Thoughts on Cindy Sheehan

This is a tough subject for me to write about, but it has been in the media and slightly intertwined in events in my live the last week. Cindy Sheehan has been in the news alot in the last week or so. As this is going on I went to a funeral of a soldier who just died from injuries in Iraq on Monday and Saturday went to a friend's promotion ceremony/party from his efforts in Iraq.

I have no idea how a loss of a child would affect me, and I don't want this entry to sound like I am bashing Cindy. But the media is giving one side of the issue, as it normally does. Also I believe the Anti War groups have been using her to further their cause. Here is what she said in the article above:

"I want to ask the president, why did he kill my son?" Sheehan told reporters. "He said my son died in a noble cause, and I want to ask him what that noble cause is."
. . . . .
"He wouldn't look at the pictures of Casey. He didn't even know Casey's name," she told CNN Sunday. "Every time we tried to talk about Casey and how much we missed him, he would change the subject."

Yet last year after meeting President Bush the article about the meeting said this:

"I now know he’s sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis," Cindy said after their meeting. "I know he’s sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he’s a man of faith."

The meeting didn’t last long, but in their time with Bush, Cindy spoke about Casey and asked the president to make her son’s sacrifice count for something. They also spoke of their faith.
. . . . .
The trip had one benefit that none of the Sheehans expected. For a moment, life returned to the way it was before Casey died. They laughed, joked and bickered playfully as they briefly toured Seattle. For the first time in 11 weeks, they felt whole again.

"That was the gift the president gave us, the gift of happiness, of being together," Cindy said.

Her Husband said this after the meeting:

"We have a lot of respect for the office of the president, and I have a new respect for him because he was sincere and he didn't have to take the time to meet with us,"

In the end, she should be honoring his memory, not doing the opposite of what he wanted. Casey Sheehan had re-enlisted in the U.S. Army voluntarily when he was 24-years-old, after serving his first hitch successfully. Casey Sheehan was in fact a hero who received a Bronze Star. He was attached as a mechanic to the artillery division of the 1st U.S. Cavalry in Iraq. When a convoy of soldiers from Casey’s unit was attacked in Sadr City by insurgents, Casey volunteered to join a rapid rescue force to get them out. His commanding sergeant told him he did not have to go into combat, because he was a mechanic and not an infantryman. Casey was quoted telling his officer, “I go where my chief goes.” He was tragically killed during the rescue attempt.

And to Cindy's question on what was the noble cause? It is stories and people like this that makes the effort worth it.