Other parents dispute stance of Sheehan
Some say soldiers' deaths at war were not in vain
By Nancy Lofholm and Electa Draper
Denver Post Staff Writers
DenverPost.com

Relatives of Marine Lance Cpl. Chad Maynard, who was killed by a roadside bomb in June, say his tombstone will soon be affixed with a plaque carrying a simple message: "Not in Vain."

They have no doubts the 19-year-old's death in Iraq was for a just and important cause, one he believed in deeply: freedom.

They staunchly disagree with Cindy Sheehan, who spent August camped outside President Bush's Texas ranch to protest the war and what she has called "the senseless death" of her son, Army Spec. Casey Sheehan. He died from a bullet to the brain two weeks after he arrived in Iraq in the spring of 2004.

Sheehan's lonely roadside tent and her banner reading "Support Our Troops, Bring Them Home," quickly grew to a protest movement that drew hundreds to what became known as Camp Casey.

It drew massive publicity and created an emotionally charged controversy, particularly with other parents of slain soldiers.

Some agreed and even joined Sheehan's vigil. Many others have been deeply disturbed by her message and the attention it is drawing.

In preparation for Sheehan's now-canceled visit to the Western Slope this week, The Denver Post reached out to the parents of the 24 Colorado soldiers killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 12 who responded were nearly unanimous in their opinions of her efforts.

They say her protest is wrong, that she should be quiet and stop "dishonoring" her son and theirs by questioning what they died for. They say her protest is akin to giving ammunition to the enemy.

Parents build shrines, not opposition

The struggles and opinions of these other parents and family members haven't been aired daily on CNN or given a spread in People magazine. Their thoughts have been shared mainly over kitchen tables, at the counters of truck stops and in the circles of folding chairs at support groups.

"She's a crazy woman. My son would roll over in his grave if I did what she's doing," said Vicki Bosley of Manzanola.

Her son, Army Staff Sgt. Justin L. Vasquez, 26, died in June while on patrol in Baghdad.

While Sheehan has been spreading the message that her son died in vain in a war started and strung out on lies, Bosley and other parents who won't even entertain that thought have been quietly building living-room shrines to their heroes in what they believe is a just cause.

They have gathered up the military medals, the photographs of proud soldiers in dress blues and combat camouflage, the dog tags - and in one case the new citizenship papers - of their children.

To honor them, they have made T-shirts, started Web logs, created dog tags with Bible verses and flown flags in front lawns. They have continued to work on their dead sons' beloved muscle cars. They have painted their portraits. And they have helped to raise the toddlers and newborns who have the dimples and ears of their dead fathers.

They say they have tried to patch together new lives with ragged holes in the center - lives where time seems to drag painfully, tears come out of the blue and anger quickly flashes when they see a mother publicly fighting against the war.

Their children's deaths in the war weren't senseless, they say; they were heroic sacrifices. And they want the country to know Cindy Sheehan does not speak for them.

If she did, said Chad Maynard's father, Gene Maynard, "then what do we say when we go stand at their graves? 'You just died for nothing."'

Those feelings have been magnified because Sheehan's campaign hasn't quieted since she packed up and left her Crawford, Texas, camp at the end of August. She is on a 25-state "Bring Them Home Now Tour" that will wind its way to a Sept. 24 anti-war march in the nation's capital.

Sheehan canceled appearances this week in Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs and Paonia but promised to reschedule her visits before winter, said Gary Handschumacher, a Paonia anti-war activist who was instrumental in trying to bring Sheehan to Colorado.

Her planned appearances had already touched off controversy. A Glenwood Springs church where she was to speak decided she would not be welcome. Mesa State College in Grand Junction disavowed any support for a talk she was scheduled to give there.

At the same time, groups in more cities from Telluride to Denver are hoping to score visits from Sheehan.

David Stibbs, the stepfather of Lance Cpl. Evenor Herrera, a 22-year-old Avon man who was killed in Iraq on Aug. 10, said if Sheehan does come to Colorado he will be there to greet - but not welcome - her.

"I'd be the first to go out with a banner: 'Don't come in here,"' said the veteran of 15 years with the Army. "She can get the hell out of here."

Debra Bascom, the mother of Marine Sgt. Douglas Bascom, 25, who died last October in Al Anbar province, said Sheehan should refocus her grief and her message.

"If she's got some power, why doesn't she use it for good instead of spreading around manure?" Bascom asked.

Sheehan couldn't be reached for comment, but Handschumacher, who corresponds with her by e-mail, said she has steeled herself to such criticism.

In an online essay she posted late last week, Sheehan wrote that her commitment to her protest is unflagging.

"I can feel my son's presence urging me on to save his buddies. I can hear him whispering in my ear and in my dreams: 'Mom, finish my mission. Bring my buddies home alive,"' she wrote.

Support for war of freedom began early

When he was still in high school, Chad Maynard used to regularly stand on a busy street corner in Montrose and wave signs in support of the war.

War protesters would occasionally station themselves across the street, but Maynard told his family that was OK. Once he realized his dream of joining the Marines, he would be fighting for the kind of freedom that allows citizens to express their views.

Gene Maynard said he continues to support the war and what his son believed in.

"We must support our boys and finish the job we've started," he said. "If we fail to do that, I have to go stand over my son's grave and ask, 'Why?"'

Staff writers Erin Emery and Dave Curtin contributed to this report.

Staff writer Nancy Lofholm can be reached at 970-256-1957 or nlofholm@denverpost.com.

Staff writer Electra Draper can be reached at 970-385-0917 or edraper@denverpost.com.

Ellie