Video: Of protest song "Prarie Chapel Road"

A song and video for Cindy Sheehan written by Eric Folkerth. Pictures by Jeff Paterson of "Not in Our Name."

These images were taken in August of 2005, during the first weeks of Camp Casey.

The song, "Prarie Chapel Road" was written in honor of the peace movement, and Cindy Sheehan. More information about the song is available here:
http://www.ericfolkerth.com/wheneftal.

As anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan goes quiet, her husband long silent, speaks up

Casey Sheehan's Father Finds Meaning Amid Grief
"Casey's death mattered".

A a mother's grief was what powered Cindy Sheehan into making a bold public stance against the Iraq war. A stand that included purchasing property just outside of President Bush's home, so that she and thousands of others could protest in the spotlight. She was criticized and harassed as being a publicity seeker. She wept openly when she spoke to large crowds about her son. I think possibly it was the Congress allowing the President to send in a surge of troops that finally broke her heart. The politicians were deaf to the call of so many people to end the war.

She and her husband Pat Sheehan were divorced during the grieving after the death of thier son Pat in Iraq.

Mr. Sheehan was very private in his grief. He felt that thee very private role of simply continuing to be Casey's father was enough - until recently, that is.

In a blip of publicity, his former wife and now leading figure in the opposition to the invasion and occupation of Iraq, Cindy Sheehan decided to retire from the limelight. Mrs. Sheehan announced in a heart breaking speech that she would stop her activism against the Iraq war. In doing so, she declared that Casey Sheehan "did indeed die for nothing."



The embarrassing and politically motivated smear war against Mrs. Sheehan and even her son by Vice President Dick Cheney and political adviser Karl Rove through their media attack team (including Fox news) continued to keep the issues focused on her as a person rather than her simple argument - The war must end and the troops should be brought home.

That statement by his wife that their son "did indeed die for nothing."ended Mr. Sheehan's silence.

He called Mary Sanchez after reading a column in which she disputed his ex-wife's assertion. "Yes," he told me, "Casey Sheehan's death mattered." they continued talking and e-mailing, and he made Mrs. Sanchez understand his opinion - that a soldier's life is what is significant, not merely his death, or the activism it might inspire.

Casey loved his faith - his intention for going to Iraq was to be a chaplain's assistant


Pat Sheehan is pained that people know so little about the religious devotion of his son. Casey Sheehan so loved his Catholic faith that he considered the priesthood, before realizing how much he wanted to be a father himself. As a child, he would pull a nightstand from against the wall, cover it with a blanket and "play" Mass, enlisting his sister to be a nun.

As a teen, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout. Later he would quip that the military was "kind of like Boy Scouts, but with guns." Casey Sheehan signed up before the Sept. 11 attacks. His service had nothing to do with revenge, his father says.

Rather, it was a way to practice his faith. Casey Sheehan wanted to be a chaplain's assistant. Faced with a wait to become one, he chose to be a wheel mechanic instead. As a soldier, he was always the first to greet a visiting priest. If no priest came to say Mass, he would lead a prayer.

Pat Sheehan has only recently learned the details of his son's death from Martha Raddatz, author of "The Long Road Home," a book about the Sadr City uprising.


April 4, 2004: A platoon of soldiers was ambushed by sniper fire, trapped in an alley when its Humvees broke down.

Casey Sheehan was among the men who volunteered for the rescue of the dead. Actually he pulled rank, taking the place of a lowlier private.

The convoy was fighting its way through more sniper fire when a high-velocity bullet pierced his Kevlar helmet, then ricocheted against his head. He was put on a helicopter, and doctors desperately tried to save his life. A rosary was in his pocket.

Casey Sheehan was one of eight soldiers who died that day.

"He was an adult, making his own decisions when he volunteered that day," Pat Sheehan told me. "And he would do it again. Nothing can tarnish that. What he did matters."

When a child dies



Grief experts say that when a parent dies, a part of a person's past is taken. When a person loses a sibling, a part of their present is lost. But when a child dies, the future is stolen. That would make moving forward in life feel a bit like stepping into a vacant space. Both the Sheehans have been trying to live in that place.

After his son's death, Mr. Sheehan wondered why he never became angry.

