years preceding World War II. His story is widely known. Through his policy of
appeasement and a lack of moral courage, he handed Adolf Hitler much of Europe.
Which side of history have you chosen, Ma'am?

Your son died in the service of freedom and my daughter will go in harm's way to protect and preserve it. Honor their sacrifice, Ma'am, by exercising it responsibly.

I will pray with you and I will grieve with you but I will not stand by silent while you needlessly and arrogantly endanger the life of my daughter and her comrades in arms. Please bless us with your silence and go home.

Brantley Smith
Proud father of a United States Marine
Tullahoma, TN
email: usmcengr@aol.com

greensideout
08-24-05, 06:09 PM
I respect the words of Brantley Smith in his letter to Cindy Sheehan but disagree with the impact that she has with the enemy.

First, she is an American which makes her a "dog" in their view.
Second, she is a woman which makes her a "bit@h" in their view.

Do you really think that her words and actions really mater to them?

I don't.

Semper Fi

marinefamily5
08-24-05, 06:37 PM
your right but i think that she has no respect for what her son did and no respect for the american people. and i think that her son would be turning over in his grave is he knew what his mother is doing. JMO

Osotogary
08-24-05, 07:05 PM
"Do you really think that her words and actions really mater to them?"

Even as a b*tch or a canine she can still be used...as in is and will be until she serves no other purpose to those who have manipulated her....including the media. It really doesn't matter to them that her actions matter or not. One merely has to find a sensitive topic, place a person who is emotionally wounded in some way as a result of that topic, create or fabricate a support base, inform the media and sit back and watch. When the scenario fades from the front pages. Find another sensitive topic and begin again.

jernimvj
08-24-05, 08:59 PM
Hey Folks Listen UP!!

An American Mother lost her son. Please render her that respect. You don't have to agree with her or disagree with her, as an American Citizen, she has the right to do what she is doing.

Just like you have the right to post your opinions.

My son was wounded severely in the Anbar Province of Iraq last August, and his squad leader was killed. It rips my heart that my Marines are being killed and wounded, but I will not lash out at people that are using their given rights to protest. Semper Fi!

Devildogg4ever
08-25-05, 05:20 AM
My hats off to Brantley Smith!!! http://www.angelfire.com/nc3/dshunting0/apages/images1/clapsmiley.gif

carroll1972
08-25-05, 06:15 AM
WELL SAID......Mr. Brantley Smith...........

I live in Texas......and Crawford ain't that far Broaddus, .........as the crow flys....and one thing for sure......That heffer... NEED TO GO HOME...AND TAKE THAT MESS BACK TO WHERE EVER THEY CAME FROM........

Mrs. Sheehan.......and Hanoi Jane.....two peas in a pod....they're playing right into the enemy's hands......
And if Hanoi Jane...and Mrs. Sheehan were over there....they'd rape, and slit their throats.....before they knew what was going on.......
My nephew ......has spent his time over there....thank God he's back home with his wife and 3 babies....but now they tell me he's going back.......for another tour.....and YES...MRS. SHEEHAN, YOU ARE PUTTING MY NEPHEW AT RISK......AND IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO HIM.....I WILL BLAME YOU!! .......AND I WILL PUT YOU AT THE TOP OF THE LIST WITH JANE FONDA, AND MICHAEL MOORE.....Why don't you ask Miss. fonda......what kinda life she's had....to live with ....of being branded as a TRAITOR TO HER COUNTRY......ASK HER.....and if she will truthfully answer.....IT SURE AIN'T NO ROSE GARDEN........she will never be able to live down her shame.......

GOD BLESS YOUR SON FOR ALL HE 'S DONE AND ALL THE OTHERS THAT HAVE GIVEN THEIR ALL FOR THEIR COUNTRY........BUT ........SHAME ON YOU.....
I think you had your time with P. Bush........didn't you.....that was enough.....President Bush ....owes you nothing...and you have nothing new to say to the country.....go HOME AND HONOR YOUR SON'S MEMORY.....DON'T SHAME HIM NOW .....................GO HOME............

carroll1972
08-25-05, 06:19 AM
FOR GOT ONE THING.........I HOPE .......MRS. SHEEHAN...IS ENJOYING THE TEXAS..WEATHER...HERE..........I BET IT'S ABOUT 100 DEGREES..WHERE SHE 'S CAMPED........

ENJOY THE WEATHER.....MRS...SHEEHAN???????