Standing in Raleigh's Moore Square Park, the mother who may be remembered as the person who set in motion the campaign that ended the Iraq war, told her story.
Angry that her son, Casey, was killed in the war, Cindy Sheehan had a "brainstorm." While in Dallas for a Veterans for Peace convention, Sheehan thought it might be worthwhile to drive to President George W. Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch to ask the vacationing commander-in-chief why her son had to die in a war based on lies.
When she left Dallas, Sheehan had a 40-vehicle motorcade following her to Crawford, where she started "Camp Casey" in memory of her son, who died April 4, 2004. The rest is history.
The "Bring Them Home Now" caravan is still on the road, and last Thursday, Friday and Saturday it made stops in Raleigh, Carrboro and Durham, attracting about 1,800 people to rallies, a forum, fund-raisers and a march, according to organizers. The tour left Crawford on Aug. 31, sending three sets of buses and RVs across the country, all converging on the United for Peace and Justice Mobilization this weekend in Washington.
In Raleigh, Sheehan and other Gold Star Families for Peace told their tragic stories of loved ones lost to war.
"We never thought that we would spark what we did," Sheehan told the crowd of more than 200 people. "I'm a mother. My heart and my soul were ripped out of me on April 4."
Sheehan recounted the day when soldiers told her of Casey's death.
"I fell on the floor and I screamed so loud and for so long, I know that I shortened my life," she said. "I must have hurt my heart or I must have hurt my brain because nobody can take that violent abuse without having some kind of long-term physical effect."
Sheehan is optimistic her crusade to end the war will triumph.
"Well, as we all know George didn't come out and talk to me, and you know what, I am 100 percent thrilled that he didn't come out and talk to me, or I wouldn't be here today," Sheehan said. "When he didn't meet with me and we set up our Camp Casey, I said, 'Today is the beginning of the end of the occupation of Iraq,' and I believe that."
The above is from Patrick O'Neill's "The Human Side of the War: Cindy Sheehan's anti-war march heads to Washington, drumming up support they hope will make a difference" (Durham's The Independent Weekly). Durham Gal e-mailed to note it and two other features. Next is Bob Geary's "Had Enough?" (The Independent Weekly):
WASHINGTON, D.C. --Room 122 of the Cannon House Office Building. It's small--it's not a hearing room--and it's about as far away from the Capitol itself as it's possible to be and still be in a House office. No surprise, then, that this is the room Congresswoman Lynne Woolsey, Democrat of California, was permitted to use by the House Republican leadership for her "informal hearing" Thursday, Sept. 15, on exit strategies to get our troops out of Iraq.
Into this bandbox, Woolsey's staff have shoehorned an L-shaped head table with space for five witnesses and five MOC's (Members of Congress), with Woolsey herself at the crux. Another half-dozen MOC's can be seated along the front wall, behind the first five. Two dozen folding chairs are set up for audience and press. A handful of TV camera crews--one is C-Span--are tucked into the back corner. Standing room in the doorway, and out into the hall, brings the total capacity of the room to perhaps 65.
It's enough. "Official" Washington--meaning the Republicans and the Democratic leadership, both--is pointedly paying no attention. For the mainstream media, too, Hurricane Katrina is the only story, despite the fact that a dozen bombings in Baghdad on Wednesday, resulting in more than 160 dead and 600 casualties, made it the bloodiest day in the Iraqi capital since we invaded in March 2003.
So two questions are paramount. First, how many MOC's will show up and lend their names to the cause of ending--in some form or fashion--our occupation of Iraq? And second, between the witnesses and the MOCs who do show, will a consensus form about what the exit strategy should be?
The answer to the first question, by my count, is just 30, most of whom come and go throughout the four-hour session, greeting each other's arrivals with a nod or the special handshake of a small tribe in a hostile land. They are, in the main, the progressive names you know if you follow politics--Barbara Lee, Barney Franks, Marty Meehan, Dennis Kucinich.
And John Conyers, the Detroit MOC, who wonders out loud whether it does any good for the like-minded to meet each other this way, and whether it might not be a better strategy--for getting the public's attention, and Washington's too--"to begin impeachment proceedings against the 43rd president of the United States."
No North Carolina Democrats attend. (See XXXX, however.)
