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Cindy's Crawford's Camp
Casey Continues to Grow Despite Sheehan's Absence
Democracy Now Reports From
Crawford Texas
Broadcast - 08/22/05
TRANSCRIPT
AMY GOODMAN: Military Families and Iraq Veterans held
a news conference at Camp Casey on Friday afternoon. The
temperature, as usual, over 100 degrees. One of those who spoke
was Minnesota State Senator, Becky Lourey. Her son, Matt, was
killed in Iraq just a few months after Casey Sheehan died.
Lourey was a leading opponent in her state of the invasion of
Iraq. In March 2003, the State Senator authored an anti-war
resolution signed by 18 other state senators. This is what Becky
Lourey had to say at the rally on Friday.
STATE SEN. BECKY LOUREY: Thank you so much for being
here so that you can report to the world that Camp Casey is
alive and well. I'm Minnesota State Senator, Becky Lourey. My
son, CW-4, Matthew Scott Lourey, a wonderful American hero,
died on May 26, saving his colleagues' lives in Iraq. And I'm
reading you a letter written by all of us here.
August 19, 2005. “Dear Mr. President, Cindy Sheehan a
Gold Star mother who has been camped outside your ranch,
asking you to take one hour out of your five-week vacation to
meet with her, left Camp Casey today when her mother had a
stroke.
“While Cindy Sheehan is temporarily not in Crawford, we
want to be clear that we, Gold Star and Military Families and
Veterans who have stood by Cindy these past 11 days, remain
encamped outside your ranch, and we will stay here until you
meet with us and answer ours and Cindy's questions about the,
quote, ‘noble cause,’ unquote, for which our loved ones
have been killed or placed in harm's way. Cindy Sheehan may
have started this, but we are committed to carrying it on on
behalf of Cindy and the thousands of Gold Star and Military
Families across the country who have the very same concerns
and questions.
“Many of our families have paid the ultimate price for
your administration's lies leading up to this war in Iraq, and
we all deserve answers. Harm, danger, death and grief entered
our living rooms the moment you sent our nation and our loved
ones to a war with a country that posed no threat to America
and had nothing to do with the terrible tragedy of September
11th.
“We need answers. We need the truth. You put our loved
ones and all of our troops into harm's way based on lies. Too
many of our loved ones have already paid the ultimate price.
For those of us with loved ones deployed or about to deploy,
every day threatens to transform them from a military family
to a Gold Star family. We call on you, Mr. President, to
support our troops and bring them home now.
“Sincerely, Charlie Anderson, Iraq veteran; Rebecca Bahr,
mother of a soldier; Lynn Bradach, Gold Star mother; Cody
Comacho, Iraq veteran; Michelle Deford, Gold Star mother;
Linda Englund, mother of returned soldier; Mimi Evans, mother
of deploying soldier; Linda Jansen, family of soldier; Doug
Met, family of soldier; Tammara Rosenleaf, wife of deploying
soldier; Beatriz Saldivar, aunt of fallen soldier; Nancy
Towson, mother of deployed soldier; Allison Townson, sister of
deployed soldier; Pat Vogel, mother of returning soldier.”
And say your name.
JUAN TORRES: Juan Torres, father.
STATE SEN. BECKY LOUREY: Juan, father --
JUAN TORRES: Juan Torres.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: And Sergio Torres, father.
STATE SEN. BECKY LOUREY: And Sergio, father, right
here. And for a few remarks from me personally, I do believe
that a conversation is incredibly valuable. If North Carolina
Congressman Walter Jones, who dubbed French fries “freedom
fries,” can change his mind and offer a resolution because
it is clear now from all the intelligence that the presence
ever our troops in Iraq is making the insurgency stronger, if
Congressman Walter Jones can change his mind, so can our
President Bush.
AMY GOODMAN: Minnesota State Senator, Becky Lourey,
speaking at Camp Casey, Friday afternoon. She lost her son Matt
this past May in Iraq. After the news conference, military
families, veterans and others held a prayer vigil in front of
the more than 840 crosses planted in the campgrounds
representing soldiers who have been killed in Iraq. They then
boarded vans and headed towards President Bush's property to
deliver the letter. Leading the procession were two women,
Beatriz Saldivar, whose nephew Daniel Torres was killed in Iraq,
and Mimi Evans whose son, a marine, is awaiting deployment. They
were stopped at a checkpoint on the way to Bush's ranch.
SECRET SERVICE: Hello. How are you doing? I'm B.J.
Flowers, Secret Service. How are you doing? What can I do for
you this morning?
MIMI EVANS: Hello, we have something for the
President of the United States. My name is Mimi Evans. I’m
with Military Families Speak Out, and I have a letter for the
President.
SECRET SERVICE: Okay.
MIMI EVANS: And this letter says --
SECRET SERVICE: Well, ma'am, I cannot accept --
MIMI EVANS: I'm not reading it, and I know you
cannot accept it.
SECRET SERVICE: Okay, I can’t accept it, and I
don’t believe there's anyone from staff here to take your
letter at the moment, okay?
MIMI EVANS: Will they be here later?
SECRET SERVICE: I don't anticipate them to be here.
No, ma’am. Sometimes they’re here –
BEATRIZ SALDIVAR: Can you call somebody?
SECRET SERVICE: No. Can’t call them down here.
That's up to them whether they want to be down here, you know,
to address any complaints or [inaudible] --
BEATRIZ SALDIVAR: Can you ask them that all the
mothers of the fallen soldiers are asking somebody from the
White House to come in and accept this letter?
SECRET SERVICE: They -- there's no one here to
accept it, ma'am. I'm sorry. I can’t take it. Thank you.
MIMI EVANS: As Secret Service, would you be able to
convey the message that we are still down at the camp, and we
intend to stay there, the mothers and the families, please?
SECRET SERVICE: I will relay that information.
MIMI EVANS: We are not going anywhere.
SECRET SERVICE: Okay. Very good.
MIMI EVANS: Thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: Refusing to be turned away, Mimi Evans
and Beatriz Saldivar walked hand in hand up to the barriers
blockading the entrance to President Bush's estate. They dropped
the letter on the ground and laid flowers on top. This is
Beatriz Saldivar.
BEATRIZ SALDIVAR: I want to say to President Bush
one thing, okay, and in the name of Cindy and all the mothers,
that letter that's laying there with those precious flowers on
top is laying there. Our soldiers when they killed -- get
killed in Iraq, the men next to them, the other fellow
soldiers, picks up their body, their pieces. Sometimes the
bodies are not recognized. Sometimes they come back in one
piece, and sometimes they have their eyes open and they're
dead. We ask you, President, to have the courage to pick up
that letter. It’s just a simple letter. We cannot pick up
our sons and daughters and husbands and nephews, but you can
-- we cannot bring them back alive, but you can have the
courage to pick up that letter and talk to this nation and the
world. The whole world is listening.
AMY GOODMAN: Beatriz Saldivar, her nephew Daniel
Torres, died in Iraq earlier this year. The Secret Service told
the women and their religious people supporting them who came to
the checkpoint that they had to get back in their vans. The
letter and the flowers remained on the ground.
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