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Hi Friends,
Here's a quick report from Crawford, Texas at the
vigil started by Cindy Sheehan and carried on by other
families who have lost loved ones in the Iraq war, and
those of us in solidarity with them.
We arrived on Weds 8/17 and will stay for a week.
Audrey and I were the second wave of the mothers'
delegation from Ithaca, and our little guys Gabe and
Dominic are meeting lots of special people here at the
vigil site.
The "redbuddies" from Ithaca (Anna, Thea, Lynne and
Patrick) have been making many people happy by
coordinating the kitchen and feeding over 100 people
per day and stocking about a trillion coolers with ice
and water out at the vigil. The vigil is expanding
into 2 camps now.
The original camp remains on Prairie Chapel Rd where
it was started by Cindy Sheehan , even though Cindy
had to return home to care for her mother who had a
stroke 2 days ago. This camp has a memorial area that
is growing daily with photos of fallen soldiers,
flowers, flags, coffins, white crosses.
A second camp has been set up on land offered by a
local rancher who lives even closer to the bush
vacation ranch than the original site (which is about
3-4 miles from ranch. its the closest the secret
service would "let" people get on public land).
Lots of fresh people are pouring in this weekend from
around the country and the outpouring of support has
been amazing. The Waco newspaper wrote yesterday that
the "protest" was over when Cindy left, but today had
to say to the contrary, as the camp not only is still
going strong, but growing!
There will be a concert tonight at Camp 2 and tons of
food and water keep pouring in from lots of people.
Also here are Audrey's father and his wife Sunshine
from Mississippi and Debbie Quigley from New Orleans.
We met the State Senator from Minnesota named Becky
Lourey, who lost her son in Iraq in May 2005. She's
been part of the vigil since Thursday the 18th. She
said "those who have the power to make life or death
decisions should not be insulated from those who
suffer the consequences of those decisions". He was 42
years old.
We also met Juan Torres from Chicago. A very gentle
man who lost his son John in Afghanistan under very
questionable circumstances. It appears that he may
have been killed by an American because he may have
found out about the u.s.military being involved in
drug trafficking there. There is a website with info
about the investigation into his son's death,
www.uncoverthetruth.org.
We also met another Mr. Torres, unrelated to Juan, who
lost his son Daniel to the war. We learned there were
over 30 u.s. soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan
with the last name Torres that Juan was not related
to. He said that was a classic example of how there
is a disproportionate number of Latinos serving and
dying in the military.
Juan Torres told me he speaks often at schools around
Chicago to tell young people about his son's story and
also the misrepresentation of the truth that
recruiters tell kids to get them to join. He said he
is also willing to talk to people around the country,
even though it is hard for him to get time off from
his job. He said he's grateful his boss has given him
some time off to do this, even though its a hardship
for his family. His only other child, Veronica, is
very supportive of him and he said his wife was unable
to come down to the vigil because she cannot stop
crying and its too hard for her to come to the vigil.
I met another mom named Tammy who drove 11 hrs from
Kansas City with 1 other friend. She lost her son
earlier this year in Iraq. He was 22. She marched the
4 miles round trip in the 90+ heat from the camp to
bush's driveway with the women's march on Thursday,
with the letters written to Laura Bush to appeal to
bring the troops home now.
She was only able to come to Texas for 1 day, but felt
she had to be here. She talked to tons of media. Sad
to say the words of many grieving parents and families
are not being printed though since the focus is on
Cindy Sheehan. I can't imagine how painful that is
for them.
Tammy said that marching in the extreme Texas sun
carrying just a water bottle was the least she could
do, remembering her son had to march in the Iraq sun
with his huge pack. She wore a shirt with his picture
on the front, the dates of his birth and death, and
the word "WHY?" printed underneath in large letters.
She said as far as she knew, she and her friend were
the only ones who came from Kansas city, and she
wished there were more. she said we were very lucky to
have so many come from our town and wished she had the
same.
We talked to the "camp lawyers" Buddy Spell and his
partner Annie Spell, who are from New Orleans and
sleeping out at the camp. There motto is "Reasonable
doubt for a reasonable fee; Nobody Talks, everybody
walks". He is a defense lawyer and she is the
president of the NAACP in her area.
Buddy was on Air America Thurs or Friday, describing
the vigil and also how someone against the vigil was
arrested Thursday in the early morning hours for
threatening him and also posing as a law enforcement
officer. He was still in jail Friday.
There was a counter protest of 10 people across the
street from camp yesterday, one with a sign saying
they were a 911 survivor.
There are many more stories to tell, but we have to
get back to the camp now. Call anytime on the cell
phones listed above. The reception is great near the
bush ranch! I'll return voice mails quickly.
Sorry for any spelling/grammar errors, this was
written quickly amidst the hub-bub.
Thanks to all who have supported us.
Much love,
Lisa
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