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Edited on Fri Aug-19-05 09:04 PM by DanCa
Dozens add their voices to protests
Vigils in several suburbs support anti-war effort
By Sheila Ahern
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Thursday, August 18, 2005
Decades ago, Ken Samborski and Barry Desfor risked their lives serving in the Vietnam War because it was a war they believed in.
On Wednesday, they protested a war they did not believe in.
Samborski and Desfor — both members of their local Veterans of Foreign War posts — joined more than 50 other anti-war protesters in Island Lake to honor Cindy Sheehan. Sheehan has been camped out near President Bush’s Texas ranch since Aug. 6 in an anti-war campaign to bring U.S. troops home. Her son, Casey, was killed in combat last year in Iraq.Protest groups MoveOn.org, True Majority and Democracy for America organized more than 1,500 candlelight Vigils for Cindy Sheehan across the country Wednesday evening. Along with the Island Lake event, vigils were also held in Palatine, Northbrook, Deerfield and Elk Grove Village.
“This war has no purpose for our country,” said Samborski, a Crystal Lake resident. “Bring the troops home now.”Steve Lundy/Daily Herald
Jean Paskalides of Island Lake was organizer of a candlelight vigil Wednesday to protest the war in Iraq. The gathering was at Veterans Memorial Park in Island Lake. In Island Lake, the vigil was held next to a lifesize Vietnam War-era helicopter. Attendees ranged from teenagers to senior citizens and wore everything from shorts to suits. They held candles, sang “Amazing Grace” and explained to the group why they came.In 1984, Karen Schwab’s husband, Jeffrey, was a pilot killed in action in Honduras. Today, her son is a recent West Point graduate.“This war had its purpose in the beginning, but it’s gone on too long,” said Schwab, who received a personal phone call from then-President Ronald Reagan when her husband died.John Ferguson, 14, attended the vigil with his mother, Krista.
“This war is, like, totally for oil,” said John of North Barrington. “We’re losing lives for money.”But there are several suburban families who weren’t at the Sheehan vigil in Island Lake.
Geoffrey Morris of Gurnee was killed the same day as Cindy Sheehan’s son on April 4, 2004. Morris was 19; Casey Sheehan was 24 and both died for the same cause.It’s their parents’ reactions that were different.While Cindy Sheehan grabs national attention with her appeal to talk to President Bush, Kirk Morris is planning memorial golf and fishing tournaments to raise money for wounded soldiers. He watches Sheehan on the news and shakes his head. The grieving he understands. Speaking up against the president and the war, he doesn’t.
“She’s being used as a pawn by anti-war groups,” Morris said. “People are mocking her. She does not represent my family.”
Geoffrey Morris was a 2003 graduate of Warren Township High School; he enlisted in the Marines the following June.Janet Maher’s son, Sean, went to school with Geoffrey Morris and the two were friends. Sean Maher, 19, lived in an unincorporated area near Gurnee and Grayslake and was killed in a firefight in the Al Anbar province near Fallujah in February.Besides their grief, Janet Maher said she has nothing in common with Cindy Sheehan.
“I would tell her to go home,” Maher said. “What she’s doing is stupid. She is dishonoring her son.”Joy Syverson’s son, Maj. Paul Syverson III, was with the Army’s 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), when he was killed June 16, 2004, in a mortar attack. He left behind a wife and two small children.Joy Syverson knows a mother’s grief when she sees it and recognizes it in Sheehan’s eyes.
“I just want to tell her that what’s she’s doing isn’t going to make it any better,” Syverson said. “I miss my son every day. My heart breaks every day.”In many ways, Cindy Sheehan’s protest is hurting soldiers fighting overseas, Syverson said.“It’s a terrible price to pay, but not one made her son join. It’s a volunteer army,” said Syverson, who sill keeps a “Freedom isn’t Free” sign on her Lake Zurich front lawn.
Dont you just love the way the turned this into pro bush piece at the end?
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