Cindy Sheehan

Gary Martin
San Antonio Express-News Washington Bureau

CRAWFORD — The mother of a Fort Hood soldier killed in Iraq continued a vigil Sunday on the rural road leading to President Bush's Central Texas ranch and vowed to remain until she meets with the commander in chief.

"I'm calling it the peaceful occupation of Crawford," said Cindy Sheehan, 48, of Vacaville, Calif., who wants Bush to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq.

Army Spc. Casey Austin Sheehan, 24, was killed April 4, 2004, in Sadr City, Baghdad, when his unit of eight soldiers came under fire from rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire.

Link to original Daily Kos diary

Camp Casey, Day One
Peaceful Occupation of Crawford, Texas
by Cindy Sheehan

Sun Aug 7th, 2005 at 14:13:38 PDT

The first day of the beginning of the end of the occupation of Iraq.

Today we went into the belly of the beast in Crawford, Texas...and lived to tell about it.

On Wednesday, August 3rd, 2005, I had a brainstorm. I was so furious about the horrible loss of life, especially from the Marine National Guard unit from Ohio. I was also so heartbroken for the families who have been wrongfully left behind. Then to top off the indignity and profanity of the needless deaths, George Bush spoke out after the deaths and said 2 things that enraged me further:

PEACE FILE
By Greg Moses
LINK TO ORIGINAL

IndyMedia North Texas / Bella Ciao / TodaysAlternativeNews / truthout! / UrukNet

“I’m back here where I met you, in the tent!

The Lone Star Iconoclast is covering Saturday's journey to Crawford by several groups, including Veterans For Peace, Military Family Speak Out, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Code Pink, Crawford Peace House, and others.

Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq last year, is seeking a meeting with President Bush, who is vacationing in Crawford, to have some of her questions answered about the war. Several busloads of interested individuals are expected in Crawford to support her cause. Sheehan has said that she is willing to camp out in Crawford until she gets to meet with the President.

Link to original

Note the original on the CNN site has links to the video from one story run by CNN as well as a Wolf Blitzer interview with Cindy.

Soldier's mom digs in near Bush ranch
Senator sees 'echoes of Vietnam' in vigil to meet president

CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) -- A mother whose son was killed in Iraq says she is prepared to continue her protest outside President Bush's ranch through August until she is granted an opportunity to speak with him.

The protests in Crawford, Texas led by Cindy Sheehan are currently the top U.S. story on Google News:

...and on AOL:

Cindy Sheehan called After Downing Street moments ago at 10 p.m. ET to report that the Secret Service is trying to intimidate her and members of Gold Star Families for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Veterans for Peace into leaving their protest near President Bush's Crawford, Texas ranch.

This morning Cindy led dozens of protesters as close as they could get to the ranch; they were stopped by local police about five miles away. Cindy and others plan to stay there throughout Bush's five-week August vacation until he agrees to meet with her and other family members of soldiers killed in Iraq and answer their questions about the war.

Link to original

Mother Takes Protest to Bush's Ranch

By RICHARD W. STEVENSON
Published: August 7, 2005

CRAWFORD, Texas, Aug. 6 - The mother of an American soldier killed in Iraq led a protest march on President Bush's ranch here on Saturday, prompting the White House to send two senior officials to meet her after she was blocked by the authorities from approaching Mr. Bush's home.
Skip to next paragraph

The mother, Cindy Sheehan, who has made regular public appearances in opposition to the war, was accompanied by several dozen chanting antiwar activists, including other parents who had lost children to the war, as she walked down a country road toward Mr. Bush's ranch. About five miles from the ranch, they were met by the local police, who barred them from getting any closer. Ms. Sheehan said she would remain as close as possible until Mr. Bush agreed to see her.

NY Bri of Daily Kos on Gold Star Families Protest

Link to original

Letter from Celeste Zappala RE: Cindy

by NYBri
Sat Aug 6th, 2005 at 14:42:27 PDT

I have received the following email from Celeste Zappala, co-founder of Gold Star Families for Peace. She asked that I post it on Dailykos and to thank everyone for their support.

I have just spoken to Cindy Sheehan at 5:05 pm. Her message:

"Today is the begining of the end of the occupation of Iraq." She is feeling strong, people have been bringing her food and water. The police have been polite. She has decided to stay on the Prairie Chapel Road, which is one mile from the Ranch, until George Bush meets with her and tells the truth. She invites anyone who can to join her during the month of August for as long as they can. She urges them to bring camping gear. Also, there are two caravans coming in from Louisiana and from Dayton, Ohio now.

White House officials meet anti-war protesters
Sat Aug 6, 2005 6:38 PM ET

By Steve Holland

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - About 70 anti-war protesters shouted "bring the troops home" from Iraq near President Bush's ranch on Saturday, prompting two White House officials to come out to meet with mothers who lost children in combat in Iraq.

National Security Adviser Steven Hadley and Deputy White House chief of staff Joe Hagin listened to the concerns of Cindy Sheehan and five or six other mothers in a meeting that lasted about 45 minutes, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said. Duffy said Sheehan told the two officials she appreciated the meeting.

Mom of Slain Soldier Stages Bush Protest

Saturday August 6, 2005 8:31 PM
By DEB RIECHMANN
Associated Press Writer

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - The angry mother of a fallen U.S. soldier staged a protest near President Bush's ranch on Saturday, demanding an accounting from the president of how he has conducted the war in Iraq.

Supported by more than 50 shouting demonstrators, Cindy Sheehan, 48, told reporters, "I want to ask George Bush: Why did my son die?"

Sheehan arrived in Crawford aboard a bus painted red, white and blue and emblazoned with the words, "Impeachment Tour."

Her son, Casey, 24, was killed in Sadr City, Iraq, on April 4, 2004. He was an Army specialist, a Humvee mechanic.

