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Originally posted by Bonnie
Did you happen to catch the guests on Hannity today? One was a returning soldier and his mother. It seems there was some kind a parade in SanDiego CA and it turned vicious toward this soldier as a large crowd of Kerry supporters started calling this guy baby killer etc??? Did I hear this right?
1968?
I've received this story from many, many people today. Thanks to all of you.
As I've said before, I think the country, polarized as it is now, is only going to get worse before the election over 3 months away. Michele Catalano, unfortunately, may be correct that another 1968 is arriving. And I have to say, even Chicago would treat a veteran with a Veterans For Bush sign better than Seattle...
Veteran gets rude welcome on Bainbridge
By ROBERT L. JAMIESON Jr. - SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST
Think about the Seattle area -- Bainbridge Island to be exact -- and you think scenic views and liberal-minded tolerance.
At least the killer views are still there.
The bucolic island's deep reputation for civility got a gut check this week during the annual Grand Old Fourth of July celebration.
That's when Jason Gilson, a 23-year-old military veteran who served in Iraq, marched in the local event. He wore his medals with pride and carried a sign that said "Veterans for Bush."
Walking the parade route with his mom, younger siblings and politically conservative friends, Jason heard words from the crowd that felt like a thousand daggers to the heart.
"Baby killer!"
"Murderer!"
"Boooo!"
To understand why the reaction of strangers hurt so much, you must read what the young man had written in a letter from Iraq before he was disabled in an ambush:
"I really miss being in the states. Some of the American public have no idea how much freedom costs and who the people are that pay that awful price. I think sometimes people just see us as nameless and faceless and not really as humans. ... A good portion of us are actually scared that when we come home, for those of us who make it back, that there will be protesters waiting for us and that is scary."
On the Fourth, Jason faced his worst fear.
It was such a public humiliation -- home front insult after battlefield injury.
It really shouldn't have happened for two principal reasons.
Reason No. 1? History.
The past informs us that the men and women who fight our wars are not just following orders.
They are risking life and limb.
When they return from the battlefield they should be embraced regardless of the public popularity about the conflict, regardless of the politics.
Have we so quickly forgotten the painful lessons of Vietnam?
Frederick Scheffler, whose daughter and son-in-law marched with Jason on Sunday, hasn't.
Scheffler -- an Army veteran of two tours in Southeast Asia -- was shot in the leg during that long-ago conflict.
He came home with a cane, only to discover the American public was either indifferent to his sacrifice or downright hostile.
"I didn't think in this day and age combat veterans would be treated in this manner," Scheffler, 60, tells me, reflecting on Jason. "I saw it happen to veterans in Vietnam. I'm not going to let it happen today, not to these kids."
Reason No. 2? The rules.
The Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce, which put on the community celebration, permits freedom of expression at the event but asks that parade announcers not act in a manner that is partisan or prejudicial.
Jason's mother, Tamar, says a female parade announcer locked eyes on her son who was walking behind a pro-Republican group called Women in Red, White and Blue. The group supports President Bush and the troops in the fight against terrorism.
According to Tamar, the female announcer sarcastically asked Jason: "And what exactly are you a veteran of?"
The perceived mocking, the mother adds, set off some people in the crowd, loosing a flood of negative comments, "like a wave... a mob-style degrading."
Kevin Dwyer, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, spoke with the announcer after the allegations reached him this week.
He says the woman denies using sarcasm; she just wanted to know which war Jason was a veteran of so that she could "honor him" in public.
"It wasn't her intention to incite anything -- that's what she told me," Dwyer said. "But if she acted out of school, that's not what we're about."
Dwyer added: "I believe (Jason's) mom when she said her son was called 'a murderer.' But I'm sure it wasn't so much directed at the kid as it was the president. A soldier with a sign represents that."
The female announcer told Dwyer that some in the Bush-Cheney contingent in the parade seemed "militant."
And so, battle lines are drawn.
From the outside looking in, the fuel for this conflict seems obvious.
The left-leaning island hosted a group of people who support Bush's controversial war. (On the same parade route, people bearing pro-Kerry signs were cheered and applauded for, among other things, tooling around in an environmentally responsible car.)
Against such a roiling backdrop, an unfortunate tone of voice or the wording on a sign can spark, well, something -- something unconscionable it appears.
But less obvious factors are undoubtedly at work here, too.
The female announcer at the parade had a father who fought for America in a previous U.S. conflict. He never made it back home.
Jason's mother -- unbeknownst to many observers along the parade route -- is a tireless activist behind the pro-troops movement in the Puget Sound region.
Such a combo on a day of red, white and blue can only lead to fireworks -- snap, crackle and popping off during what locals call the "best small-town parade in America."
Okay, where's the ACLU on this one?
