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| She Does Not Speak for Me |
| 2005-08-19 |
| My son died in Iraq--and it was not in vain. BY RONALD R. GRIFFIN I lost a son in Iraq and Cindy Sheehan does not speak for me. I grieve with Mrs. Sheehan, for all too well I know the full measure of the agony she is forever going to endure. I honor her son for his service and sacrifice. However, I abhor all that she represents and those who would cast her as the symbol for parents of our fallen soldiers. The fallen heroes, until now, have enjoyed virtually no individuality. They have been treated as a monolith, a mere number. Now Mrs. Sheehan, with adept public relations tactics, has succeeded in elevating herself above the rest of us. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida declared that Mrs. Sheehan is now the symbol for all parents who have lost children in Iraq. Sorry, senator. Not for me. Maureen Dowd of the New York Times portrays Mrs. Sheehan as a distraught mom standing heroically outside the guarded gates of the most powerful and inhumane man on earth, President Bush. Ms. Dowd is so moved by Mrs. Sheehan's plight that she bestowed upon her and all grieving parents the title of "absolute moral authority." That characterization epitomizes the arrogance and condescension of anyone who would presume to understand and speak for all of us. How can we all possess "absolute moral authority" when we hold so many different perspectives? I don't want that title. I haven't earned that title. Although we all walk the same sad road of sorrow and agony, we walk it as individuals with all the refreshing uniqueness of our own thoughts shaped in large measure by the life and death of our own fallen hero. Over the past few days I have reached out to other parents and loved ones of fallen heroes in an attempt to find out their reactions to all the attention Mrs. Sheehan has attracted. What emerges from those conversations is an empathy for Mrs. Sheehan's suffering but a fundamental disagreement with her politics. Ann and Dale Hampton lost their only child, Capt. Kimberly Hampton, on Jan. 2, 2004, while she was flying her Kiowa helicopter. She was a member of the 82nd Airborne and the company commander. She had already served in Afghanistan before being deployed to Iraq. Ann Hampton wrote, "My grief sometimes seems unbearable, but I cannot add the additional baggage of anger. Mrs. Sheehan has every right to protest . . . but I cannot do that. I would be protesting the very thing that Kimberly believed in and died for." Marine Capt. Benjamin Sammis was Stacey Sammis's husband. Ben died on April 4, 2003, while flying his Super Cobra helicopter. Listen to Stacey and she will tell you that she is just beginning to understand the enormousness of the character of soldiers who knowingly put their lives at risk to defend our country. She will tell you that one of her deepest regrets is that the world did not have the honor of experiencing for a much longer time this outstanding Marine she so deeply loved. Speak to Joan Curtin, whose son, Cpl. Michael Curtin, was an infantryman with the 2-7th 3rd ID, and her words are passionately ambivalent. She says she has no room for bitterness. She has a life to lead and a family to nurture. She spoke of that part of her that never heals, for that is where Michael resides. She can go on, always knowing there will be that pain. Karen Long is the mother of Spc. Zachariah Long, who died with my son Kyle on May 30, 2003. Zack and Kyle were inseparable friends as only soldiers can be, and Karen and I have become inseparable friends since their deaths. Karen's view is that what Mrs. Sheehan is doing she has every right to do, but she is dishonoring all soldiers, including Karen's son, Zack. Karen cannot comprehend why Mrs. Sheehan cannot seem to come to grips with the idea that her own son, Casey, was a soldier like Zack who had a mission to complete. Karen will tell you over and over again that Zack is not here and no one, but no one will dishonor her son. My wife, Robin, has a different take on Mrs. Sheehan. She told me, "I don't care what she says or does. She is no more important than any other mother." By all accounts Spc. Casey Sheehan, Mrs. Sheehan's son, was a soldier by choice and by the strength of his character. I did not have the honor of knowing him, but I have read that he attended community college for three years and then chose to join the Army. In August 2003, five months into Operation Iraqi Freedom and after three years of service, Casey Sheehan re-enlisted in the Army with the full knowledge there was a war going on, and with the high probability he would be assigned to a combat area. Mrs. Sheehan frequently speaks of her son in religious terms, even saying that she thought that some day Casey would be a priest. Like so many of the individuals who have given their lives in service to our country, Casey was a very special young man. How do you decry that which someone has chosen to do with his life? How does a mother dishonor the sacrifice of her own son? Mrs. Sheehan has become the poster child