Headline, Dallas Observer, "A grieving military family gets suckered into

[anarchy1999]

an Anti-War Rally"

On the Front page of this weeks' Observer in Dallas, this is the lead into the story. "A grieving military family gets suckered into an anti-war rally."

Thanks Glenna Whitley (Not)! A large amount of poetic license was taken and my remarks in "quotes" are not what I told this reporter. She had a very long phone interview with me, before we started I asked her if she was taping said interview (no). My mistake, she took things I said in the course of our talking together, cut and diced and spliced and turned them into quotes. Before I ever started to talk with her I told her of my reluctance to do so. Oh well, just another lesson learned.

Police separate family members and protesters. (the police never had to seperate any of us, what an absolute out an out lie!)

http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2004-09-16/news/news.html


Crash of Symbols
A grieving family gets pulled into an anti-war demonstration
In a clash that illustrates the power of symbols over good intentions, a candlelight vigil last week honoring 1,000 troops killed in Iraq triggered a screaming confrontation between the family of a fallen soldier and members of the Dallas Peace Center.

"We got tricked," says Kathy Herriage, a family friend of the soldier. The ugly debacle left Channel 5, the publicist who promoted the vigil and leaders of the Peace Center blaming each other.

cut to the end and I hope you mods will be tolerant. Thanks in advance.

cut to the end:

Alberts believes he was misled by Robison, who e-mailed him, other media and the Drakes an apology. "I told each and every one of you that this event was going to be a non-partisan event open to anyone who wished to attend and honor the troops," Robison wrote. "Unfortunately, there was another plan in the works that I was unaware of, and the event turned into yet another political anti-war event. Had I known there was going to be drums, a bullhorn and fliers, I would've never encouraged this family to attend. I feel their grief was exploited by several organizers of the events."

Robison points to Hadi Jawad, coordinator of the Dallas Peace Center's "End the Occupation of Iraq Committee." But Jawad insists the event wasn't political. The drums were supposed to symbolize heartbeats, he says, and the bullhorn was necessary because several speakers were elderly ministers.

"In my opinion, we held a very respectful memorial service," Jawad says.

Bollenbacher says she feels responsible, too. "I had invited people to come who I know through democraticunderground.com," Bollenbacher says. "We really were trying to make it a space where we could come together and put aside all our differences and honor all the lives that have been lost. I wanted them to know how many people in the community really cared. I wish I'd done it differently."

Still reeling, the Drakes spent the rest of the week planning Chad's funeral, scheduled for September 17. "The Army isn't releasing who has been the 1,000th casualty," Ott says. "To me, as a sister, it wouldn't matter if he was number six or 2,000. He was over there fighting for you and me." --Glenna Whitley



In the end everyone blamed everyone else. What a disaster and why what Jim Hightower and Molly Ivins write is so true. It's "herding cats" and we are our own worst enemy. So sorry to have to say it. Second most important enemy, THE MEDIA! Thanks once again, Glenna. I spent 30-45 minutes with her on the phone on Saturday evening, I put her in contact with everyone she wanted to talk with and lined up many of us to talk with her that were involved, including the "judge's wife", a very highly respected couple in the community.

Glenna did an okay report, the headline on the front page I take tremendous offense with!

On edit:
Kudos to Glenna for giving DU a shout out. Careful Skinner et al. There may be many freeps headed DU's way over the course of the next couple of days. I apologize in advance for any negative.

[anarchy1999]

1. A kick to the top before someone else puts it up again.

Damage control central. Dearest DU'ers, please know our intentions were good. Or maybe I was used, I don't know. I just know this is being blown way out of control. The headline hurts us all. The media hurts the family and they hurt the Peace Center.

Why?

Divide and conquer. Plain and simple.

[hlthe2b]

2. I've always found the premise behind this article to be ridiculous

Why would protestations of the value of life and need for peace be incompatible with honoring the war dead? I just don't get those on the "right" who profess that desire for peace automatically equates with disrespect for those who fought honorably in war.

[anarchy1999]

3. It can boggle your mind if you are not careful.. How does this happen?

n/t

We want peace, we have Vets that have been there and own the t-shirt factory, all we want is for us all to come together and start to heal soon. This nation is being ripped apart. Families are being torn to shreds. We are being pitted against one another.

There is no reason for this. The media in Dallas blew what happened way out of proportion. It turned into a "media event". All we (the DPC, NTJP, and EOOIWC) wanted to do was create a space where everyone that was hurting could come together. I got behind that message and everyone there I knew was on the same page. Everyone was behind that single message. We were truly putting aside everything else and wanted nothing but to reach out to the community in our collective grief and let the families know they had many resources willing and able to help them.

