Caravan for U.S. troops shows colors
Military families and supporters in Move Forward America speak at Griffith Park en route to a rally next weekend in Washington, D.C.
By Valerie Reitman, Times Staff Writer
March 10, 2007
For the troops
click to enlargeKyle Crowley, an 18-year-old Marine, died in Iraq nearly three years ago. Stricken by stress and grief, his father, Mark Crowley, suffered a near-fatal heart attack about 17 months later, on the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The elder Crowley, now 48, a sheet metal worker from the Northern California town of Tracy, wasn't healthy enough to return to work. He's been searching for meaning in his life ever since.
The one thing he's sure of, however, is that he doesn't want his son's life to have been lost in vain. That's why he joined a cross-country caravan of military families and supporters urging the U.S. to support the troops and criticizing politicians and antiwar activists for calling for troop withdrawal from Iraq before the job is done.
"Many have died for these colors," Crowley told supporters at Griffith Park on Friday as he held a U.S. flag. "If you don't support these colors, get the hell out."
The Los Angeles stop was one of two dozen rallies Crowley and others in the Move America Forward caravan will hold as they make their way to Washington, D.C., over the next eight days under the motto "These colors don't run."
About 100 supporters — including many veterans — added several dozen flags of all sizes to the caravan's collection, which the group plans to display in "a giant flag city of red, white and blue patriotism" on the National Mall next weekend.
Move America Forward is protesting the antiwar rallies planned for the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The caravan includes two other California parents — Debra Argel Bastian of Lompoc, whose son died in Iraq, and Debbie Johns of Granite Bay, whose son is serving his third tour there.
In essence, they are part of the caravan's anti-Cindy Sheehan movement. They are trying to show the counterpoint to the growing public opposition to the war.
"Cindy Sheehan is yesterday's news," said Bastian, whose son, Capt. Derek Argel, a graduate of the Air Force Academy, was killed on Memorial Day 2005. Bastian and Johns say they honor the commitment and sacrifice of Sheehan's son, Casey, who was killed in Iraq, but deplore the way his mother has acted — camping outside the White House and President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, to protest.
The parents contend that partisan politics is hurting the military's efforts in Iraq. They denounced House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) as an "armchair general."
Crowley said his 24-year-old daughter disagrees with him about the war. But in his view, it's us or them. "If we don't finish it, they will. If we pull out or can't win, [the terrorists] will make Sept. 11 look like a bar fight. They're radical, and their only meaning is killing innocent people."
A former Army ranger, Crowley said he could shoot an elk at 600 yards with a single shot. He wishes he could trade his own life for his son's — or any of the other 3,000-plus troops who have died.
Kyle had a twin brother who died at 4 months, a victim of crib death. Crowley and Kyle's mother divorced while he was in college, and he raised Kyle mostly alone. "So God has given me two, and taken both back," Crowley said.
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valerie.reitman@latimes.com
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BS Ranch Perspective:
Looks like the MoveAmericaForward.org is making their move on Washington heard one city at a time. I hope that the the People that truly support the troops will come out and just do that Support the troops and the job that they are doing and the job that they have currently done. The Mission that they are on is a long and dusty road, and it will take some time before we can get to the final end of the tour of their duty. They have done an excellent job so far and the losses that they sustained are ones that we done want to ever see, they are inevitable in the time of war! It just would not be a fight or war without the term casualties. Unfortunately!
Someone has to loose in this conflict, and the General that has been commissioned to do a great job that he has done One day this conflict will be done and I know that I would like our many students in school to look at this point in history and say that we went and did something that was good for the Iraq people, not something that got them killed even worse then when Saddam was in power over them.
The administration that has taken over the power of the Senate is doing every thing that they can to turn this War not into a win or loose conflict, but the newly controlled Democrats are claiming that they are wanting to take our men and woman home from the war, in an immediate Withdrawal, or a treat of non payment for the equipment, such as the tools that are needed to fight this conflict.
The non payment will force the war to be fought in a similar fashioned as the Most Famous Defeat that the U.S.A. had in any War. They were forced to make decisions at the presidents level on each battle as to whether or not they were going to get any support such as tanks or helicopters and the like. This made the Vietnam war fought in the White House when the War should have been fought in the war Zone like it should have been, instead of having approval for bomb attacks.
I pray every day that President Bush and the General in Iraq, who is in charge of the battle will get what he asks for like he has been promised, So that they don't started robbing from here to to pay this for that and the like. That could mean that the school electrical bill will go unpaid for a while and then this creates all kinds of problems too. not good. we will have to stand by and see what is happening.
Praise God for our Troops and We should all pray for no more loss of life and a quick end to the conflict so we all can get back to our normal lives.
BS Ranch
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