Flags at the funeral of David Roddy (Courtesy One Big Dog) |
The president will not get into "jostling" over the politics of protests and military funerals, but he does believe the men and women of the U.S. military are "awesome."
The comment came yesterday on a WND question at a press briefing with Tony Snow, a spokesman for the president, regarding a fringe Kansas-based church group that has staged protests at some military funerals, somehow tying the war to homosexuality.
The funeral on Saturday in Harford County, Md., was for Petty Officer David Roddy, at which the virulent anti-homosexual organization had threatened a protest.
But an e-mail campaign to minimize the impact of the protest was begun by U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, R-Md., and talk radio then got involved, encouraging others to show up with flags and patriotism in an effort to protect the memorial from any protest, which in the end was not noticeable.
The WND question was whether Roddy's commander-in-chief commended those to carried U.S. flags and provided a disincentive to protest.
"The President is not going to get into jostling over a funeral," Snow said. "He's not going to get into traveling bands from Kansas trying to attend a funeral in Harford County, Md."
But he said Bush does believe "that the men and women who are serving this country right now on a voluntary basis are second-to-none.
"And the sacrifices that they make merely going into the theater of battle are absolutely – they're awesome to contemplate," Snow told WND.
"And those who give the ultimate measure are people who deserve to be remembered, and remembered not only fondly but admiringly," Snow said.
He noted some members in uniform, because of injuries, will have a battle that lasts for the rest of their lives.
"He feels for them, he visits them, he cares about them. And I think that's the appropriate context," Snow said. "And I think it's probably more respectful to the servicemen who died than trying to talk about a political fight."
Members of the Westboro Baptist Church have maintained a long-running campaign over their belief that God is punishing the U.S. for its tolerance of homosexuality. They've held protests at funerals of homosexuals around the country, and now have been appearing at funerals of military casualties.
In a report in the online Examiner, church spokeswoman Rebecca Phelps-David said the "fruits" of this nation are being killed "because God is cursing this nation."
Members have held up "Thank God For Dead Soldiers" signs at more than 220 military funerals already, according to a Scripps-Howard News Service report.
About 10 members of the group had planned to be at the funeral, but in the end,
according to officials, there was nothing that happened.
Roddy's father, Robert Roddy, told reporters his son died for the protesters' right to speak, but if he had his way, "all of them would be arrested and then they would be on a plane the next day to Iraq."
The 32-year-old Roddy, of Abingdon, died on Sept. 16 when a roadside bomb exploded.
An organization called "The Patriot Guard Riders" also has been assembled from a network of motorbikers and veterans to prevent disruption of funerals by "misguided religious zealots."
A weblog by One Big Dog confirmed that the efforts to protect mourners was a success.
"There were around 500 motorcycles and their riders, and probably 500 or 600 additional people there as well," he reported. "The number of Flags was overwhelming and there was a lady passing out Flags for those who did not have one."
When the funeral procession passed by, he said, "The absolute silence of so many people at that particular time is one I will not forget. The only sound I heard after the hearse had passed was the sound of a group singing God Bless America."
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