What went so wrong?

[el_gato]

4. I'll tell you what went wrong

If you agreed to an interview why did you not tape it yourself?
I have had enough first hand experiences with these people to know they
are out to distort and lie.
I'm sorry for being blunt but you have got to stop playing into thier hands. Any time you interact with the media you need to hold their feet to the fire.

[anarchy1999]

10. Thank you and I am so sorry. I Cheny'ed up. I consider myself to blame

for the whole disaster. So now that being said, I leave you all, I must go meet with the board.

And thank you el_gato for telling me what went wrong. I only wish you could have been here this last week. Maybe you in all your wisdom could have made it all come out right.

[UdoKier]

5. Sounds like a bit of an overreaction, but...

if you are promoting an event as a "candlelight vigil to honor the troops" that's what it should be. No pro-war jingoism, and no anti-war protesting.

If there is going to be any political bent to the "vigil", that should be alluded to in all of the promotional materials.

If the woman knew it was being organized by the Dallas Peace Center, that should be enough to let her know that there might be a political agenda at the event.

Who invited her, and did they tell her who the organizer was?

Anyway, I weep for the trauma she underwent :eyes: :nopity:

Funny she's more upset about people trying to save kids like her son, than she is about the actual fraudulent reasons her son was killed.

[jburton]

6. Terrible planning/message coordination

Rep Burnam, the Peace Center Director, said it was supposed to be political, but such a huge amount of planners thought the exact opposite?

from the article:

Alberts says he was horrified and apologized to the Drakes. The station didn't air an apology but posted a story on its Web site quoting an e-mail from a family supporter alleging that Mrs. Drake was "harassed and yelled at, booed and hissed, told her son died for nothing." (None of those interviewed by the Observer reported hearing that.) The story included an apology from Fort Worth state Representative Lon Burnam, director of the Dallas Peace Center.

Burnam blamed Alberts, saying the event was intended to have political overtones and the family should have been informed. "I would have to question the judgment of the people who encouraged her to come to something sponsored by people opposed to the war," Burnam says.

[progressivebydesign]

8. I refuse to believe that people attending a peace rally..

.. would boo and hiss at a woman who's son had died. No way. That's ridiculous. Like the story from Bainbridge Island where the people supposedly booed the soldier who returned home from Iraq, marching in a parade. Urban legend stuff.

[jburton]

9. Did you mean to reply to my post, or the top one?

I said nothing about booing/hissing.

I simply posted that the director's account of what this event was supposed to be compared to what the organizer said it was supposed to be. They are at odds with each other, and that shows poor planning.

[progressivebydesign]

7. Can you post a link to your thread about the event? It explains it all..

I think people who find this thread may not realize what REALLY happened, unless you or someone can find that thread from immediately after the event. Your description of events was much more plausible, and was obviously the truth. It would be great, especially if this article draws the curious here..

I attended a similar vigil. AND there were family members of the troops there, they were not offended by what was happening there. Lots of care was taken to be sure that no strong political overtones ruled the evening. The handed out signs said, "1,000 dead", and "NO END IN SIGHT". I'm sorry that the woman at your rally, who lost her son, flipped out. Regardles of her grief, her response was a partisan display. Obviously, NO ONE would attack the service of her fallen son, nor have ANY of the people I've met in the anti-war movement. That is a republican fallacy that they stoke to manipulate the ignorant... those that can only think in the simplest terms. If ANYONE supports the troops, it's the ones that want them out of Iraq.

I'm sorry that the story has been twisted. Please post that thread from the other day, so people here can hear both sides.

[anarchy1999]

11. Here it is, one last time. I was called into a board meeting tonight over

this. I'm really tired and I'm very sorry for all that has transpired. I'm almost ready to join with my husband and say see ya.

Not yet, but almost.

was there. As many of you know I am an activist in the Dallas community and I helped to organize this vigil yesterday. If you go to Texas in State and Country forums you will see where I posted info and invited DU'ers to please attend.

The Dallas Peace Center, MFSO, Vets for Peace, NTJP (North Texans for Justice and Peace) and several church leaders from the Community were sponsoring the vigil. I spent all day speaking with media, recruiting people to attend, answering questions, delegating tasks some of which I had to do myself, including finding someone who could be there to play taps (thank god for cell phones). I arrived at City Hall around 5:30 pm. I called the NBC 5 reporter who was covering the event to let him know I had arrived, he told me of this family and I offered to call and reassure them of what this vigil was to be about. (I had been in constant contact with who I was helping).

