Veteran gets rude welcome on Bainbridge
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SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/181422_robert09.htmlFriday, July 9, 2004
By ROBERT L. JAMIESON JR.
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNISTThink about the Seattle area -- Bainbridge Island to be exact -- and you think scenic views and liberal-minded tolerance.
At least the killer views are still there.
The bucolic island's deep reputation for civility got a gut check this week during the annual Grand Old Fourth of July celebration.
That's when Jason Gilson, a 23-year-old military veteran who served in Iraq, marched in the local event. He wore his medals with pride and carried a sign that said "Veterans for Bush."
Walking the parade route with his mom, younger siblings and politically conservative friends, Jason heard words from the crowd that felt like a thousand daggers to the heart.
"Baby killer!"
"Murderer!"
"Boooo!"
To understand why the reaction of strangers hurt so much, you must read what the young man had written in a letter from Iraq before he was disabled in an ambush:
"I really miss being in the states. Some of the American public have no idea how much freedom costs and who the people are that pay that awful price. I think sometimes people just see us as nameless and faceless and not really as humans. ... A good portion of us are actually scared that when we come home, for those of us who make it back, that there will be protesters waiting for us and that is scary."
On the Fourth, Jason faced his worst fear.
It was such a public humiliation -- home front insult after battlefield injury.
It really shouldn't have happened for two principal reasons.
Reason No. 1? History.
The past informs us that the men and women who fight our wars are not just following orders.
They are risking life and limb.
When they return from the battlefield they should be embraced regardless of the public popularity about the conflict, regardless of the politics.
Have we so quickly forgotten the painful lessons of Vietnam?
Frederick Scheffler, whose daughter and son-in-law marched with Jason on Sunday, hasn't.
Scheffler -- an Army veteran of two tours in Southeast Asia -- was shot in the leg during that long-ago conflict.
He came home with a cane, only to discover the American public was either indifferent to his sacrifice or downright hostile.
"I didn't think in this day and age combat veterans would be treated in this manner," Scheffler, 60, tells me, reflecting on Jason. "I saw it happen to veterans in Vietnam. I'm not going to let it happen today, not to these kids."
Reason No. 2? The rules.
The Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce, which put on the community celebration, permits freedom of expression at the event but asks that parade announcers not act in a manner that is partisan or prejudicial.
Jason's mother, Tamar, says a female parade announcer locked eyes on her son who was walking behind a pro-Republican group called Women in Red, White and Blue. The group supports President Bush and the troops in the fight against terrorism.
According to Tamar, the female announcer sarcastically asked Jason: "And what exactly are you a veteran of?"
The perceived mocking, the mother adds, set off some people in the crowd, loosing a flood of negative comments, "like a wave... a mob-style degrading."
Kevin Dwyer, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, spoke with the announcer after the allegations reached him this week.
He says the woman denies using sarcasm; she just wanted to know which war Jason was a veteran of so that she could "honor him" in public.
"It wasn't her intention to incite anything -- that's what she told me," Dwyer said. "But if she acted out of school, that's not what we're about."
Dwyer added: "I believe (Jason's) mom when she said her son was called 'a murderer.' But I'm sure it wasn't so much directed at the kid as it was the president. A soldier with a sign represents that."
The female announcer told Dwyer that some in the Bush-Cheney contingent in the parade seemed "militant."
And so, battle lines are drawn.
From the outside looking in, the fuel for this conflict seems obvious.
The left-leaning island hosted a group of people who support Bush's controversial war. (On the same parade route, people bearing pro-Kerry signs were cheered and applauded for, among other things, tooling around in an environmentally responsible car.)
Against such a roiling backdrop, an unfortunate tone of voice or the wording on a sign can spark, well, something -- something unconscionable it appears.
But less obvious factors are undoubtedly at work here, too.
The female announcer at the parade had a father who fought for America in a previous U.S. conflict. He never made it back home.
Jason's mother -- unbeknownst to many observers along the parade route -- is a tireless activist behind the pro-troops movement in the Puget Sound region.
