From moms of dead, fury; their sons killed in Iraq, mothers speak out on

[Vitruvius]

whether $17 M slated for inaugural security would be better spent on armoring the troops

by Martin C. Evans, Newsday

In November, Jeanette Urbina's soldier son telephoned from Iraq with a simple request. It was cold there, Army Spc. Wilfredo F. Urbina told her. Could she send him a sweater? Three days later, he was dead. An explosive device had sliced into his Humvee while he was patrolling in Baghdad.

Yesterday, parents of several Iraq veterans said they are angry that more than $17 million will be spent on security for today's inaugural festivities for President George W. Bush, while troops he sent to war still lack sufficient armor to keep them alive.

"What is the life of a soldier worth?" asked Urbina, of Baldwin, whose son was killed Nov. 29. "Is one or two thousand dollars too much to ask? They are fighting for democracy and freedom. They need more protection."

"How dare he?" said Dorine Kenney, of Bay Shore. Her son, Spc. Jacob S. Fletcher, was killed in Iraq Nov. 13, 2003, when a bomb detonated near a bus he was riding in. "He <Bu$h> is paying so much for his safety, but what about the troops?" Kenney said. "What about the steel for the trucks, for the security?"

Kenney said she decided to speak out when she and Urbina encountered each other by chance while visiting their son's graves, which lie within steps of each other at Long Island National Cemetery in Pinelawn. <SNIP> Explosive devices that have ripped through lightly armored military vehicles have claimed the lives of dozens of U.S. troops in the past year. <SNIP> "It's just not right with our boys dying," said Dorothy Oxendine, of Farmingdale, a past national president of the Gold Star Mothers, a Washington-based organization that represents women whose soldier children have been killed in U.S. wars. <SNIP>

More at http://www.newsday.com/mynews/ny-liinau204120226jan20,0,508207,print.story

[BrklynLiberal]

1. As a Mother, I agree 100%....and as a citizen of the country, I agree 100%