The message was that this was to be strictly a memorial for our fallen soldiers and the wounded. This was not to be a rally, nor a protest and no politics, just a space for everyone to come together and to be able to grieve together and try to start the healing process this nation needs. I called Chad's sister and spoke with her, she had been reassured by the woman with MFSO (well-known coordinator), she had been reassured by the reporter and I was reassuring her. They said they wanted to come, but not if was going to be anti-war or anything. They agreed to come en-masse (at least 10 showed up).

As different people showed up with signs, banners, hand-outs I monitored each one. Vets for Peace just had a banner that said Vets for Peace, okay on that one. Someone else had a banner "end the occupation of killing", ROLL IT UP and put it way, thank you. There was not lots of media, but plenty enough, Channel 5 had already left. Right around 7:00 a leader with NTJP showed up with a picnic basket and I welcomed him as I tied a black banner around his arm. I looked down into the basket and he had fliers about a future action re: "Our War Crimes President" and I explained to him he could not pass these flyers out here and repeated the message. As he was saying okay, I turned and Chad's family was upon me. I met Chad's mom, she was crying and several members of her family gathered around her. As I was talking with them one of the family members looked down and saw above mentioned flyer and picked it up. I reassured them this person had just arrived and I had been in the process of telling him not to pass them out and that I had made them a promise and it wouldn't be broken. Okay, so far, so good, that was smoothed over.

I earlier had met a couple who's son is in Iraq and had been injured a few months ago, severely enough to be flown to Germany, recovered well enough to be sent back. I had arranged to have them meet with Chad's family, as I was escorting them to this couple we walked past a small group that were softly playing drums, a tune known as Heartbeat (?). The group playing are part of an organization called Drums Not Guns (they go into schools to teach non-violence, pick up and drum don't pick up a gun). I was ahead of them, one of the members of the family read the logo on the shirt, read it off to Chad's mom and all hell broke loose. Chad's mom started screaming we were all liars and I really don't remember what all else, she was very upset. Channel 23's cameraman closed in (remember, ugly is good), the family surrounded Chad's mom and I went after the cameraman, whose reporter had run up yelling "she just went after my cameraman", repeating just doing our job, and so on. I told them to have some respect and get lost.

I just got off the phone with the Board member from the DPC I was working with who was also in the melee only at a different moment and place. There was one woman, very long standing member of The Dallas Peace Center who had no clue as to what was happening, but when Chad's mom started screaming she did ask her to settle down, Chad's mom started to lunge towards this elderly woman and said above member stepped in between them. I heard no booing, no hissing and he agreed with me, he did not either. The most aggressive and ugliest in the whole scene was once again "the media".

I spent most of this morning talking with the woman from MFSO (her name is known to many of you here), and trying to reach the reporter at NBC 5. Someone was supposed to return my call within 10 minutes, they never did. By the way the reporter covering it yesterday was not there today, someone else was doing the follow-up.

We all feel REALLY Bad for what happened and in my conversation with MFSO she and I both agreed we both made a grievious error. We should have both not encouraged them to come to this event where there would be strangers and the MEDIA! Bad mistake and we learned from this lesson. This family needed to have been at home with friends and family, the pain was way too raw.

So far as for Lon Burnam and his remark: "He also said the event was planned to include political overtones, but the Drake family should have been informed." This is an issue being addressed right now. Lon did not help to organize this, was not in attendance and I will be getting to the bottom of it tomorrow. The Board Member I work with was so fearful of my upset over this he was afraid I would not be in attendance at tomorrow's event in front of BELO Headquarters where we get to meet up with the Protest Warriors. (I'm still making up my mind).

So there you have it guys. I'll be happy to answer any questions.
I'd really like to hear from Mari333 and VetWife.
Thanks.

And there is my post. I just wish this would all go away and that all of us at DU could help this family to understand.

[anarchy1999]

12. Has everyone had enough yet? We really need some support, if any

of you have to give it. Thanks.
Sherry B.
www.dallaspeacecenter.org

[faithnotgreed]

14. i sure am sorry sherry. i just came in on this thread and it

sounds like a terrible shock all the way around. i sure dont know what to say except youre clearly doing very difficult work.
anyone (especially in places like texas), working for peace in a time of horrible war, deserves all the support we can give you

im sorry for the family as well. has the dpc sent them a note or something to convey their sorrow? again, i dont know all the details so sorry if this has already been well covered.

it must be awfully difficult for you as well. my prayers for everyone

[alphafemale]

13. Point out that grieving mothers at * events get hauled away in handcuffs

To quote Mike Malloy...
"Have I told you yet how much I HATE these people?"
:grr: :mad:

[Generic Other]

15. Better to be suckered into being cannon fodder?

What a sicko headline.