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Points of View September 4, 2005 Guest Column © 2005 Scott Rutherford Published with Permission

Letter: Trip to Camp Casey, August 2005

I am writing because I thought Keweenaw Now readers would be interested in a report on the trip that Vern Simula and I made to Crawford, Texas, to meet Cindy Sheehan. Cindy went to Crawford to ask the President to meet with her to explain why he lied about the need to go to war with Iraq. We wanted to learn more about how she was reviving the anti-war movement and find out how we could help her. 

We left Sunday afternoon, Aug. 14, in Vern's van. We drove through the night and arrived Monday afternoon. We stayed three nights and two days at Camp Casey, named after Cindy Sheehan's son, an American soldier killed in the Iraq War. We camped in a ditch alongside the road, since the land surrounding the Camp was all privately owned by Bush supporters. Camp Casey is about six miles from Crawford and four miles from Bush's ranch. 

The first thing you see as you approach Camp Casey are rows of crosses that stretch for hundreds of yards along the left side of the road -- one cross for each of the 1800 men and women who have fallen in the war. They were placed there by Arlington West, a peace group located in Santa Monica, California. 

Alongside the road at the entrance to Camp Casey, the site of Cindy Sheehan's vigil, crosses commemorate the Americans who have fallen in the Iraq War. (Photo © 2005 Scott Rutherford. Reprinted with permission.)

People were streaming into Crawford from all over the world to support Cindy. On Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 15 and 16, there were about 75 people at the site and another 50 at the peace center in Crawford. By Wednesday night, Aug. 17, when a candlelight vigil was held to remember the American men and women and the Iraqis that had died, there were over 200 people at Camp Casey along with lots of media. By the weekend, when Camp Casey II was established on a more spacious site (donated by a rancher sympathetic with Cindy's cause), there were reports that more than 600 supporters had made their way to Crawford. 

There were a number of organizations represented at Camp Casey, the most prominent being Iraq Veterans Against the War; Veterans for Peace; Gold Star Families For Peace (Cindy Sheehan's organization); Military Families Speak Out; and Code Pink, which is providing vital organizational support to Cindy. 

Cindy's message is simply that Bush lied in justifying the invasion of Iraq, that the lives of American men and women are being sacrificed in a meaningless cause and that we need to bring the troops home now and end the occupation of Iraq. She does not stray far from this message, making herself as small a target for the right wing as she can, given the effort it is making to discredit and smear her. 

Camp Casey had a wonderfully joyous and enthusiastic spirit that was not dampened by temperatures approaching 100 degrees. Cindy was there both days, giving endless interviews and interacting with the people. I wept the first time I saw her. She is extraordinarily charismatic and is very self-assured and articulate. She has a very gentle spirit and radiates compassion. She seems to embody the peaceful, nonviolent spirit of the movement. Vern and I met her at dinner at the Peace Center on Tuesday evening.

This welcome banner identifies the site of Cindy Sheehan's vigil. The small banner says, "War is not the answer." Casey was Cindy's son. (Photo © 2005 Scott Rutherford. Reprinted with permission.)

Cindy has emerged as the anti-war movement's leading spokesperson. She has certainly given the movement new life. Words like "tipping point" and "new beginning" were heard frequently. 

I heard her speak once. It was at the candlelight vigil. Let me share with you a little of what she said. At the conclusion of the vigil she stood (surrounded by the media) before a coffin draped in an American flag and covered with roses that we vigil participants had placed on it. At either end stood an Iraq War veteran, in fatigues, at parade rest. Toward the end of her talk she spoke for the first time about her son. Her voice breaking, she said, "There are a lot of men -- I call them boys -- around the country that are my sons. I have held the hands of many of them. But if I had held the hands of a million of them, it wouldn't take the place of holding Casey's warm hand. And I will never be able to hold his hand again. This is about flesh and blood. This is what we're here for. We don't want to see any more of these coffins coming home. We want the returning men and women to all walk off the planes and joyfully greet their families."

It was a lamentation that came straight out of her heart. We were all able to share her sorrow and pain and participate in them. Her personal loss became everyone's loss, her grief everyone's grief. The particular became the universal. It wasn't forced or contrived; it was transparently genuine. And uncannily moving and inspiring in its effect. 

Cindy has reawakened the anti-war movement that was waiting for a clear, authentic voice speaking truth to energize it. In response to Cindy's leadership, people all over the country are creating Camp Caseys, holding vigils and taking other actions to oppose the war.* 

A word about the relations between Camp Casey and the local community. There is no question that there is tension. There is regularly a small counter protest, and some of the local ranchers and the secret service speed up when they come by the camp. However, the county sheriff is very cooperative and is a regular presence at the camp. The only serious incident occurred Monday, the night we arrived. A business man from Waco affixed a pipe and a chain to the side of his truck and drove the length of the crosses, destroying hundreds of them. They were found in pieces along the road on Tuesday morning along with the roses that had been placed on them. That afternoon, after an appeal by the Crawford Peace Center, 36 cases of roses arrived by FEDEX at the Peace Center. Each contain 12 dozen roses. The man driving the truck blew a tire on his way into Crawford by running over a nail that came out of one of the crosses. He was apprehended easily by the sheriff. There were pieces of crosses hanging from the pipe and chain he had rigged. 

Vern and I are considering starting a Cindy Sheehan Support Group here in the Keweenaw. Anyone who is interested can contact me at 483-3183 or, preferably, email me at scottru@chartermi.net. 

Let's stop the war and bring the troops home.

In peace, 

Scott 

Learn more about the author of this guest column, Scott Rutherford.

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Editor's note* Read about Camp Casey Detroit on the Michigan Independent Media Center. Several anti-war groups participated in a rally Aug. 24 in Grand Circus Park which featured a report back from the MECAWI (Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice) delegation to Crawford, Texas. MECAWI is planning a bus trip to Washington, D.C. for the Sept. 24 March against the Iraq War. Visit the MECAWI Web site for information.

Note: Views expressed by our guest columnists are not necessarily the views of Keweenaw Now.