The biggest "name" MOC to drop in, however, is from North Carolina, Republican Congressman Walter Jones. He's the only Republican to come. When he hits the door, a place is made for him immediately at the head table, with Woolsey announces that the proceedings are now "bipartisan."
Jones, a cheerleader for the war in 2003 who now says he was wrong, earned national headlines when he co-sponsored the introduction of House Resolution 55, which calls on the Bush Administration to announce a plan for withdrawal by the end of 2005 and to start pulling troops out no later than October 1, 2006. The resolution, Jones says briefly, doesn't spell out a specific exit strategy. It simply asks that there be one--"that there be a fourth quarter," after which we can declare victory and come home. For Congress not to debate the subject officially, he adds, is "cheating the people."
Shortly, former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland, who's at the witness table, salutes Jones as "a profile in courage" for speaking out and taking the heat from his fellow Republicans. "He has become a dear friend and a brother," Cleland says.
This from the real star of the day. Cleland testifies from his wheelchair. An Army captain, he lost both legs and half of his right arm in Vietnam, and he reads his testimony from a tall stack of paper--20 words or so to a page--by carefully removing each page with his left hand. Notwithstanding his military service and sacrifice, Cleland was unseated in the 2002 election by a Republican campaign that questioned his commitment to protecting America.
Cleland's message, in his testimony and in booming commentary throughout, is quite simple. Iraq is Vietnam all over again, "a no-win, no-end war" that was based on a "false pretext" and is doomed to fail. "Stay the course?" he asks at one point. "The course is to get more young Americans killed."
Also by Bob Geary, "Miller's Time Almost There" (The Independent Weekly):
At first, Congressman Brad Miller thought that the only way ordinary Iraqis would join their own military and their own police forces was if they were convinced the American troops would stay to protect them from the insurgents. They didn't want to be left holding the bag--he thought. Now, Miller's almost convinced that the only way ordinary Iraqis will actually come together and defend their own country is if they're convinced that the Americans are going to leave--soon--and it's that or chaos.
He's almost convinced.
Not quite.
Miller did not attend the Woolsey "hearing" on exit strategies Thursday in Washington, disappointing antiwar activists who'd urged him to go and lend his support. Nor has he joined the "Out of Iraq Caucus" or sponsored the leading antiwar resolution, H.Res 55, which calls on President Bush to announce a plan by Dec. 31 for getting out of Iraq and to start withdrawing our troops by Oct. 1, 2006. (Its only North Carolina co-sponsor is Republican Rep. Walter Jones, who's among its principal backers.)
But Miller did announce on Thursday, to applause from groups like Code Pink that are lobbying Congress against the war, that he's adding his name to three other House resolutions that challenge, if less directly, the Bush war policies. H.Con.Res (concurrent resolution) 197 and H.Res 375, both sponsored by California Congresswoman Barbara Lee, a leading war critic, declare that the U.S. won't try to establish permanent military bases in Iraq and call for an investigation of the so-called Downing Street memos about misused American intelligence. H.Res 3142, sponsored by Maine Congressman Tom Allen, balances expressions of support for American troops and a free, stable Iraq with a promise not to base troops permanently there.
It's the latest step in a frustrating process for Miller, a Raleigh Democrat in his third year in Washington. He opposed the invasion from the start, predicting trouble--and a possible civil war--in a letter to some of his (new) constituents on the eve of the war in March 2003. Seven months later he wrote them again, saying the U.S. urgently needed to bring in the international community and calling for an investigation into the faulty intelligence Bush used to justify the war.
On the other hand, Miller says he's "not a bomb-thrower," and rather than align himself with the most vocal war protesters, he joined colleagues (like Rep. David Price of Chapel Hill) who tried to offer quiet, "constructive" alternatives to Bush's post-war policies.
That didn't work.
More recently, he says, "There are a lot of members of Congress who have done everything short of setting their hair on fire to make it clear that they think we are on the wrong track (in Iraq). Including me."
But that doesn't seem to be working, either.
You can check out The Independent Weekly and I'll note that I agree with Durham Gal, this is a strong edition. Praise to The Independent Weekly for hard hitting coverage that dailies won't provide.