Mr. Sheehan still loves his ex-wife

Mr. Sheehan disagrees with some of his ex-wife Cindy Sheehan's tactics. Philosophically, they are close on their views about the war. "Cindy is not," he insists, "the ogre of a mother that critics portray her to be. "

In an e-mail, Pat Sheehan wrote: "I haven't quite found my voice yet as Casey's father, but make no mistake, I feel much of the same pain and sense of loss that his mother does. I have chosen to deal with it in my own way. For all of my children, Casey, Carly, Andy and Jane, I am attempting to move forward with a little grace and dignity. They deserve nothing less."

Major sections of the story come form Mary Sanchez who is a syndicated writer in Missouri.

Cindy Sheehan steps back as Voice of the Anti-War Movement

Cindy Sheehan Steps Back

Celebrated and reviled, Cindy Sheehan has resigned as an active member of the anti-war movement. Her name will be attached to this war as one person who stood up, whose voice of protest was heard above others, who battled the President and camped outside of his home. And now, she will also be remembered as giving up on the battle before it was completed.



In the summer of 2005, the grieving mother of a U.S. soldier who died in Iraq the previous year put a face to – and momentum behind – anti-war protests with a simple act. She camped out by the road that led to President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas and demanded to see Mr. Bush because she had a question: “What exactly did my son, Casey, die for?”

Since then she devoted her time, efforts and financial resources to protesting the war in Iraq.

That’s now behind her. In her diary on the liberal blog Daily Kos, Ms. Sheehan says she is disillusioned with both Republicans and Democrats. “I guess no one paid attention to me when I said that the issue of peace and people dying for no reason is not a matter of ‘right or left,’ but ‘right and wrong’.”

She is also fed up with the anti-war movement itself. “I . . . tried to work within a peace movement that often puts personal egos above peace and human life . . . It is hard to work for peace when the very movement that is named after it has so many divisions.” (Full entry: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/28/12530/1525)

Far from being an “attention whore,” as she says some have labeled her, Ms. Sheehan is a lot like many who suffer a devastating private loss. They go public because they desperately want to assuage their pain by doing something to make the world better – to right the wrong. They also want to believe that others who espouse similar goals and views are equally sincere.

At some point, however, Ms. Sheehan (and her cohorts) collided with the reality of the human condition. People have free will and they are ruled even more by fear than by ego.



“Good-bye America,” she concludes. “…You are not the country that I love and I finally realized no matter how much I sacrifice, I can’t make you be that country unless you want it.

“It’s up to you now.”


Cindy Sheehan, the face of the US anti-war movement, is calling it quits. In a rare live interview following her Memorial Day farewell message, she talks with Riz about why she is leaving the peace movement, her disillusionment with US policy and what lies ahead.

Related book:


American Mourning: The Intimate Story of Two Families Joined by War, Torn by Beliefs


"American Mourning" is a beautiful and poignant story that chronicles the divide in America over the war against terrorism. What makes this book so intriguing is that it personalizes the story by showing how 2 different American families respond to the death of their son.

It's a raw and gripping portrayal of how we mourn as a nation, and how our individualism propels us to respond to similar events in such starkly different ways. One mother, Cindy Sheehan, becomes a broken woman when her son, Casey, is killed in a war that his mother never supported. For her it becomes the cruelest form of torture that he should die for a cause she finds to be anything but just.

Contrast that to the story of Jan and Joe Johnson, who become greater patriots upon hearing news that their son Justin died. At the age of 46, Joe Johnson went so far as to re-enlist in the U.S. Army and went over to Iraq to fight - to avenge his son's death. But the best part is that the son's of these families, Casey Sheehan and Justin Johnson, become best buddies themselves while in the military. Casey dies just 6 days before Justin in the slums of Sadr City, after being ambushed by terrorist insurgents. Justin is emotionally distraught over the death of his friend. He goes online to post a message of condolence at the memorial page for Casey. It will be one of the last things Justin Johnson writes. 6 days later he himself is killed in that same city where his good friend, Casey was killed.

"American Mourning" is an honest story. It shows us both the attributes and failings of both families. That will not sit well with fans of Cindy Sheehan who have idolized this woman and created a false persona of "Mother Sheehan" - a woman of absolute moral authority who can do no wrong. The truth is somewhat different, and American Mourning chronicles her story in stark terms. At a time when Americans debate how best to fight the war on terrorism,

"American Mourning" showcases the divide in our nation in a way that is irresistible. It is impossible to put this book down - each chapter propelling the reader on to the next. This book recognizes that the ultimate heroes, those whose legacy must be remembered, are those brave men who gave their lives - Casey Sheehan and Justin Johnson - and that is what makes this book such a powerful read.

