Anti-war woman's trip to see son serving in Iraq has surprises for both

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | April 3, 2004 | Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer

[Cincinatus' Wife]

'Hey, Nick. Your mom's here.' Anti-war Alameda woman's trip to see son serving in Iraq has surprises for both

........Galleymore was more political as a young mother, taking her young children on protest marches during the Iran-Contra controversy of the mid- 1980s. Her children hung out with the progressive thinkers she met while working for a food policy organization. But Galleymore's activism faded as her children entered adolescence, her time eaten up by the demands of single motherhood.

And somewhere along the line, her children didn't absorb her political perspective.

After Nick finished his third year at San Francisco State University and had been accepted for transfer to UC Berkeley, he announced that he had joined the Army.

"It was a total surprise," Galleymore said. "It wasn't like he needed money for college. He was already three years in, so that doesn't hold water."

She dismissed Nick's volunteering as a phase; it wasn't. Her son not only wanted to be in the Army, he wanted to be in an elite unit. He passed up completing his college degree and left for boot camp on Independence Day weekend, 1999.

Galleymore still doesn't know exactly why. They could never fully discuss it.

In January 2003, Nick was shipped to Afghanistan. He had become an Army Ranger, a jump master for paratroopers and a sniper. He was in the thick of the action. Last Dec. 19, his 26th birthday, Nick called to say he was headed to Iraq. At that point, with U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians being killed almost daily, Galleymore began to panic. She couldn't sleep at night, "because I was thinking, 'My kid is going to get killed for something I don't believe in, and I don't think he knows what he's getting into.' "

She began talking with other military mothers, hoping to get their perspectives on how to cope. But many knew little about what was going on in Iraq. Frustrating her effort to learn more about Nick was that she felt the news reporting from the front lines was giving an overly rosy picture of the U. S. occupation.

At wit's end, she decided that the only way to calm her fears was to go to Iraq. She got in touch with Code Pink, which has led about a dozen parents to Iraq over the past few months. After holding a fund-raiser, which netted half of the trip's $2,200 cost, she left for Iraq on Jan. 24. ................

[mtbopfuyn]

C'mon you other moms, get over there and visit your kids. Maybe we can get so many moms over there that we'll bog down the process...

Disgusting.

[Getsmart64]

You're an idiot...really...you are...

[Bernard Marx]

Anyone who thinks she took this trip for political reasons ...is nuts.

Same old sakic. Anyone who thinks she didn't embarrass her son and maybe jeopardize his military mission for selfish political purposes is nuts. The woman's an anti-American Marxist and her trip is right out of the Saul Alinsky Playbook. It's disgusting that anyone could approve of her hideous self-centered behavior. She's a Medea-mom who'd kill her own child to get back at her husband or a government she only pretends to believe in. It's all about her, remember?

[cupcakes]

Ma'am," the guard said firmly, as he whirled toward her. "Get back in your car, ma'am!"

Galleymore held her ground. Six soldiers moved toward her. "I will do that as soon as I talk to your sergeant," she said, and pulled down her hijab.
___

so this nitwit put troops in danger while she created a distraction based on her self-centeredness. Sigh... I'd be ticked as the mother of one of those guards at that gate whose lives she put in danger while she stomped her foot like a toddler and DEMANDED she see a higher up. What does she think she is in Target filing a complaint or something. DISGUSTING WOMAN!

I noticed her roots. Sounds like she is projecting what she experienced in South Africa on the US. And to think we gave this person the PRIVILEGE of becoming a citizen so she could work to dismantle our lifestyle and well-being.

[cupcakes]

I agree. Don't let the facts stand in the way of her ideology either eh?

[Publius6961]

"It was a shock. Some of the younger women in our group were totally traumatized by this story, they had no idea things like that could happen," Galleymore said.

Obviously, some people go to Iraq and find exactly what they wish to find, and are blind to anything else.

Personally, I find the story of the female U.S. soldier stealing the ear rings from an Iraqi girl, who was playing dead and whose whole fmily had just been killed by the very same soldier, humorous to the point of sadness, to think that such a juvenile attempt at hyperbole and propaganda on the part of the Iraqis could be swallowed whole by presumably rational so-called Americans, young or not.

