By virtue I'm married to a VN vet and Republican, I'm privvy to emails that discuss "bad, bad liberals", and yes, this exchange upset me. Posted in full from email fwd'd to my husband, from his friend who volunteers at the Wall...thoughts and guidance for responding are very welcomed ! I need help framing my response to this "friend".
*********************************************
from email exchanges, names and email addys edited out for privacy purposes....if anyone was there that Friday night, would love to hear if they witnessed any of this?
Thanks guys....start here:
This is the group who trashed the Wall last Friday night with a candle burning. The candles were burning in plastic containers. There are red and green wax puddles on the sidewalk below the Wall.
My partner Allen McCabe, a Yellow Hat volunteer, scraped up what he could Saturday morning.
She trashes and then irresponsibly moves on to her next target.
Shame on Warrior Sheehan's mother. May he rest in peace.
To: xxxx
Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2005 12:26 PM
Subject: Re: Events at the Wall, Saturday, 24 Sep 2005
xxxx,
By the way, Cindy Sheehan led the protest on Friday night. She is the one who camped out across from the Bush ranch earlier this year.
However, Ms. Sheehan was not acting as a distraught mother grieving for her son, as she is portrayed by the media. Earlier this year, the Sheehans (she and her husband have since separated because he no longer agrees with her actions - in fact, she is disenfranchised from her entire family because she is not honoring her son's memory by her actions) founded "Gold Star Families for Peace", an organization that is in no way connected to the Gold Star Mothers or Gold Star Wives, and in my view is an affront to them.
Ms. Sheehan's 'vigil' in Texas was sponsored by Code Pink, an activist group led by Medea Benjamin, an individual who reportedly has Marxist ties. All research that I conducted on her revealed extremely polarized views... some consider her a 'world-class' activist for peace, others consider her a - well, they have a rather unflattering name for her. She distinguished herself by being dragged in handcuffs from the Republican National Convention, a speech by Donald Rumsfield, and numerous other events. She also disrupted a Democratic National Convention speech by protesting the fact that the Green Party did not receive the same level of media coverage.
As we discussed on Saturday, Code Pink holds it's own 'vigils' at Walter Reed, mostly on Friday nights when they can demoralize wounded troops and their families under the guise of 'showing support'. I don't understand how lining cardboard coffins on the sidewalk shows support for wounded troops, many of whom have survivor guilt. Rolling Thunder has started supporting the Free Republicans in counter-protesting Code Pink's presence.
The weekend was evidently a success for Ms. Sheehan. She has taken another step in following her mentor's path - being arrested - in front of the White House.
I submit that if they want to protest the loss of life in this nation's wars, perhaps they should choose a statistically significant target, like the number of Americans who die as a direct result of smoking each year. 400,000 deaths per year - by my count, 1,621,971 have died in combat in all American wars to date (
http://www.cwc.lsu.edu/cwc/other/stats/warcost.htm), so every 4 years cigarettes kill as many folks as our wars and conflicts. If we lost 400,000 every year for the nation's 229 years, it would work out to 91,600,000 deaths, or 56 times as many.
That's an interesting statistic to give the people, isn't it?
Jim
xxxxxxx
Vice President
Chapter 127
STAR Touring & Riding
-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxxxx
To: xxxxxx
Sent: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 09:31:14 -0400
Subject: Fw: Events at the Wall, Saturday, 24 Sep 2005
----- Original Message -----
From: xxxxx
To: xxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 10:21 AM
Subject: Events at the Wall, Saturday, 24 Sep 2005
Good Morning Holly,
As you are well aware, DC was impacted this past weekend by several demonstrations, one of which was mainly focused on the anti-war position of many.
The Wall was especially hard hit by these demonstrators.
As in the past, the words 'anti-war' and 'protestors' act as a magnet and draw them to the Wall. The last occurrence was during the Million Workers March last October.
But Saturday was particularly difficult. We had no National Park Service Rangers on duty to supplement 5 'Yellow Hats', one of whom, Vietnam Vet Bob Koch, traveled from Philadelphia just for the day to help out.
Through the efforts of a Nam Vet with connections at the 'pins and patches' stands, we were supplemented by 4 members of Star Touring & Riding Association, a local biker club, and half a dozen out-of-town Nam Vets who had come for a reunion and stayed with us all day.
In order to preserve the 'political neutrality' of the Wall as established by the VVMF, some of us were stationed at the West and East End of the walks to intercept the demonstrators and ask that they leave their banners, placards and signs on the benches before coming to the Wall.
Ninety-nine percent complied and were polite. That left the noisy, obnoxious, threatening one percent who made the day emotionally trying for all of us. One protector grabbed me by my shirt and was holding me personally responsible for the safety of her materials. I think a Vet called the Park Police to come to my assistance. It didn't escalate and I didn't file charges.
But that wasn't the only incident in which they were required.
We spotted a few demonstrators filming confrontational events at the West Walk and also some of whom who were wearing red berets and were overheard discussing strategy on their cell phones. I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't material for future training films for future demonstrations.
The Nam Vets were splendid. Their tempers were challenged and there were verbal confrontations, but to realize that this was 'going down memory lane' again for these men was heartbreaking for me, but they persevered and came out perhaps winning some hearts and minds. I'm so proud of them and I don't even know their names. Some of them will be back, they reassured me.
Also evident was the wax damage and residue left from a candlelight vigil Friday night headed by 'Cindy' someone who has camped outside President Bush' ranch all summer. There are grease spots and green and red wax everywhere.
Our newest 'Yellow Hat' had harassment charges brought against him by a protestor. This Volunteer had only just begun his service at the Wall the weekend of 17 Sep. He's an active duty Navy Seabee in Washington.
Our coverage of the Wall began as early as 0730 and Allen McCabe and I finally walked off-site at 1800, exhausted.
What's my purpose in writing you? In my over 1900 hours at the Wall since January 2002, there have been a few incidents that left negative impressions on me, but nothing to equal this.
I'm perplexed at the inability of the National Park Service to provide sufficient Ranger coverage during these demonstrations. I don't even feel there is an NPS Management official I could contact. I have had frequent conversations with dissatisfied Rangers who claim management ineptitude. I saw it this past Saturday.
If Jan and the Board are at all interested in the quality of life at the Wall, and ensuring that these demoralizing demonstrations are held in check to preserve the sanctity and emotional privacy of the returning Nam Vets and Families, then I feel he should read this.
The rest is up to him, the Board and ultimately the National Park Service.
I'm just a Yellow Hat at the grunt level but I don't shy from confrontations to ensure that the visiting Nam Vet has an environment in which to make his peace with his fallen Brothers.
Respectfully,
xxxxxx
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