Bill e-mails to note J. M . Branum 's "GI Resister Blake LeMoine released from imprisonment at Ft. Sill" (Oklahoma Indymedia):
a first-hand account of meeting Blake upon his release
See earlier OKIMC story: Vigil held on Sunday at Ft. Sill for Blake LeMoine, Dale Bartell & Neil Quentin Lucas Yesterday was an incredible day in which I had the honor and priviledge (along with Elsa Rausbach) of meeting Blake LeMoine, who was released from the Ft. Sill RCF (Regional Confinement Center) after doing a term for an act of GI resistance.
Yesterday was an incredible day in which I had the honor and priviledge (along with Elsa Rausbach) of meeting Blake LeMoine, who was released from the Ft. Sill RCF (Regional Confinement Center) after doing a term for an act of GI resistance.
As far as my visit with him, I was struck by his courage and his willingness to stick his neck out for conscience sake. He did say that his prison experience was pretty enlightening and that he didn't regret it, and that it was a "lot like summer camp except you can't come home."He did share that the conditions at the facility were reasonably good. The food, while monotonous, was good quality and that the facility had an excellent library. (he read a lot of philosophy while in the RCF and even found time to write 200+ pages on a novel he is working on)Healthwise he was in good shape. He was coerced into eating by the prison officials shortly after arriving (he had been on a 20+ day hunger strike at that time) but still had lost over 30 pounds during his time in, mostly from working out. However, on the negative, he said that he was beaten a few weeks ago by a prison gang and that he had to pay protection money (well actually it was cigarettes) to avoid future beatings.
As far as mail goes, he wasn't aware of any censorship of incoming mail.As far as the other known CO's at the RCF (Dale Bartell & Neil Quentin Lucas), he had met them both. He did share though that at least half of the folks imprisoned at the RCF were there for being AWOL (but not necessarily for political/conscience reasons). The others had mostly committed drug offenses, as well there being a few who had been convicted of adultery (including one drill seargent).Well anyway that's the gist of the news from him as far as his treatment (I'm hoping he'll write more himself about his experience down the road). As far as things went with picking him up, here's my account of how the day went (some of this detail I'm including for future reference for people who may be trying to pick up other GI resisters/conscientious objectors who are being released from confinement).
There are photos and Rebecca says Blake LeMoine looks like her second boyfriend in high school. (This entry and the other indymedia roundup entry are being compiled by Rebecca, Elaine and myself -- C.I.) So if you don't have enough reason to check out the story, you can also check it out to see the type of a guy Rebecca dated in high school. (Rebecca says "one of the types." She also notes that she was into the rock and rollers as well.)
Wendy references something I wrote that I honestly don't remember writing. (I'm not saying she's wrong. I thought maybe Elaine wrote it but she says she didn't. Rebecca says she didn't.
I think Wendy's thinking of the editorial by The Third Estate Sunday Review. In which case, "Editorial: Stand Up and Be Counted" was a group effort: "This editorial was written by The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Ava, Jess, Ty and myself, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man, Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills), Mike of Mikey Likes It! and C.I. of both The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review.)
Regardless, Wendy e-mails good news from Philly IMC, Aaron Couch's "City Council Passes Resolution to Withdraw Troops from Iraq:"
City Council passed a resolution on September 15, 2005 requesting the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. The resolution, sponsored by Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, welcomes the "Bring them Home Now Tour" to Philadelphia and will be read at the rally at Independence Hall from 5pm - 7pm on Friday, September 16. Click here to read a copy of the resolution.
The resolution cites the losses of Cindy Sheehan and Celeste Zappala, Gold Star Mothers, who were introduced to city council members at a Thursday morning caucus. The resolution calls on the government for a "rapid with-drawalof United States military personnel from Iraq as expeditiously as possible," and cites the monetary cost of the war to Philadelphia tax payers:
"the funds spent by Philadelphia taxpayers on the war and occupation in Iraq could have provided Head Start for one year for 93,181 Philadelphia children; or medical insurance for one year for 421,271 Philadelphia children; or 12,192 public school teachers for one year in Philadelphia; or 6,334 additional housing units in Philadelphia, according to National Priorities Project."The resolution follows a similar anti-war resolution passed in Chicago this week. See Chicago IMC for details.
