Posted on 08/03/2004 4:00:36 AM PDT by ResistorSister
CANTON -- Julie Barkey waited for a sign from her late son, Michael Barkey, a soldier who died in Iraq last month.
Last week, she had a conversation with Michael as if he were still alive.
“I said, ‘Mikey, I need a sign from you. I just want a sign that you’re OK in heaven.’ ”
“If I could just shake the president’s hand,” Barkey recalled saying, “I would take that as a sign.”
Barkey got that sign.
After his address at the Memorial Civic Center on Saturday, President George W. Bush met privately with Barkey and two other local families who lost sons to the war.
“That meant to me that heaven is even better than we think it is,” Barkey said. “I think that was kind of his sign to me he is OK. And he just didn’t get me a handshake, but a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and so much more than I asked for.”
She was touched by the president’s gesture. Her son died in a truck accident in Ar Ramadi, about 60 miles west of Baghdad.
“He had tears in his eyes,” Barkey said of the president. “He seemed very down-to-earth, very compassionate, very warm, everything I thought he would be. I’ve had a lot of respect for him over the years, and his courage to stand for the unborn and for the downtrodden and help the people of Iraq.”
“He said our sons did not die in vain and that he appreciated their sacrifice,” she said.
Michael Barkey’s brother, Tony, and sister, Therese, also met the president.
Bush also spoke with Jerry and Julie Ramey, whose son, Richard, died in February when he tried to defuse a roadside bomb south of Baghdad, and with Steve and Peggy Buryj, whose son, Jesse, died in May while serving in Iraq. Ramey’s daughter, Sarah, also met the president.
The Rameys could not be reached for comment Monday.
Hal Barkey, Michael’s father, expressed his support for the war effort.
“He expressed his sympathy to us,” he said. “I think it was very heartfelt. I saw tears in his eyes. We talked about the war, and we both believe it is a just war. We’d like to let these people have the opportunity to have a democracy and see how it works, and hopefully change things in the Middle East.”
The visit with the president lasted about 15 to 20 minutes.
“He could have had some reporters there, but he didn’t,” Hal Barkey said. “It was a private affair, and no one else was allowed in there. I think that says a lot about him and the man he is.
“I think he’s genuine. I think he sticks to what he believes, and I see some real good there.”
Peggy Buryj said she was honored to meet the president.
“I was very nervous,” she said. “I thought, ‘What am I going to do, throw up on his shoes or something?’ He just seemed very real to me, very sincere. I cried on his shoulder, and he cried on mine.”
She also asked President Bush for more information about her son’s death in Iraq. Buryj said she has received conflicting information.
“He said, ‘Sometimes it just takes a call from a president,’ ” Buryj said. “He had one of his assistants come over and get all the information.”
Buryj, a registered Democrat, said she will vote for President Bush in the November election. She also voted for him in 2000.
“People think I should dislike him because of the war,” she said. “My son was a soldier, and he wanted to be a police officer. It would be like me getting mad at the chief of police for sending him into a dangerous situation.”
Each family received a presidential medallion. One side reads, “Seal of the President of the United States.” The other side reads, “George W. Bush Commander-in-Chief,” encircling an image of the White House.
Buryj said her son loved to collect coins from the Pentagon — where he once worked — and the military.
“Army guys want those coins,” Buryj said, laughing. “They’ll do anything to get those coins.”
President Bush dug into his pocket and pulled three out.
“I said out loud to my son, ‘Jesse, I got a bigger coin than you.’ ”
You can reach Repository writer Ed Balint at (330) 580-8315 or e-mail:
What a great man our President is. Thanks for the Post!
“He could have had some reporters there, but he didn’t,” Hal Barkey said. “It was a private affair, and no one else was allowed in there. I think that says a lot about him and the man he is.
I am pinging a few folks who will appreciate this story.
President Bush is real.
If hanoi john had met with any of our greiving families it would have been with press in tow. In fact he has been bothered to visit Walter Reed or any other military hospital, because if he had there would have been photos. BUT he really cares about them.
Hankie PING
GMTA...I just posted a link to this on ATRW!!!!!!!!!
The parents that President Bush spoke with must have been overwhelmed with thankfulness to the President.
Yes! That is a key point. The meeting was for the parents, not for the press nor was it campaign hype.
PING!
I hope everyone on FR takes the time to read this story. Thanks.
God bless our troops!
God bless President Bush!
God bless America!
HERE, HERE!!
What makes a great man is not what he does when everyone is looking, it's what he does when only God is
God Bless President Bush
Hopefully this will put a plug in all of the DUmmies who keep harping about the President not attending any funerals or meeting with any family members.
And, is it just me or is the Prez looking a little paunchy in that pic?
Thanks for this ping, MM. I don't recall any instance of President Bush's opponent or the VP candidate doing anything of this sort.
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