Some Facts About Cindy Sheehan's Son, Casey

FrontPage Magazine ^ | August 12, 2005 | Lee Kaplan

[Sam Hill]

Some Faces About Cindy Sheehan's Son, Casey

Excerpted from this excellent article:

SFSU Hosts a Terrorist
By Lee Kaplan
FrontPageMagazine.com | May 2, 2005

While one might dismiss some of Sheehan’s hyperbole due to grief over her son’s death, a little research about Casey Sheehan revealed that contrary to being tricked by military recruiters, Casey Sheehan had re-enlisted in the U.S. Army voluntarily when he was 24-years-old, after serving his first hitch successfully. Casey Sheehan was in fact a hero who received a Bronze Star. He was attached as a mechanic to the artillery division of the 1st U.S. Cavalry in Iraq. When a convoy of soldiers from Casey’s unit was attacked in Sadr City by insurgents, Casey volunteered to join a rapid rescue force to get them out. His commanding sergeant told him he did not have to go into combat, because he was a mechanic and not an infantryman. Casey was quoted telling his officer, “I go where my chief goes.” He was tragically killed during the rescue attempt. The source for this story? Cindy Sheehan herself.

I also visited an army recruiting office on my way home and asked about Casey being promised a job as a chaplain’s assistant only to be thrust into harm’s way. The recruiter explained to me that on re-enlistment, the Army’s B.E.A.R. program (Bonus Extension and Retaining) guarantees everything in writing. If Casey was a mechanic during his first hitch, that was the only thing he would have been guaranteed per his re-enlistment contract. Further research showed that a chaplain’s assistant is a combat infantry position, whereas Casey was deployed in a non-combat job as a mechanic. Casey Sheehan sought combat duty for his country and should be honored for it, not used as a symbol of how evil the United States is.

SFSU Hosts a Terrorist
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=17915

[Tulane]

Agree its hard to say...I just think of my daughter...I can't be sure how I would react...I want to think that I wouldn't irrationally hold someone responsible (like the President), but I can't say for sure, since it would be so devastating...I think my faith would help me through it...

I do feel sorry for her. Maybe even if she is a willing participant. Put it this way, I can forgive her more easily than I can forgive the moveons.

[Tulane]

You might be right...still...

I do feel sorry for her. Maybe even if she is a willing participant. Put it this way, I can forgive her more easily than I can forgive the moveons.

[Sam Hill]

Wearing a sweatshirt advertising the website for United for Peace and Justice, Sheehan was interviewed outside just before the meeting by an ABC-TV news reporter. Sheehan said then that military recruiters should not be allowed on college campuses, maintaining they trick naïve 18-year-olds with offers of money and scholarships. Tragically, Cindy Sheehan lost her son Casey who was in the Army and was killed two weeks after arriving in Iraq. She claimed he was promised a job as a chaplain’s assistant although once in the service was placed in a combat role and killed, certainly a moving story – one she exploits to promote venomous anti-Americanism. “George Bush and his neo-conservatives killed my son,” she said tearing up a bit. “America has been killing people on this continent since it was started. This country is not worth dying for.”

Cindy Sheehan

http://tinyurl.com/d7tyx

[Peach]

Casey was indeed a hero. And knew exactly what he was getting into, despite his mother's despicable lies that the recruiting officer told Casey he wouldn't ever see combat.

[drt1]

"The code pinks and moveon.org types are so shameful to take advantage of her grief. Those people are scum of the earth."

From where I'm sitting, this woman is a more than willing recipient of the "Advantage" being taken of her. I do not give her a pass - She is damaging many others and, most importantly, sullying her son's sacrifice and for what? IMO, a shameful grab for attention and an attempt to spread her hate and unhappiness out to others. She is trash and Moveon et al simply are using this junk for their own ends, the only logical (But nonetheless shameful) thing in this unhappy episode.

[muleskinner]

As an aside, last night Channel 2 news, out of Oakland, asked the question" Is Cindy Sheehan the new Rosa Parks?"

I began to overheat.

[BushisTheMan]

You give her a pass? What about this?:

Despite the fact that Cindy Sheehan and an entourage of 50 rolled into town in a bus with the words “Impeachment Tour” emblazoned upon it – fresh from attending a Veterans for Peace convention, no less – the Bush administration has not given this odd woman an icy reception. National Security Adviser Steve Hadley and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Joe Hagin spoke with Sheehan for 45 minutes.

[Sam Hill]

Zeese: Tell us about your son.

Sheehan: Casey was born on May 29th, 1979 and was killed on April 04, 2004 . . . he was my first-born. He was an amazing kid who was very easy going. He had a deep faith in God and he was the one my family would look to for moral guidance: he never wavered.

He was an altar boy for 10 years and an Eagle Scout. He was a brave and honest man full of love for his family and friends. He loved being in the drama club, Nintendo, WWE and helping people.

The official story of his death was that Casey was killed in an ambush in Sadr City by hostile fire. I have some speculative evidence that he was actually killed by friendly fire. The military lied to us and has told us conflicting stories. My friend Fernando Del Solar Suarez was lied to and told that his son was shot in the head, when he stepped on a US cluster bomb.

http://tinyurl.com/aq626

[Sam Hill]

Zeese: What are some of the lies and betrayals that killed your children?

