Valley's military families agree job must be done

[darrels joy]

Valley's military families agree job must be done
By TRACY SAWYER
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC


One grieving mother's vigil on a dusty Texas road has the nation asking if this is the start of a lasting anti-war movement ? or just another summer diversion for a nation with a short attention span.

Local folks are wondering the same, especially those who have lost sons in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Cindy Sheehan's vigil began Aug. 6 when she and about 50 demonstrators showed up outside President Bush's Crawford ranch. Sheehan left last week to care for her mother, who had a stroke in California, but returned to Texas on Wednesday.

Sheehan's goal remains the same: to meet with Bush to ask him, "Why did you kill my son? What did my son die for?" Her 24-year-old son, Casey, was killed in Sadr City, Iraq, on April 4, 2004.

Sheehan seems to be gaining supporters ? public opinion polls show six in 10 Americans want some or all U.S. troops withdrawn from Iraq.

An Aug. 17 candlelight vigil in support of the grieving "peace mom" drew 1,600 gatherings across the country, including one in Ellensburg, where about 65 people rallied. Five war protesters even showed up in Goldendale, according to the liberal activist organization MoveOn.org.


West Valley's Nancy Sides, however, wasn't one of them.

Her stepson, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dustin Sides, was killed in Iraq on May 31, 2004. He was 22.

Nancy Sides, 44, had known Dustin since he was a 2-year-old. He'd have been "mortified and ashamed," she says, if she were to join the anti-war movement.

"I don't want any more boys lost either, but I don't want us to pull out before the job is done," she says. "(Dustin) died serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom and that's what has to happen ? the Iraqis have to be free ? so he doesn't die in vain."

Still, Sides has some sympathy for Sheehan. "I can understand how high the emotions run and you have the urge to focus the energy somewhere."

Sides focuses her energy on organizing Marine Corps mom support groups, fundraising for the families of soldiers and sewing quilts for wounded soldiers. She wishes Sheehan could also find a "more positive" way to grieve.

Del Miles agrees. The Yakima man recently marked the first anniversary of the death of his stepson, Marine Sgt. Jason Cook, who was killed in Iraq on Aug. 21, 2004.

"I just think it's too bad that she's made this about her and not her son. She's made his death meaningless," Miles says. "I couldn't imagine doing that to my own son. The insurgents have been waiting for someone to get behind them ? it's too bad it's a military family."

Miles is concerned about the anti-war sentiment in recent opinion polls but sees the current numbers as just a reflection of an American society that wants instant gratification.

"We've been there a few years now and people don't see changes," he says. "I think it's just because it's not reported about schools being built and hospitals and a lot of the good things that are happening."

He commends people like Nancy and John Sides, who he sees as "rehabilitating themselves in a positive way, and not in a negative one like Mrs. Sheehan."

He thinks demonstrators should stop criticizing the war until after it's over. "Wait until the soldiers are back if you have to be negative," he says.

But Cynthia Murray, who organized last week's vigil in Ellensburg, doesn't think the discussion should be delayed.

"It's a right to protest and that's what our democracy is based on," she says. "The founding fathers didn't ask the king politely to stop taxing us ? they protested and they were radical."

She believes the anti-war movement is growing and thinks Sheehan has a lot to do with it. "Her courage gave people hope that speaking out might make a difference," she says.

And with more people speaking out, Murray predicts the movement will grow. "A lot of people harbored doubts from the beginning," she says, "but now they see other people are coming out and making their voices heard."

Still, Sides hopes the voices don't get as loud as they did during the Vietnam War protests a generation ago.

"It would be devastating if our country didn't learn from those mistakes," she says. "We all have to remember these are just boys who are still playing Nintendo."