Pickup truck runs through a row of memorial crosses

You Mowed Down His Cross
By Perry Jefferies, First Sergeant, USA (retired)
t r u t h o u t | Letter

Thursday 18 August 2005

Mr. Northern:

I am a Veteran of the Iraq war, having served with the 4th Infantry Division on the initial invasion with Force Package One.



While I was in Iraq, a very good friend of mine, Christopher Cutchall, was killed in an un-armored HMMWV outside of Baghdad. He was a cavalry scout serving with the 3d ID. Once he had declined the award of a medal because Soldiers assigned to him did not receive similar awards that he had recommended. He left two sons and a wonderful wife. On Monday night, August 16, you ran down the memorial cross erected for him by Arlington West.



One of my Soldiers in Iraq was Roger Turner. We gave him a hard time because he always wore all of his protective equipment, including three pairs of glasses or goggles. He did this because he wanted to make sure that he returned home to his family. He rode a bicycle to work every day to make sure that he was able to save enough money on his Army salary to send his son to college. At Camp Anaconda, where the squadron briefly stayed, a rocket landed inside a tent, sending a piece of debris or fragment into him and killed him. On Monday night, August 16, you ran down the memorial cross erected for him by Arlington West.



One of my Soldiers was Henry Bacon. He was one of the finest men I ever met. He was in perfect shape for a man over forty, working hard at night. He told me that he did that because he didn't have much money to buy nice things for his wife, who he loved so much, so he had to be in good shape for her. He was like a father to many young men in his section of maintenance mechanics. They fixed our vehicles with almost no support and fabricated parts and made repairs that kept our squadron rolling on the longest, fastest armor advance ever made under fire. He was so very proud of his son-in-law that married the beautiful daughter so well raised by Henry. His son-in-law was a helicopter pilot with the 1st Cavalry Division, who died last year. Henry stopped to rescue a vehicle belonging to another unit on what was to be his last day in Iraq. He could have kept rolling - he was headed to Kuwait after a year's tour. But he stopped. He could have sent others to do the work, but he was on the ground, leading by example, when he was killed. On Monday night, August 16, you took it upon yourself to go out in the country, where a peaceful group was exercising their constitutional rights, and harming no one, and you ran down the memorial cross erected for Henry and for his son-in-law by Arlington West.

Mr. Northern - I know little about Cindy Sheehan except that she is a grieving mother, a gentle soul, and wants to bring harm to no one. I know little about you except that you found your way to Crawford on Monday night in August with chains and a pipe attached to your truck for the sole purpose of dishonoring a memorial erected for my friends and lost Soldiers and hundreds of others that served this nation when they were called. I find it disheartening that good men like these have died so that people like you can threaten a mother who lost a child with your actions. I hope that you are ashamed of yourself.

Perry Jefferies, First Sergeant, USA (retired)




Complaint Filed After Driver Crushes Crosses At Anti-War Protest Site

Larry Northern, 59, of McLennan County, was charged Tuesday with Criminal Mischief Over $1,500 and under $20,000 after a pickup truck tore through a row of white crosses erected by anti-war protesters gathered near the President’s ranch in Crawford.

Bail was set at $3,000. Northern later posted bond and was released.

The crosses bear the names of U.S. military personnel who have died in the war in Iraq.

Witnesses said the driver swerved the truck in and out of the makeshift memorial Monday night.

The protesters who are camped out in Crawford expressed outrage at the vandalism.

Cindy Sheehan, the California woman around whom the protesters have rallied since Aug. 6, is the focal point of national controversy.

She is demanding a meeting with the President about the death of her son Casey, a 1st Cavalry Division soldier who was killed last year in Iraq.

“Our hearts are broken about this,” Sheehan said in a prepared statement about the destruction of the crosses released Tuesday afternoon.

“ We continue to work closely with local law enforcement offices and the secret service to be good neighbors,” she said.

References:

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/printer_082005A.shtml

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/1686471.html

http://crawfordupdate.blogspot.com/2005/08/rude-awakening.html