The continued focus by the nation's media on Cindy Sheehan, the so-called "Peace Mom" who's demanding a second meeting with President Bush in the wake of her son's death, is sparking a backlash from parents of other American servicemen and women in Iraq.And for the locals, this from CNN:
One Texas family of a fallen Marine became so enraged with Sheehan's use of their son's name on a protest cross, they drove from the town of Spicewood to Crawford to remove it.
"I went there and had Matthew's name taken off of there," said Matt Matula, whose son, a 20-year-old Marine, was killed by hostile fire last year. "It's fine for people to grieve their own way. It aggravates me to see them using other people's names to further their cause."
"He's not a victim, he's a hero," he told KXAN-TV, "and I think that everybody that's serving our country [are] heroes."
The mother of a Marine killed in Iraq urged mourners Wednesday not to let their anger and sadness turn them against the U.S. fight in Iraq.Sheehan has every right to speak. She does not have the right to be heard. And she does not have the right to not have her motivations questioned.
"Honor me in this way," Kathy Dyer said during a memorial service for Lance Cpl. Christopher J. Dyer, 19, of the Cincinnati suburb of Evendale.
At the funeral at Tri-County Baptist Church, Kathy Dyer delivered what she believed would have been her son's own message: "It has been with the greatest pride I have served ... fighting to preserve freedom."
She said he would want mourners to continue supporting the troops in the war against terrorism.
We are at war. I don't know how many times that needs to be said. We can debate whether or not we should have gone in to Iraq later, but we're there now - that decision was made a long time ago - and now there can only be one acceptable outcome: Victory. Anything else would make the sacrifices made by our military and their families empty and useless. You want to support the troops? Support their efforts.
