Protest Heats Up In Military Town
By Terry Rendon, 09.22.05
Protesters holding anti-Iraq war signs lined the streets of downtown Norfolk, Tuesday, Sept. 20. They met at Veterans Memorial in Town Pointe Park for the “Bring Them Back Home” tour.
The gathering of anti war protestors was intense, especially in what is considered a large military community. At one point a bus passing by packed with students from the Norfolk Public School system chanted “No More War!” from the windows.
Pro troop protester, Beth Leet, was there with her daughter, who was holding a sign that read, “Go Home Cindy”. Leet’s husband served in Iraq and just returned home last year.
“We are trying to give the people over there the same freedoms we have here. Freedom is freedom, it doesn’t matter where you are,” Leet said
Archie Moore, a Vietnam veteran of the Navy, was protesting the war. He disagrees with the preemptive policy that was set in Iraq.
“Vietnam that was bad and the Iraq War is bad.” Moore said. He went on to explain that in Iraq. “We [United States] attacked them [Iraq] first.”
The bus tour was started by Cindy Sheehan, whose son Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, was killed last year in Iraq war. She made headlines by camping outside of President’s Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas for 26 days.
Sheehan was injured during a rally on Sept. 20. She was speaking in Union Square, NY when a scuffle broke out. Police broke up the rally. She was required to leave. Sheehan will participate in a rally Sept. 24 in Washington D.C. that organizers expect to draw tens of thousands of people, according to the Associated Press.
