Gary Qualls is on CNN, holding the Arlington West cross of his son Louis

[DeepModem Mom]

at Camp Casey. He's speaking in support of the war, and there is an English mother speaking against it. Qualls is the man who was photographed hugging and crying with Cindy. He's now saying she has a personal vendetta against Bush. He's in tears, not speaking in a harsh or mean tone. I can't work up invective for him, watching this. My rage is for those who brought us the horror of this war, and lost these parents' children.


Cindy Sheehan, right, hugs President Bush supporter Gary Qualls of Temple, Texas, after the two met at her camp near Crawford, Texas, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2005. Qualls' son Marine LCPL. Louis W. Qualls was killed in the battle of Fallujah Nov. 14, 2004. Qualls answered an invitation from Sheehan to meet with pro-Bush parents that lost children in Iraq. Qualls was the only parent that came. (AP Photo/LM Otero)


MSNBC/AP, 8/18:

....Before the Crawford vigil began (Wednesday), Gary Qualls, of Temple, walked to the protesters’ memorial to fallen U.S. soldiers and removed a wooden cross bearing his son’s name. Qualls said he supports the war effort even though his 20-year-old son Louis was killed in Fallujah last fall serving with the Marine Reserves.

“I don’t believe in some of the things happening here,” he said. “I find it disrespectful.”....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8990505/

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Who is paying that guy to hang around there as a spoiler?

Let him take the cross and get out. He is a trouble maker.

[rateyes]

2. * made it personal, didn't he?

I can only imagine what those who've lost loved ones in this damned war are going through...I've got friends/had family there...not lost any I know, yet...hope noone loses any more.

[havocmom]

3. Most people will have to cling to the hope their kin did not die for lies.

Most of us will go to great lengths to avoid the truth when it is so painful. Most will work very hard to convince themselves a loved one's death was not pointless but for some higher good. It is a pain pill of sorts.

I feel for the man. He will have so much trouble until he accepts the truth. His id & ego will put him in the middle of his own war.

So sad. So many like him. Some of the returning vets will have emmotional problems and many stateside family members will suffer also.

[FreedomAngel82]

19. It'll be just like Vietnam....

Each side still clinging to what they know is true.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. I can certainly undersand it

there are paernts today who still believe we did the right thing in Nam.. yuo an bet in 20 years he will as well. To say that his son did not die for what he beleives in, may be a hard one to swallow, a very hard one to swallow

[Postman]

5. Its because he trusted Bush, and Bush lied, THAT is what is hard..

It's easier to delude yourself than to accept the truth sometimes.

[LibDemAlways]

6. Anyone catch the woman who

presented the anti-war point of view after Qualls spoke? The CNN whores apparently couldn't find anyone at Camp Casy so they went overseas to the UK to interview a woman (presumably a mother who'd also lost a son in Iraq) who had an accent so thick she was difficult to understand.

Unbelievable.

[oasis]

8. That was calculated. The CNN host told her that since 9/11 didn't happen

in England perhaps that's why she is not for the war? :wtf:

[LibDemAlways]

14. I figured it was calculated. These whores must stay up

nights thinking up ways to dupe the American public. Anti-war? Oh, just that tool of the "leftists" Cindy Sheehan and a woman in the UK who didn't live through 9/11. All other parents of fallen soldiers are patriotic Americans who support the chimp wholeheartedly.

[DeepModem Mom]

12. This interview did take place during the time CNN is anchored in UK...

and broadcast simultanously on CNN Int. and domestic. I lived in the UK, and watched CNN Int. a lot (very different from domestic). Jim Clancy usually did not tow the Bush line on International. Maybe they've been "encouraged" to be more "fair and balanced" for the domestic audience.

[LibDemAlways]

15. Thanks for clarifying.

I tuned in while Qualls was speaking and was pissed when they didn't put on an American mother to counter him. Still think they should have.

[oasis]

7. Qualls was spewing a bunch of Bush propaganda "Saddam had WMD

even Clinton and Gore admitted it" etc. He is a 1st class ignoramus. The CNN male host (white haired guy) gave him tons of time to talk. The CNN guy also brought up 9/11 as the reason we need to be in Iraq.

[DeepModem Mom]

9. Missed some of the first part, but he does, indeed, believe the lies. nt

[johnaries]

10. Before he removed the cross, he put flowers down.

go to this post:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=3849351&mesg_id=3849351

and scroll down to "close up of two crosses". You'll see his son's cross with flowers next to it.

[DeepModem Mom]

13. Oh, wow. Thanks, johnaries. Tears coming to eyes. nt

[johnaries]

16. You're welcome, but thank jobycom. He/she took the pics.

And it was the same day that Qualls met and hugged Cindy.

I think the poor man is in denial.

[sattahipdeep]

17. Isn't this what it's all about ... Save all the children!

CHILDREN PLACED AMERICAN FLAGS during a pro-Bush rally Friday evening by a number of
crosses designed by Veterans for Peace at Camp Casey. The children were a part of a group of over 50
Bush supporters from the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex led by nationally syndicated radio talk show host
Mike Gallagher.
Iconoclast Photo By Nathan Diebenow

[sattahipdeep]

18. I am not doubting you. I just missed

the thread or the link of Q saying he put the flowers down.

That would clear up a lot if we could all hear or see him saying he put the flowers down.

[Maddy McCall]

11. I pity the guy. He's caught in the psychological warfare of his own mind.

He knows that Cindy is right, but he's still trying to tell himself that his son died for a noble cause, because to admit otherwise would be to admit that his son died in vain.

I really feel sorry for the guy. He hasn't come full circle yet.

[Lex]

20. Me too. I can't trash the feelings of these poor people who have lost

a loved one. They are trying to make sense of something that has no sense to it. They desparately want to believe that their President didn't lie to them.

They are grieving. Knowing their President lied to them is more than they can process right now--for some anyway.

[DeepModem Mom]

21. I've been out quite a while since I posted this thread...

and so many wise and moving words have been posted in it, including yours, that I had to acknowledge what people have said here, from their hearts. Someone said upthread that this would be just like Vietnam, with wounds that will not heal for a long, long time, or, I fear, never heal.