For those who think harrasing Vets and their families is something new.
Topic: Iraq War
From qando.net


Iraq Casualty's family booed at Texas vigil

Posted by McQ



I keep saying it and everyone keeps telling me I'm wrong.

Maybe I am, but there continue to be events which demonstrate I'm not. Events such as the parade in Washington where a young Iraq vet was called a 'baby-killer" and now this in Texas, which again says "the anti-war crowd is not pro-troops" no matter how many times they claim to be. It keeps creeping out into the light ... the true feelings of some of the anti-war crowd, and it seems damn familiar to me:

A candlelight vigil took place Wednesday night to remember U.S. war dead in Iraq during the week of the 1,000th casualty. One North Texas family, whose relative -- Chad Drake -- was killed outside Baghdad Monday, was among the mourners at Dallas City Hall Plaza.
The vigil, though, turned abrasive toward the family members, according to a family friend. The friend sent an e-mail message to NBC 5 News that described the treatment some vigil attendees directed at the family.

Drake's mother was "harassed and yelled at, booed and hissed, told her son died for nothing," the message read.

Drake's mother reportedly left the event in tears.


To those who did this to this poor family you're insensitive pigs who don't deserve to live in the country for which young Chad Drake died. They aren't worthy of the blood the young man shed so they could act like the asses they certainly are.

Its because of better men, like Chad, that they can revel in their smug arrogance and believe their way is so superior that they mock the sacrifice of a fine young American and his family.

There just aren't words vile enough to describe how much contempt I feel for those that did this. I hope they all rot in hell.

Veteran gets rude welcome on Bainbridge

Think about the Seattle area -- Bainbridge Island to be exact -- and you think scenic views and liberal-minded tolerance.


FOLLOW-UP
Read the latest update: An apology and -- it is hoped -- healing on Bainbridge.

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,(who was disabled in battle near Nasiriyah) 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
****************************************************
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."