John Byrne

Marsha was outraged. She didn’t take lightly to being told she didn’t give a “rat’s ass” about her son. Nor was she amused by the falsehood that Bush had “served his full time.” So she fired off another letter.

Dear Nameless Bush worshipper, (idolatry, according to the bible)

I got my “facts” from places like the CIA, allies’ newspapers, ect. [sic] You see, I will not set my kids out like lambs to slaughter –I am far better informed than your “talking points.” I have no time to start my own website and little to educate you. But I am here to tell you-“Commie Pinko”- I am the daughter of a Marine officer and have a background in law enforcement so for you to imply I’m even a Democrat is a joke. I am an informed person who knows the Constitution, Bill of Rights and the Geneva protections...

Our troops recently trained on what to do if their camps are overran. Do you understand the implications of that? Our soldiers are greatly outnumbered, their equipment is getting broken, and replacements are behind. Do you understand? If you continue to support this war, you will eventually be standing alone. Educate yourself-do not take my word for it.

Funny you would think my SONS were involved. My daughter just returned from a year in Kuwait. My children and other soldiers are proud of the military but not proud of politicians who have sent them unprepared into a war of choice. That is unacceptable. My own family has spent thousands of dollars for equipment for my son-some of it needed JUST SO HE COULD DO HIS JOB IN THE WAR. I guess this is acceptable to you. It is not to me...

So no, I am not willing to shove my kids out the door and say die for this war, because I know what this war is really about. Did you notice there aren’t any WMD in Iraq? Mr. Bush takes advantage of people’s faith and ignorance-they, like you, will heatedly stand up for him-right or wrong without examining facts or solid intelligence. He counts on the fact that you will take him at his word, as obviously you have. That is too bad; I find it easier to live with the truth than to attempt to justify this war.

She included a quote from the twenty-sixth president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt.

“That we are to stand by the president, right or wrong is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”

It was this missive that earned the reply “fuckoff.” Disgusted, Marsha emailed RAW STORY.

“I am just really surprised at that kind of an answer to a Blue Star Mother,” Marsha says.

The national Blue Star Mothers organization, a non-partisan nonprofit, deferred comment to the local chapter. Marsha’s Blue Star Chapter, Ohio Department seven, declined repeated requests for comment and removed their site Wednesday. RAW STORY has preserved images of the site, along with the imagery; it is displayed below.

Marsha’s frustration is palpable. She’s against the war and is not shy about it, and it’s not simply about the effort to tie Iraq to Sept. 11. It’s about Chris.

Marsha tells how her father, a former Marine, supported the war and maintained that the troops would have everything they needed.

“My dad said, I know they’re getting everything they need,” she recounts. “I thought, okay, what can you say? He’s your father.”

“Six months later, he was having to send things to his grandson to help assist in the war effort, that he did not have.”

Marsha says her father helped pay for body armor. Her son, Chris, is a communications specialist.

“We’ve sent him extra armor,” she says. “He did have new armor when he left, it was military issued, it was not the best – there are police officers on the street who have better armor, and I know that because I have a degree on criminal justice. We’ve had to send him tools so he can literally do his job of repairing radios.”

Beyond armor, she says she’s also sent basic tools like sockets and wrenches. She laughs as she says it, but she’s obviously pained by how little support she’s seen from those who would send her son to fight, and perhaps to die.

“I did send him a whole ratchet set,” she recalls. “It’s outrageous. We have to pay to send him things, and of course we have to send him things all the time, hair gel even, for instance. It costs a lot of money to send those packages. I took three small boxes to the post office last week and spent $40.”

Chris will be deployed until October–or at least that’s how long he’s supposed to serve in Iraq. I ask her when she thinks he’ll be back.

“I don’t know,” she says wearily. “I told him, that I have his orders here, and he better not volunteer to go back there.”

“He needs to get home, go to classes, and stop worrying his mother,” she continues. “I can hope.”

“My son is someone who is going to contribute to this world,” she adds. “He was raised with public service in mind. This is a gross misuse of his patriotism.”

The names in this piece have been changed to protect Marsha's son serving overseas.

Back to page one: One mother's war

Originally published on Thursday July 28, 2005.