Wendy also notes Aaron Couch and Ophelie Tardieu's "Cindy Sheehan Speaks In Philadelphia" (Philly IMC):
Sherwood Baker, Philly native and member of the Pennsylvania National Guard, died on April 24, 2004 while on security detail for the Iraq Survey group in Baghdad. At 30 years old, he lost his life in Bush's fruitless attempt to justify a preemptive war. Sherwood Baker was killed searching for weapons of mass destruction.
"He had been betrayed," Dante Zappala, Sherwood's younger brother told hundreds of supporters gathered at Independence Mall on Friday, September 16th. While the litany of lies and malfeasance of Bush's Iraq escapade are well known, especially among the anti-war crowd in attendance, it was the personal stories that punctuated the vigil held by the Bring them Home Now Tour.And then came Cindy Sheehan.
The woman whose story has ignited the anti-war movement spoke about her struggle to turn her personal grief into a call for action. Her words, peppered into the late evening Philly air by loud-speaker, brought a powerful intimacy to the suffering wrought by the Iraq war."This is about flesh and blood, about right and wrong," she said, threatening that elected officials, "do the right thing or you are fired."
Sheehan, along with members of Military Families Speak Out, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Veterans For Peace, has joined the 'Bring them Home Now Tour', which takes "Camp Casey's all over America," (at a dizzying pace of 28 states in 25 days) and will descend on Washington DC on September 24th."We have to make sure that this war ends immediately and that we never use our children like this again."
Bruce e-mails to note Jim George's "Sheehan at Hopkins: Voice of Peace? Sounds more like Justice" (Baltimore Indymedia):
Local high school history teacher Kevin James struck the first note calling for justice in two spoken word pieces. The first, which sets up "how we got into this thing," addressed the subject of 9/11. If included the line "Third World debt back to colonization." James' second piece addressed challenged military recruiters and advocated the right to resist. In the voice of a young recruit, the poem spoke of coming "back from Iraq" to "smack" the manipulative recruiter. It also made reference to the transnational oil corporation UNOCAL's attempts to exploit natural resources in Afghanistan. His pieces were smattered with references to injustices and the desire to have justice served. Peace seemed to be a necessary but insufficient goal.
James' reference to smacking a recruiter would have caught the ear of another mother who lost her son in Iraq and was featured in a short film about Camp Casey. The military recruiter told her son, "You need to cut the apron strings from your mom." It is generally accepted that the Iraq war was engineered by those who most benefit from oil-generated wealth, or in the case of the political elite, by those with the misguided dream of making it into history books by advancing the US empire. The theme of justice as it relates to soldiers dieing to support wealth-based privilege in the US resonated strongly at this event. One young Iraq war veteran featured in the film by Sally Marr and Peter Duda said, "We knew it was about oil. We talked about it in our unit. We're not dumb… maybe we're stupid [to which he chuckled]." He clearly implied that US soldiers were duped into fighting, the reason for which in the words of Iraq veteran and tour member Cody Camacho, is to "make rich people richer." Accordingly, several speakers explained that it is justifiable to refuse to fight in Iraq, even for those who have volunteered to be in the US military. Taking the logic further, for those who support the concept of war, adopting this stance relative to Iraq is not about peace it is about justice.
Camacho made several other points that touched on elements of justice. In response to those who unfairly criticize his stance against the war, he said, "How can we defend the country when we're 7,000 miles away?" He said that he took "the same oath that the President took to defend the Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic," seeming to imply that his current role is to defend the Constitution from domestic threats in the political elite who perpetuate war. "This is not about right or left. This is about right and wrong." Camacho recalled his thoughts as they sat in Kuwait before the war began. "I thought Congress wouldn't let the war happen, but they turned their backs on the troops." He concluded, a bit exasperated, "I don't know what else to say. It's time to fire these damn people." Again, his tone was more that of a person seeking justice than peace.
The accountability of the U.S. Congress and the irrelevance of both major political parties were targeted by other speakers. Cindy Sheehan put it this way. "We need to hold Congress accountable for what they did… We the people are the opposition party." Then, like other speakers, Cindy appealed for action from the audience, "Tell your congressmen and senators, if they don't represent us, then we will fire them." She was quick to counter the typical cynical response by saying, "One vote can make a difference. Look at me, I made a difference." And, in reference to the Nation's wavering confidence in our electoral process, she said, "We need to make sure all votes are counted." She urged we not let it be a close vote saying, "We need to landslide them out of Congress."