[cupcakes]

Contrast this with the woman in Cleveland whose son was one of the 4 civilians killed. I don't know if she has said anything else in the past couple of days, but on our local news in central OH, she talked about how proud she is of him and how he was living the life he wanted to live.
No doubt she feared for his life too, but I suppose the difference between her and this other mother is that she is an adult woman who realizes her son is an adult man and of course the woman in Cleveland won't even get the remains of her son back, let alone see him again, but she hasn't let it turn her into a vengeful hag and has kept perspective despite such a painful loss.

[cupcakes]

Are you surprised? She had no problem endangering the sons of other women at that gate when she stomped her foot demanding an audience.

[Sabatier]

...Galleymore began to panic. She couldn't sleep at night, "because I was thinking,
'My kid is going to get killed for something I don't believe in, and I don't think he knows what he's getting into.' "...

Yeah, he's more of an adult than she is by quite a bit. I read the above and my reaction would be, "Gee, my kid might die for something he believes in - he's my hero." What's her problem? That she didn't raise a clone of herself?

[sakic]

You're an idiot...really...you are...

You think the mother doesn't love her son but I'm the idiot. Take a look at the photo on the first page of this thread and see how angry he is to see his mother.

When Nick returns he'll think it's those like you that are the idiots.

[Publius6961]

I just read the whole article, even before I've had my coffee.

Which article?

I just had the damnedest experience. I read the (edited)version posted on FR and then I went to the Chronicle site to read the remainder of the article, and found myself in an alternate universe.

My reaction to the edited version was 180 degrees to what I felt when I read the "real" article: a gourmet meal seasoned with the vilest seasonings of the mindless smug smarmy and clueless "anti-war" mentality. The mother even showed glimpses of understanding. Is there such a thing as "almost" an epiphany?

The only satisfying result of the bastardized story is that this woman will never again be the same. Doubt has crept into her universe. Not entirely a bad thing.

[cupcakes]

If a majority of Americans don't lose their self absorption and rededicate themselves to improving the lot of the next generation our society is finished. You can see the level of sacrifice our enemies are willing to make in order to kill us. We are going to have to respond in kind if we are going to survive.
____
I couldn't agree more. Hubby and I were just talking along this same vein this morning. Thanks for a great post.

[sakic]

She's a Medea-mom who'd kill her own child to get back at her husband

I'm surprised she didn't shoot him when she had the chance in Iraq.

[Lima_Two_Zero_Alpha]

That was the one statement that really grabbed my attention too. Just pure arrogance.

[Publius6961]

This is the disgusting truth about the anti-war movement... their prejudice that the US and its soldiers are inherently, inevitably bad, criminals, and bound to be doing wrong.

It's called "projection", and it's as apparent in the anti-war movement as it is in the "environmental" movement: the end justifies the means. So believing that man does not have a noble side because she can't find one in herself is perfectly reasonable to her.

Simply a form of intellectual infantilism.

[cupcakes]

Read post #53 and then we'll talk about this mother's "love" for her son and where her son falls on her list of priorities.

[Pukin Dog]

That mother does NOT love her son.

Like so many women today, she sees her son as a device for gaining attention. This woman is completely self-absorbed and a little bit crazy as well.

She may put on a great act, pretending that this is about her son, but this is about her agenda as an America-hating liberal. Why would a mother who loves her son be dishonest about his and his fellow soldiers own thoughts on the war, just so she could suggest things are worse than they really are over there?

Nothing would please this woman more, than for her son to be killed in Iraq, giving her instant status as an Activist, just like some of the 911 families who have turned tragedy into a device for furthering a leftist agenda.

[Maria S]

"You truly believe that she doesn't love her son?"

I'm with boxerblues.

I don't think it's that "Susan" doesn't love her children...she just seems to be one of those control-freak types that won't respect her grown children enough to let them think for themselves.

[Publius6961]

Give it a rest. Why someone would respond to such an asinine question, I'll never know.