AfterDowningStreet.org

Cindy Sheehan, Co-Founder of Gold Star Families for Peace, and mother of a soldier killed in action in Iraq, plans to confront President Bush with questions at his Crawford ranch on Saturday morning, August 6, 11 a.m. CT. Accompanying Sheehan will be members of Veteran's for Peace (VFP), Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), CODE PINK, and Crawford Peace House, all members or allies of the AfterDowningStreet.org Coalition.

On Wednesday, Bush said (speaking about the dreadful loss of life in Iraq in August): "We have to honor the sacrifices of the fallen by completing the mission." and "The families of the fallen can be assured that they died for a noble cause."

Crawford vs. Dallas is Fantasy vs. Reality
The Baltimore Chronicle
By Ward Reilly

It's time to open the door, Mr. President. Our nation is knocking. If you turn Gold Star families and other REAL heroes away, what is that going to tell the "free press," and what is it going to tell all those veterans who have paid the price?

And you thought that the truth was in Crawford...
This weekend in Dallas, Texas, there will be a "Truth Convention" of sorts, centered around the Veterans For Peace national meeting.

This weekend in Dallas, Iraq veterans and Gold Star families will be joining with veterans of all US wars since WWII, the members of "Veterans For Peace," as they sit just a stone's throw away from a partying-for-five-weeks CIC, George Bush, over on his ranch, entertaining the new Saudi King perhaps.

POST NOTES TO CINDY BELOW. SHE WILL READ THEM.

I know
new
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2005-08-09 19:02.
Hi Cindy,

I'm 50 yrs old My cousin, almost a big brother, Wayne Smith died in a mid air helicopter crash in Vietnam in June 1968. I know what it's like to hold your 8 yr old cousin as he tries to come to grips with the fact that his big brother he so loved and admired was never coming home? I've seen a mother when she has just learned that her son has died, and for nothing? As a 12 yr. old, those memories of my aunt Rosie and my cousin Guy crying and crying, are burned deep into my memory.

By Mike Ferner

“That lying bastard, George Bush, is taking a five-week vacation in time of war,

The New York Times
By RICHARD W. STEVENSON
Published: August 8, 2005

CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 7 - President Bush draws antiwar protesters just about wherever he goes, but few generate the kind of attention that Cindy Sheehan has since she drove down the winding road toward his ranch here this weekend and sought to tell him face to face that he must pull all Americans troops out of Iraq now.

Ms. Sheehan's son, Casey, was killed last year in Iraq, after which she became an antiwar activist. She says she and her family met with the president two months later at Fort Lewis in Washington State.

Dear Texas Members of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA),

SUBJECT: Tell Bush: MEET WITH CINDY!

Cindy Sheehan, friend and ally of PDA, has come to Crawford, Texas to demand that President Bush explain why he sent her son to die in Iraq. Clearly it wasn’t to find weapons of mass destruction, and the Downing Street Memos make it clear that Bush didn’t have a plan for creating stability in the region.

We think Cindy deserves an answer. Bush should be confronted by what he has created in Iraq and explain to Cindy why he thought it was necessary for Casey Sheehan and almost 2000 other American sons and daughters to die there.

The Veterans for Peace National Convention wraps up today at the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas.

Thursday and Friday saw the vets check-in, and attend workshops that varied from Stan Goff’s ‘Gender & Militarism’ to ‘Speaking Truth to Power’ which featured Ann Wright, Coleen Rowley, and Jesselyn Radack.

Friday night featured keynote speakers and entertainers at Lynch Hall, on campus. They all had great things to say, and Cindy Sheehan was no exception.

Here is what she had to say:

Cindy Sheehan: It’s so great to be here.

Last year when you guys had your convention in Boston, my son had only been dead a few months, and we were really honored because the Santa Barbara chapter took my daughter’s poem A Nation Rocked to Sleep, (and they did it again this year), and I remember Michael Cervantes, he brought the booklet over to our house and showed it to us, and I never dreamed in a year I’d be standing here in front of you as one of the speakers at your convention, I never dreamed I’d be doing this at all, but isn’t it weird what life hands you…

Great Photos and Report on Cindy Sheehan's meeting with Bush aides: HERE.

Gary Martin
San Antonio Express-News Washington Bureau

CRAWFORD — The mother of a Fort Hood soldier killed in Iraq continued a vigil Sunday on the rural road leading to President Bush's Central Texas ranch and vowed to remain until she meets with the commander in chief.

"I'm calling it the peaceful occupation of Crawford," said Cindy Sheehan, 48, of Vacaville, Calif., who wants Bush to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq.

Army Spc. Casey Austin Sheehan, 24, was killed April 4, 2004, in Sadr City, Baghdad, when his unit of eight soldiers came under fire from rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire.

Photos from Crawford, Texas, Aug. 6, 2005

Link to original Daily Kos diary

Camp Casey, Day One
Peaceful Occupation of Crawford, Texas
by Cindy Sheehan

Sun Aug 7th, 2005 at 14:13:38 PDT

The first day of the beginning of the end of the occupation of Iraq.

Today we went into the belly of the beast in Crawford, Texas...and lived to tell about it.

On Wednesday, August 3rd, 2005, I had a brainstorm. I was so furious about the horrible loss of life, especially from the Marine National Guard unit from Ohio. I was also so heartbroken for the families who have been wrongfully left behind. Then to top off the indignity and profanity of the needless deaths, George Bush spoke out after the deaths and said 2 things that enraged me further:

San Diego, February 2006

Feb. 15, 2006, rally in Santa Cruz, Calif.
Click on "Free Display" and then on the event list item.
http://www.bobfitchphoto.com

Gallery of Photos by Matt Fitt from Feb. 15, 2006, rally in Santa Cruz, Calif.