NLTCP's own Judith Smith visits "Camp Casey"

Posted 12:50 PM CDT, August 21, 2005
Judith A. Smith visited Camp Casey on Saturday, August 20, and delivers this beautiful story:

*WHEW* It's hot out there, folks! We just got in from Crawford, having been gone nearly seven hours. Rather than driving out to the site, and not knowing how the parking would work, we parked at the Peace House in Crawford and registered, then took the shuttle out to the site. There are several shuttles running, but there were fewer drivers than usual today (and you can't just volunteer, as you have to drive 30 minutes into Waco, and be added to the insurance in order to drive a shuttle.)

Anyway, we hung out at the Peace House for a while waiting for a ride, then rode out with Jane from Ithaca, New York. Jane has been there five days now, and is really a nice gal - she drove us in a car, rather than a van, so it was just the three of us and another smart-looking woman in her 30s with a sign.

On the way, we passed probably a hundred bikers headed back into Crawford; from the looks of things, they are Bush supporters, but the word is to just kind of ignore each other out there. There were probably 150-175 Cindy supporters out there, and I counted 15 Bush fans across the dirt road from us - one of them was writing Scripture on a sign which he had hung on a fence. I hope they realize that many of us on the other side of the road were also praying.

Back at the Peace House, two women who were working, but coming out to Camp Casey later, asked us to take an icon of the Virgin Mary to any Gold Star mom we could find - they had inscribed it on the back. So, our six year old grandson took it on himself to be the delivery boy. At Camp Casey (Site Two is the new one-acre site, which is being reserved right now for big gatherings, such as Joan Baez and Martin Sheen, both expected this weekend - and possibly Danny Glover, as reported in the California press) we began our search for a Gold Star parent.

A wonderful Marine from Alabama, Jeff, who's already served a tour in Iraq just kind of hung on to us, trying to find a Gold Star family - seriously, hung on - he took my hand and didn't let go walking down the road. Tall, 6'4" at least - Jeff is a wonderful guy, loves his buddies, but wants us out of this war. When he couldn't find one of the Gold Star folks, he had us stand in the shade while he walked another quarter-mile down the road looking. He came back and headed the opposite direction, finding a Mr. Torres, who was giving an interview to Fox 7 out of Austin. Jeff came and grabbed us, and our grandson will probably be on Austin news tonight, handing this Virgin Mary to Mr. Torres, who threw his arms around him (and vice-versa, my little lover-guy.)

We waited for the interview to finish, so we could talk to Mr. Torres - his son Juan (John) died in Afghanistan a year ago, and this handsome, articulate dad looks to be in his early 40s, too young, certainly, to have this terrible tragedy in his life. He was so nice, and picked our grandson up - we got a good picture of the two of them together. He put the icon on a small shrine to his son over near the crosses, and we said a prayer there. Poor man, he just cried while we prayed; otherwise, he was so put-together, so well-spoken.

The heat is a killer today - nearly 100 out in the blazing sun, so we took a shuttle back to Crawford after about 90 minutes - we left a check with the Peace House - it should buy a lot of water or a fair amount of food - they are busy feeding people and giving them lots of fluids, both at the Peace House and at Camp Casey.

We hear so much about what "we" must look like, those who support Cindy's quest to have Bush answer the question: "What noble cause are these men and women dying for?" Well, we look like a lot of things, and generalizations are so much of what has divided our nation for the past five years. In our car, we looked like a non-wartime U.S. Army veteran, the daughter of a 28-year Air Force pilot and World War II veteran (the daughter, me, did not protest during the Vietnam War, so the "you're a bunch of peacenik hippies!" doesn't wash), and a little boy who will hopefully only know what a draft is because he will someday read about it in history books. There were a few "hippie" types, a goodly number of veterans, particularly of the Vietnam era, and middle class families, suburbanites who just needed to be there, who want the question answered, and yet know that Bush has no answer.

But we came, and we stood, we prayed, we visited quietly, we sweated in the sun on a blistering August morning and afternoon, and we didn't utter a harsh word, one, against those sitting on the opposite side of the narrow, dusty Crawford road.

What a blessing.

Judith A. Smith is a contributor to many educational efforts and a great friend of NLTCP. Her outstanding submission delivers a beautful and personal view of this spectacular and historical moment in a growing peace movement against Bush's Iraq boondoggle.

If you have an opportunity to send us a report or personal view by email, do so at aj.franklin at gmail dot com.