Booing a guy carrying a political sign is one thing. If I saw a vet with a Kerry sign, I'd want to talk to him to find out why in the world would he want to support Kerry. I wouldn't "Boo!" him. I think some vets are riding the wave of the anti-war movement in hopes of political gain. "Boo"-ing politics is part of the game.
However, calling a soldier a murderer or baby-killer is completely different.
Obviously, there are lots of differences between 1968 and today. But, as a vet, the most striking difference to me is that our soldiers returning home are VOLUNTEERS. All are volunteers. Not many of us are going to meekly say that we really didn't want to serve our country. Not many of us are going to agree with the Howard Dean/Indymedia/John-Throw-Your-Medals-Over-Fence Kerry.
On average, since the UN resolutions after the Gulf War were in place, Saddam killed about 30,000 children per year. If you want to call us baby-killers, I'd be happy to debate you publicly any time, any where. No country in the history of the world has freed more children than the United States of America. Why don't you add up all of the children that France, Germany, Belgium, and Canada have freed? It won't even come close. Idiots.
Keep trying that kind of crap and you're going to have a really pissed off veterans movement, the likes of which you have never seen before. Think of the Bonus March of 1932 where about 80,000 vets marched on the White House and over 12,000 stayed on the Mall for weeks.
And this time, we're politically involved.
Thank you blogosphere.
Originally posted by Bonnie
Oh yeah that was it!!! I thought I was hearing things. To me the most frightening thing about this is the mindset of these people doing the berrating. And the second worst thing is the idea that the local media refused to report the story. I hope someone has a tape of this so that Hannity can have mom and son on as guests.
Originally posted by Kathianne
IF you go to the Blackfive site, link was provided, you can send him a message. Email address is there.
Originally posted by west2004
The stupidest part about these libs calling the soldiers baby killers, is the fact that most liberals support abortion, there is no more common form of baby killing than that.
Originally posted by Hannitized
Sorry Bonnie, and thanks Kathianne, I missed it.
Wow! That's just sickening. Makes my stomach turn
Originally posted by Sir Evil
How about the fact that the majority supported the war at the onset? flip flop it is! Anything at this point to make the Bush admin look bad is there goal.
:Originally posted by west2004
The stupidest part about these libs calling the soldiers baby killers, is the fact that most liberals support abortion, there is no more common form of baby killing than that.
Bonnie said:seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/182359_robert16.html
I don't know if anyone has posted this already, but here it is in case.
Kathianne said:Thanks Bonnie. I do notice that it is over 2 weeks for this. The author of the article then feels compelled to write what he thinks would happen if a soldier carrying a Kerry sign marched in a conservative stronghold. The purpose of this speculation remains unclear other than for diversion or non-apology reasons.
Is your take different?
I am glad the soldier at least was given the apologies.
HGROKIT said:I just kinda jumpped in here, but I live in the Seattle area and the PI is the most liberal rag I have ever seen - it and the Times.
However, in listening to the kid on a radio talk show late last week, it sounds more like it was a couple hecklers. What I found disturbing however is that no one stepped up to show support when all this was going on.
Kathianne said:Thanks Bonnie. I do notice that it is over 2 weeks for this. The author of the article then feels compelled to write what he thinks would happen if a soldier carrying a Kerry sign marched in a conservative stronghold. The purpose of this speculation remains unclear other than for diversion or non-apology reasons.
Is your take different?
I am glad the soldier at least was given the apologies.
HGROKIT said:I just kinda jumpped in here, but I live in the Seattle area and the PI is the most liberal rag I have ever seen - it and the Times.
However, in listening to the kid on a radio talk show late last week, it sounds more like it was a couple hecklers. What I found disturbing however is that no one stepped up to show support when all this was going on.
Comrade said:I live in Seattle as well.
Have you ever noticed that on the corner of 5th and Pike, stands a gruff looking guy who seems old enough to have served in Vietnam?
On that corner, for perhaps 3 out of 5 days of the week, this man brandishes both the American and Israeli flag and simply stands there for hours on end.
I used to walk by him on the way to lunch several times a week. After a few weeks, and still noticing him there, doing nothing, saying nothing, no signs, just holding the two flags as a statement which you really don't see in the West coast at all anymore, I made it a point to first tell him how impressed I was with what he was doing, and how he did it. No slogans, no billboards, just a simple show of support for two nations which are NOT supposed to be tied together in a positive way, according to most of the west coast politic.
I continued to say hello and even "thank you" every time I passed by, and even offered money at some point, which he refused.
I can't really explain why it made me feel good to see such a bold statement, other than it was entirely at odds with the rest of Liberal Seattle. At various points during the war, he even added other flags when the situation in the world explained how this made sense.
Have you noticed him lately? Did you ever see him?
I wonder, does he still stands there at that corner, asking for nothing, saying nothing, but yet meaning something?
