Steve De Ford, a member of Gold Star Families for Peace, the organization founded in part by Cindy Sheehan, listened last Saturday as Iraq War veterans and military families whose loved ones have been killed in the war honored the fallen dead and called for the return of troops. The weekendlong rally at Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas, was the culmination of Sheehan’s campout, which began Aug. 6 in the town near Waco that serves as George W. Bush’s vacation spot. Thousands of protesters and counterprotesters (both camps severely underreported in the widely distributed AP news stories) weathered triple-digit Texas temps to express their First Amendment rights, as Sheehan’s protest has galvanized the peace movement and triggered activists on both sides of the issue. De Ford’s son, Army Spc. David W. Johnson, was killed in action in Baghdad on Sept. 25, 2004. More coverage of the weekend can be found online at “Weekend at Casey’s.”
This article appears in September 2 • 2005.