for all the negativity surrounding the war in Iraq. In a way it heartens me to have all this attention paid to her, because that means others in her position now have the chance to be heard. Give equal time to other loved ones of fallen heroes. Feel the intensity of their love, their pride and the sorrow. To many loved ones, there are few if any "what ifs." They, like their fallen heroes before them, live in the world as it is and not what it was or could have been. Think of the sacrifices that have brought us to this day. We as a country made a collective decision. We must now live up to our decision and not deviate until the mission is complete. Thirty-five years ago, a president faced a similar dilemma in Vietnam. He gave in and we got "peace with honor." To this day, I am still searching for that honor. Today, those who defend our freedom every day do so as volunteers with a clear and certain purpose. Today, they have in their commander in chief someone who will not allow us to sink into self-pity. I will not allow him to. The amazing part about talking to the people left behind is that I did not want them to stop. After speaking to so many I have come away with the certainty of their conviction that in a large measure it's because of the deeds and sacrifices of their fallen heroes that this is a better and safer world we now live in. Those who lost their lives believed in the mission. To honor their memory, and because it's right, we must believe in the mission, too. We refuse to allow Cindy Sheehan to speak for all of us. Instead, we ask you to learn the individual stories. They are glorious. Honor their memories. Honor their service. Never dishonor them by giving in. They never did. Mr. Griffin is the father of Spc. Kyle Andrew Griffin, a recipient of the Army Commendation Medal, Army Meritorious Service Medal and the Bronze Star, who was killed in a truck accident on a road between Mosul and Tikrit on May 30, 2003. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #5 If memory serves, George Noory's guest on COASTTOCOASTAM said that the plans for "American Hiroshima" called for SEVEN NUCLEAR DEVICES, OF UP TO TEN KILOTONS EACH, TO BE DETONATED IN SEVEN AMERICAN CITIES. Noory's guest also said that many in INTEL, ours and International, knew Saddam's WMDS had been secretly trasferred and hidden in neighboring countries, i.e. mostly in SYRIA and LEBANON, and that both Russia and China, espec China, are heavily involved in wilful Nuclear Proliferation, International Terror, and now the nuclearization of Radic Islamist groups, both for profit and anti-US agendas. He labeled China's CCP as "Thugs" whom as a class are denying true democracy, freedom, and development to the Chinese people. AS PER "AMERICAN HIROSHIMA", GOTTA WONDER HOW CINDY WOULD FEEL IFF A PC TERROR NUKE/WMD WENT OFF NEAR HER PLACE - WILL SHE GIVE HER SON A SHIELD AND SEND HER SON OFF TO FIGHT, TELLING HIM TO COME/MARCH BACK WITH THE SHIELD IN VICTORY, OR ON IT IN DEATH OR DEFEAT, OR DOES SHE PREFER TO BECOME ONE OF 72 HAREM CONCUBINES TO SERVE AND DO ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING AT HER MASTER'S LEISURE! And iff she refuses to serve in a harem, Amerikan Cindy of the USSA/USR, or the Global Islamiist/Jihadist State, can rest assured she will be lawfully and rightfully shot beind her head by an AK47 vv "honor killing" after her 5-15 minute, out-of-courtroom = whats an attorney, "trial"??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2005-08-19 22:53 |
| #4 Someone should create a photo album book. It should show pictures of the men and women who died, along with their biography, a peacetime picture, and any selected thoughts they expressed to their families of what they accomplished while they were over there. On the opposing page, it should have a picture of their parents, along with their thoughts and feelings, and what they would say to their son or daughter as a goodbye and epitaph to their life. It would be a book both heartfelt and cruel, and would be the final, definitive statement on the lives of these people and the purpose their deaths served. A statement far more telling than any spin placed on events by outsiders after the fact. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-08-19 19:39 |
| #3 I caught it. Rich Marata has been a whining little "quagmire boy" who can't offer a damn solution. Handel tore him up |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-08-19 18:48 |
| #2 Did anyone hear Bill Handel on KFI this AM? He laid into Sheehan big time... The last two days he has really been on a tear... They haven't posted this AMs editorial, but yesterdays is, and it is a doozy too... Click on link, "Crazy for You" There are sometimes I disagree with him on things, but since this Sheehan nonsense has been going on, he has been right on the money... |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-08-19 17:04 |
| #1 *wipes tear* Outstanding. I wonder if any of Cindy's Cretins could read the whole thing? Maureen Dowd? Senator Nelson? Simpletons. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2005-08-19 12:35 |