Bruce also noted William Hughe's "'Iraq is a No-Win, No-End War!' - Max Cleland" (Baltimore Indymedia):
Getting back to Cleland. He underscored in his remarks, how, "we need an exit strategy we choose or it will certainly be chosen for us. The question about Iraq is not whether we will withdraw our forces, but when? More than 100 members out of the Iraqi Parliament have urged the U.S. to fully withdraw its military forces from Iraq. It is now time to seek what international support we can get for our withdrawal. We need to map out a strategy that works for us and turn Iraq over to the Iraqis."
After discussing the Katrina Hurricane disaster and its horrific effects on the lives of the tens of thousands of people in the Gulf Coast area, Cleland said, "We are spending more money in Iraq then rebuilding New Orleans, Biloxi, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. It is time to bring our troops home-especially the National Guard that was created to guard America and to deal with disasters in our own country rather than being sent to die in the deserts in Iraq. It is time to put America first!"
I leave the final words on this excellently conceived and implemented Congressional "Forum," to Cleland, one of the South's finest sons, and a genuine hero of our Republic. He warned, "Iraq does not have to be another Vietnam. The war in Iraq does not have to drag on forever. It is not too late to learn from our own history. Why do I urge this course of action to our nation, now? Because I’ve seen this movie before. I know how it ends!"
Trey e-mails to note Naomi.rae.Lerman's "An Iraqi Shares His Personal Account" (Milwaukee Indymedia):
In the war's beginning, American Archaeologists gave the army maps of all the Archaeological sites in Iraq, begging them to avoid these areas of holiness. Zaid is unaware of any attempt by the United States to be careful around land in its process of excavations. He told me there are two wars being prompted by the United States: the desire of Iraq's resources and a war on Iraq's culture. By stealing valuable artifacts from the museum's approximately eighty years of work, our country has attacked the mystery to Iraq's personal culture. If responsible army personnel had heavily guarded and protected the museum as they had the Ministry of Oil, Iraq’s physical history would not be lost to greed today. The U.S. army sent huge tanks to sit in front of the Ministry of Oil as they "borrowed" the data maps to Iraq's vast oil fields. Another example of the U.S. army attacking Iraq's culture is the invading of mosques. For some reason, soldiers suspected that a mosque was hiding terrorists. They entered the holy ground possessing large weapons. This is an Ultimate disrespectable action to take in the sacred area of prayer. People involved in the resistance would never hide weapons in a mosque. Because the Iraqis were interrupted during concentrated prayer, they started yelling at the army to leave. The army fired bullets randomly at these defenseless, praying souls who were crying out for respect. "Are they animals and you are human?" -- Zaid asked. I asked if there has been any true effort in the "reconstruction" of Iraq. None. Rarely, the army will clean up a building that has fallen to its blows. Aside from this, the American army leaves their damage strewn in the living quarters of civilians who pass the destruction daily. Is the army not responsible to clean and rebuild this errored fallen building? Zaid understood that American companies pay loads of money to reconstruct the fallen buildings, but the army fears for any danger involved in building out in the open.
Another pitiful reconstruction attempt is painting Iraqi schools with the cheap paint. Schools were painted to look improved on the outside, but the torn inside is left unexplored. The newly painted coat looks dreadful within weeks afterwards by pealing and turning odd shades. Cheap paint is no match for Iraq's blazing sun. This temporary make-up carelessly slathered on is a pointless action which makes schools look worse along time.
The most important reconstruction effort needed in Iraq is to restore its electric power stations. Many stations were destroyed by America's last war there, and others are clearly out of date. When Hussein was in power, he said his Government could not conduct their own reconstruction because they lacked equipment. During the early 1990's, the U.S. imposed restrictions, such that Iraq was unable to import or export anything. Currently, machines distribute electricity throughout the land equally, which only leaves four hours of electric power a day. While Iraqis suffer without air conditioning and artificial light, the U.S. Army camps have the privilege of 24 hours of electricity and a back-up generator. They are sucking up the electricity meant to be distributed equally, and not minding to fix the problem. Presently there is little clean running water in all of Iraq. The army uses bottled water and is not concerned that most water is contaminated.