Sheehan: They were sent to invade and occupy a country that posed no threat to the United States. They were used recklessly and ignorantly by their commander-in-chief, who should exercise more caution when he misuses our young people. They were all lied to by their recruiters, who will tell young people anything to get them to enlist, then deliver nothing. They were all killed performing duties that they were inadequately or not trained for at all. Evan Ashcraft was suffering from dysentery before he died. He lost 25 pounds because of dirty drinking water and bad food. Sometimes they are rationed to one bottle [of water] a day. Many times they have been killed guarding private contractor convoys, people who make many times more money than they do.

http://tinyurl.com/aq626

[george wythe]

His commanding sergeant told him he did not have to go into combat, because he was a mechanic and not an infantryman. Casey was quoted telling his officer, “I go where my chief goes.” He was tragically killed during the rescue attempt.

Casey's mom has been lying all along, but she's a grieving mother. I'll cut her some slack.

Nevertheless, the mainstream media have decided present only a distorted version of the facts, acting as a front group for Code Pink and moveon.org. The liberal journalists pushing this non-story so hard are bound to create a backlash.

[texas_mrs]

Cindy Sheehan is using her son's grave as a podium to stand while she shakes her fist at Bush. She is disrespecting her sons memory and I am sure he would likely be apalled at the negative attention she has brought to his sacrifice. She is choosing to dishonor his memory by bringing notice to herself.

[shezza]

"This country is not worth dying for.”

I can't believe she said that!

[rwfromkansas]

thank you for your post.

It appears he did not want to be a chaplain's assistant after all.

Perhaps he told mom that, but that is not what he really wanted to do.

[Sam Hill]

She said she doesn’t want to “just complain,” so offered other suggestions to get involved: to write to or try to speak personally to political representatives was particularly important. She said having an audience recently with California Senator Barbara Boxer, who had been against the war from the beginning, has probably made a difference in the senator’s recent increased level of statements against the war.

Sheehan urged everyone to become more aware of what is really going on in Iraq, to read articles on websites like CommonDreams.org and Truthout.org. She said she hears from soldiers as to what is really going on, “and they are not building schools and sewer systems as the government is telling us. They are just out there killing and trying not to be killed.”

http://tinyurl.com/bycsu

[massgopguy]

She was on the Olberman Show last night relishing the media momentum.

[Sam Hill]

Oh, she said that--and much, much worse:

Cindy Sheehan -- In Her Own Words
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1461469/posts?page=98

[SweetCaroline]

(I don't know what I'd do if my daughter died...I might go crazy, too...

It takes a very long time to see things right again after a child is pulled out of your life, you hate living since your child is dead. You blame everyone for it even God and yourself and you wonder how everyone can just go living life while your world has crumbled. It happened to my family 20 years ago, none of us have ever been the same since.

My heart ache for this woman, one day she will wake up and regret this but the damage will be done. My prayers for the healing of her broken heart.

[Cate]

I heard on the radio an interview with one of Casey's friends from the military. He stated that Casey loved the military and did a wonderful job. Casey also spoke with respect about President Bush and believed in what we are doing in Iraq. I thought it was Sean Hannity's show.
This mother needs to stop trashing her son's contributions in life.

[mozrock]

This country is not worth dying for.

Did that stupid b!#ch really say that?!? I tell you what, the more I hear from this woman, the more I KNOW she is a POS using her son's memory for her own devices. I said it before I'll say it again ...

F#*k Cindy Sheehan! She deserves no sympathy for this terrible disgrace to her son who was/is a hero!! God Bless him and all others serving in this War! To sum up Cindy see my tagline!

[Sam Hill]

Cindy Sheehan of Gold Star Families for Peace:
“They died for a lie”

June 24, 2005 | Pages 6 and 7

CINDY SHEEHAN’S son Casey was killed in action in Iraq on April 4, 2004. Since then, she has tirelessly traveled the country speaking out against Bush’s war. Cindy is a founding member of Gold Star Families for Peace, an organization of family members opposed to the occupation of Iraq who have lost a loved one in the conflict. She spoke to Socialist Worker’s ERIC RUDER about the challenges of working to end the occupation.

[Excerpts, there is lots of moonbat ravings to choose from:]

THE IRRESPONSIBLE thing was going in there in the first place. Iraq is where civilization began, and to say that they can’t handle their own affairs is basically racist.

We have to give them the credit to be able to rebuild their own country--to get back on their feet again. They need the jobs. We have foreign contractors over there taking their jobs. And what does it mean “to finish the job?” What is the job? How can you “finish” imperialism? It doesn’t end--it just spreads.

Some people may think that we’re fighting terrorism over there. But when is that job ever going to be complete? Terrorism is just a new “ism.” It was “communism” when I was growing up...

I DEFINITELY think that we should support war resisters in the military. This war is not only illegal, but it’s immoral--in fact, some people might say all war is immoral. It’s our job as moral human beings to oppose it--and oppose it in any way that we can.

I know several people who are being court-martialed, and they need support--they need monetary support, they need our moral support, and they need to know that we’re with them.

We need to encourage more people to do this. The people who go public--like Kevin Benderman, Pablo Paredes and Camilo Mejía--are doing a public service to this country, by showing soldiers and our young people in the military that there is an alternative to going over, and killing and dying in an immoral war.

Even though the alternative might be prison, I wish my son was in prison instead of in his grave. I wish he didn’t have to die for a lie and for this immorality.

Casey never thought this war was right. He never agreed with the commander-in-chief. He thought the war was wrong. He was a follower of Jesus Christ, and it surprised the hell out of us when he joined the Army. But he did it to serve, not to go kill innocent people in a war that didn’t make any sense. I begged him not to go, but he said, “Mom, it’s my duty, my buddies are going, so I have to go.”

I’m hoping that if he had been over there for a while, he would have come to the same conclusion as Camilo and Pablo and Kevin--that, no, I’m not going to obey these orders.

http://tinyurl.com/dh7ev