Mother Obscures Son’s Heroic Deeds
This nation respects and admires Cindy Sheehan on account of her son’s heroic death in Iraq. But the Cindy Sheehan spectacle has been another thing altogether. The protest has ebbed and flowed, but the impact still echoes.
It’s tragic that we don’t seem to remember President Lincoln’s words at Gettysburg, and Sheehan and her supporters don’t either: “The world will little not nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” In the shadow of heroic deeds, words don’t count for much. The Gettysburg Address is one of the rare exceptions.
Casey Sheehan’s deeds were heroic. By laying down his life for this nation, he delivered the kind of message that is written in blood, that lives forever. Why on earth would a loving mother choose to refocus the nation’s attention onto her words and away from his deeds?
And what was Casey Sheehan’s message? “I love my country.” His mother seemed intent on drowning out that message.
Casey Sheehan enlisted in the Army in 2000 at age 20. The country was at peace. When he was asked to re-enlist four years later, he knew that he would probably be sent to Iraq. He enlisted anyway. In March 2004, he was sent to Iraq as a mechanic attached to the artillery division of the 1st Cavalry Division. When a convoy was attacked in Sadr City a month later, he volunteered to join the rescue mission. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.
He volunteered to re-enlist with the way under way – as an experienced young man, not a teenager. Then he volunteered again, for a dangerous mission above and beyond the call of duty. And one thing more, from his sister, Carly: “That’s all he wanted to do – serve God and his country his whole life.” He was a devout Roman Catholic.
And his mother’s message? The FrontPage Web site noted her comments to a reporter: “America has been killing people on this continent since it started. This country is not worth dying for.”
David Gelernter
Professor, Yale University