Warning on the next item. The site linked to in the excerpt has the f-word in the title. We're using "*"s in place of the f-word. But if you go to it, it's the f-word. If that's enough to get you in trouble at work, do not go to this site on a work computer. Blake e-mails to note Chris Thompson's "War Pornography" (East Bay Express):
If you want to see the true face of war, go to the amateur porn Web site NowThatsF**kedUp.com. For almost a year, American soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan have been taking photographs of dead bodies, many of them horribly mutilated or blown to pieces, and sending them to Web site administrator Chris Wilson. In return for letting him post these images, Wilson gives the soldiers free access to his site. American soldiers have been using the pictures of disfigured Iraqi corpses as currency to buy pornography.
At Wilson's Web site, you can see an Arab man's face sliced off and placed in a bowl filled with blood. Another man's head, his face crusted with dried blood and powder burns, lies on a bed of gravel. A man in a leather coat, who apparently tried to run a military checkpoint, lies slumped in the driver's seat of a car, his head obliterated by gunfire, the flaps of skin from his neck blooming open like rose petals. Six men in beige fatigues, identified as U.S. Marines, laugh and smile for the camera while pointing at a burned, charcoal-black corpse lying at their feet.
The captions that accompany these images, which were apparently written by the soldiers who posted them, laugh and gloat over the bodies. The soldier who posted a picture of a corpse lying in a pool of his own brains and entrails wrote, "What every Iraqi should look like." The photograph of a corpse whose jaw has apparently rotted away, leaving a gaping set of upper teeth, bears the caption: "bad day for this dude." One soldier posted three photographs of corpses lying in the street and titled his collection, "die haji die." The soldiers take pride, even joy, in displaying the dead.
This is a moral catastrophe. The Bush administration claims such sympathy for American war dead that officials have banned the media from photographing flap-draped coffins being carried off of cargo planes. Government officials and American media officials have repeatedly denounced the Al-Jazeera network for airing grisly footage of Iraqi war casualties and American prisoners of war. The legal fight over whether to release the remaining photographs of atrocities at Abu Ghraib has dragged on for months, with no less a figure than Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Meyers arguing that the release of such images will inflame the Muslim world and drive untold numbers to join Al Qaeda. But none of these can compare to the prospect of American troops casually bartering pictures of suffering and death for porn.
"Two years ago, if somebody had said our soldiers would do these things to detainees and take pictures of it, I would have said that's a lie," sighed the recently retired General Michael Marchand – who as Assistant Judge Advocate General for the Army was responsible for reforming military training policy to make sure nothing like Abu Ghraib ever happens again. "What soldiers do, I'm not sure I can guess anymore."
Once more from Patrick O'Neill's "The Human Side of the War: Cindy Sheehan's anti-war march heads to Washington, drumming up support they hope will make a difference" (Durham's The Independent Weekly):
One night while watching CNN, Jean Prewitt saw Sheehan sitting "in the ditch" near Bush's ranch. "I saw her on TV Sunday, and I was there Wednesday afternoon," said Prewitt, who also spoke in Raleigh.
When Prewitt saw her ex-husband and stepdaughter and two uniformed soldiers in the hallway of her office, she knew it was bad news. Her "baby" son, Kelley, was at war in Iraq. An Army infantryman, Kelley had been among the first U.S. soldiers on the ground.
"As soon as I saw them walking down the hall, they didn't have to say anything," Prewitt said. "I just kept saying, 'Please tell me he's just wounded. Please tell me he's just wounded,' and they kept saying, 'No, ma'am. No, ma'am.'"
Seconds later, the hall filled up with curious workers from throughout Prewitt's Birmingham, Ala., office. Kelley was killed in action April 6, 2003, "on the road to Baghdad." Traumatized, her life forever altered, Prewitt left her job as a human resources specialist with the U.S. Postal Service and never returned.
"I walked out, and I never went back," she said. "I didn't even turn my computer off."
During an interview, Prewitt often took deep breaths in between making her points. She said, "It's been hell" since her son's death.
"It's lonesome, sad, empty. He was just so full of life and so handsome and so sweet and so lovable. It's just a hole in our hearts that we can just never fill. I just can't stand it. I mean it just sickens me, just sickens me."
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
Iraq
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