Mother's loss is now a mission After losing her son in Iraq,

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

Portland woman keeps his memory alive working to help eliminate the world's minefields


11/07/03

STEVE WOODWARD

Travis Bradach-Nall died clearing land mines in Iraq.

Four months later, his mother, Lynn Bradach, is also clearing land mines -- by raising money and awareness to eradicate minefields worldwide.

"I do everything in his name, in memory of Travis," says the Northeast Portland woman, who has joined forces with an organization called Adopt-A-Minefield. "I wish I was doing it without him being gone."

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http://www.oregonlive.com/living/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/living/106812387683310.xml

Bradach continues to be resolute in her opposition to the war in Iraq.

"I didn't like it in the beginning; I don't like it now," she says. "I was one of the people signing petitions (saying) 'Don't go.' I didn't understand why we just couldn't wait. . . .

"It destroys me every day to hear about soldiers dying."

Working for awareness of land mines, however, has given her newfound comfort in her life.

"Though Adopt-A-Minefield, I keep reminding people of Travis," she says. "I want people to know not how he died but how he lived."

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[UpInArms]

1. more on the Landmine Treaty

http://www.spectacle.org/0901/treaty.html

The land mine treaty

The Ottawa Treaty on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines was finalized in September 1997 and, as of early August 2001, had been signed or acceded to by 141 countries and ratified by 118 of them. As I wrote here in February 1998:

There are an estimated 100 million AP mines buried around the world and they kill about 26,000 people a year, eighty percent of them civilians, many of them children. People who survive a landmine explosion frequently lose limbs or are crippled for life and require prosthetics and sophisticated medical care. A landmine is a weapon indiscriminately used against a civilian population and tends to remain lethal for many decades after being deployed.

In August 1997, the Clinton administration refused to sign the Ottawa treaty unless it made two exceptions: one for all landmines on the border between North and South Korea, and one for certain so-called "smart mines" deployed anywhere in the world. However, the Canadian government, in a sharp, amusing FAQ it maintained at the time, said, "There are only two kinds of anti- personnel mines, 'dumb' and 'dumber.' So called 'smart' mines are just dumb mines that do not last as long. No mine is smart enough to tell the difference between a soldier and a child...."

Clinton later issued Presidential Decision Directive number 64, deferring consideration of the Ottawa treaty until 2006, contingent upon "suitable" alternatives to landmines having been found before then.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

[drfemoe]

2. I hope and pray

that the sufferings of all these dear people turn out to be sacrifices for real Truth (for all), Freedom (for all) and Justice (for all).
And not for the vanity and wealth of a few.

I don't often 'paraphrase' the bible, but when it talks about stuff like this I do..

What (actions) men intended to accomplish evil, (God/dess/Allah/Yahweh/Karma/Tao) transformed into good (truth, freedom and justice).

so mote it be
:cry:

[Noordam]

3. :kick:

:kick:

[Noordam]

4. :kick:

:kick:

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

5. .

[Pastiche423]

6. Tonight I attended

a Night of a Thousand Dinners to donate to Adopt-A-Minefield.

It was hosted by an 80+ year old Korean vet, w/a huge heart. Bless him. A video by Heather Mills (Paul McCartney's wife) was shown, as well as a slide show by a gentleman that had visited Sarajevo and the sourrounding areas.

As I listened and watched, my heart began to literally hurt. It hurt because of the realization that my country had placed many landmines in many different countries.

Each of those that attended, chose a country to raise funds for prostheses. Sadly, many of our troops will need them too.

For more information and/or to make a donation, you can go to:

www.icbl.org

or

www.1000dinners.com

[dArKeR]

7. How can you write a story like this with saying Bush and the GOP

would fight 'Free Election Landmines' for every country. And the Landmine issue was taken up by Clinton.