Calif. Woman Travels to Iraq to Visit Son

Yahoo! News ^ | Apr 04, 2004 | AP

[yonif]

SAN FRANCISCO - An Alameda woman traveled more than 7,400 miles recently to find her son in Iraq (news - web sites), who is stationed there.

Susan Galleymore, 48, went against the warnings of military officials by showing up for a surprise visit at her 26-year-old son's military base on Feb. 1, seven days after leaving with a group from the Bay Area.

When Galleymore arrived and announced who she was, incredulous soldiers paged her son, an Army Ranger, over the 2-way radio.

"Hey, Nick. Your mom's here," they said.

Galleymore was reunited with her son for 90 minutes, during which he gave her a tour of the base and accompanied her to see the view from a guard tower.

Galleymore, who was also using the trip to gather information for a book she plans to write on the views of Iraqi and U.S. parents on the war, said she simply wanted to see for herself how her son was doing. Her son has been posted in Iraq since December.

Essays posted on her Weblog after her trip have attracted both praise and criticism from other mothers of servicemen. In them, Galleymore describes overcrowded Iraqi hospitals, downtrodden soldiers, and how "jittery GIs shoot Iraqi civilians in the streets."

Her writings have also attracted criticism from her own son, with whom she disagrees politically.

Galleymore's 10-day trip, which was also spent visiting hospitals, orphanages and politicians, was arranged by the women-founded peace activist group Code Pink, whose self-described mission includes "giving President Bush (news - web sites) a pink slip." The group has led about a dozen parents to Iraq over the past few months.

Galleymore said her trip was not about politics but about shedding light on the conditions of U.S. soldiers and the Iraqi families affected by the occupation.

"What was most striking was how isolated the soldiers are over there," Galleymore said. "They're not interacting with the Iraqi people that much."

Galleymore chose not to reveal Nick's last name to protect him from potential harassment from colleagues for her anti-war views.

U.S. military officials have strongly discouraged parents from visiting soldiers in Iraq because of the dangers involved.

"I'm a mother, too, so I know how she feels," said Sgt. Pam Smith, an 82nd Airborne spokeswoman. "But it is extremely dangerous over there."

[Texas Eagle]

Cut the cord, lady.

[speedy]

Potential Darwin Award recipient.

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[garyhope]

Good for her! And him. Woman's got guts.

[yonif]

Galleymore chose not to reveal Nick's last name

Wouldn't Galleymore be his last name?

[dayton law dude]

Galleymore chose not to reveal Nick's last name to protect him from potential harassment from colleagues for her anti-war views.

This line struck me as the funniest. Obviously he must have a different last name than she does, but it still sounds funny putting this in.

[piasa]

Code Pink again...

[RichInOC]

Galleymore said her trip was not about politics but about shedding light on the conditions of U.S. soldiers and the Iraqi families affected by the occupation.

Reminds me of the old saying. When somebody says it's not about the money...it's about the money.

[piasa]

No- she's just nuts. There was another article here about her trip - fortunately her daughter and son didn't turn out like her.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Galleymore said her trip was not about politics but about shedding light on the conditions of U.S. soldiers and the Iraqi families affected by the occupation.

Rrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigggggghhhttttt.

[longun45]

This woman is not looking out for anyone but herself. She is a selfish, ego-centered, red diaper doper crybaby who is looking for a reason why her children turned out better than she did. She stands for nothing. And she falls for anything, except the truth. She feels the the truth is variable and only relates to HER. She has no sense of right or wrong. Luckily her son did not pick up this deficit.

This was an earlier thread http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1110584/posts

[fatima]

We had a local.Dad went to find him,he died here.

[Susannah]

I searched google and didn't find her weblog, but found this bit of info from http://vitw.us/weblog/

"
A project manager from California, this South African native may have missed her calling as a psychologist. Years ago, she developed a serious interest in what's now called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), because of her brothers' service in the South African Army, and from encounters with South African Zionists after the Six-day War. She mentioned PTSD, and with a mother's steely resolve, vowed, "I'm not going to lose my son to that."

Over many glasses of tea at a Central Baghdad café, Galleymore described her anxiousness for her son, and her project, called "Motherspeak," relating the anxieties of mothers on all sides of the Iraq war."

[af_vet_1981]

"What was most striking was how isolated the soldiers are over there," Galleymore said. "They're not interacting with the Iraqi people that much."

She has a great son and for his sake I'm reluctant to criticize her nine ways from Sunday ...

[ApplegateRanch]

For the long version, which also has her daughter ashamed of her, and the people who paid for the trip not talking to her anymore, check out this link:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/04/03/MNGIQ609LN1.DTL#sections

[Libertina]

How embarrassing for her poor son. Not "poltical" huh? Another lying rat.

[Jewels1091]

My son would never speak to me again!

[TheDon]

"Her writings have also attracted criticism from her own son, with whom she disagrees politically."

Agreed. Just goes to show you can overcome a poor upbringing.

[jnarcus]

The woman is clueless. An Army Ranger doesn't need his mommy coming to check up on him and to be sure that everything is okay. She is a total moron and is in fact giving aid and comfort to the enemy much as Jane Fonda did in Viet Nam. This is just so incredibly stupid on her part and so not helpful. Guts??? no more like no brains