Such a combo on a day of red, white and blue can only lead to fireworks -- snap, crackle and popping off during what locals call the "best small-town parade in America."
P-I columnist Robert L. Jamieson Jr. can be reached at 206-448-8125 or robertjamieson@seattlepi.com
© 1998-2004 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Reprinted from NewsMax.com
Patrick Mallon
Friday, July 23, 2004On Friday July 16, I spoke with a truly courageous and patriotic woman, Tamar Gilson, about her son Jason, a 23-year-old veteran of the war in Iraq. Jason was disabled while fighting in Iraq, and has since returned stateside.
On July 4, Jason marched in the annual Grand Old Fourth of July Celebration on Bainbridge Island, a rustic setting outside Seattle, Washington. He wore a blue blazer with his medals very clearly pinned on the outside. He also took a partisan risk by carrying a sign that said in bold letters: “Veterans for Bush.”While walking the parade with his mother, his friends, three brothers and his father, he was chilled by the words he heard from the crowd:
“Murderer!”
“Baby killer!”
“Booooo!”
According to Robert L. Jamieson Jr., of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, who wrote in his July 9 column “Veteran Gets Rude Welcome on Bainbridge,” "Think about the Seattle area -- Bainbridge Island to be exact -- and you think scenic views and liberal-minded tolerance. At least the killer views are still there."
"To understand why the reaction of strangers hurt so much," said Jamieson, "you must read what the young man had written in a letter from Iraq before he was disabled in an ambush:
"I really miss being in the states. Some of the American public have no idea how much freedom costs and who the people are that pay that awful price. I think sometimes people just see us as nameless and faceless and not really as humans. ... A good portion of us are actually scared that when we come home, for those of us who make it back, that there will be protesters waiting for us and that is scary."
After speaking with Rick Roberts, host of San Diego’s "Rick Roberts Show" (KFMB AM-760) on July 15, I discovered more about how terribly Jason Gilson had been treated, and decided to give Tamar Gilson a call to speak with her about this shameful episode.
When Mrs. Gilson answered the phone, and this is not an understatement, I felt invited into the living room of a truly loving and honest mom, a woman proud of her son and his achievements. She asked if I would listen to a letter she had composed, one she planned to send to every media outlet in the nation. I said “yes, gladly,” and listened, spellbound.
Here is her letter in its entirety:
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
I have had time to reflect upon the incident that transpired in the Fourth of July parade on Bainbridge Island and wish to write and convey to you my concerns.
I have read and pondered over the hundreds of e-mails sent to me and the article and columns written across the United States.
I find it fascinating that the Bremerton Sun newspaper is busy explaining why it didn’t cover the story right away, and the Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce is busy making statements such as, 'We regret that some have accused the chamber announcer of provoking negative comments towards a political group and possibly an Iraqi veteran,' and ‘We are sorry that harsh language, shouting and booing may have occurred during the parade.'
As I step back and reflect on the event, I am shaken to the core. I see the people involved with this issue so preoccupied with explaining and excusing their behavior and watching their backs that they can’t see the forest for the trees.
What concerns me the most is that many are missing the point. This story is bigger than what happened to my family or my disabled veteran son. This isn’t about what he said or she said. I accept that even I have been caught up for days in this type of thinking.
What transpired during Bainbridge Island’s Grand Old Fourth of July Parade is truly reflective of a state of mind and accepted mentality that has taken root in America.
The core issue is selfishness!
What ever happened to the ideal that “United we stand, divided we fall”?
Each of us needs to ask ourselves if what we want is more important than what is truly good and right for our country as a whole. Bainbridge Island is symptomatic of our nation’s mentality and immaturity. Almost no one will dispute that the majority of the attendants at the parade were booing as the Republicans walked by. So I am forced to ask: why?
This booing hurt our nation! It demonstrated to the world how divided our country is. By now our enemies all around the world have had a good laugh at our expense. Every time we show ourselves divided we make ourselves weaker as a nation.
Those who hollered the derogatory names and insults are certainly within their legal rights to do so. That's free speech. But if you think about it, one must ask: who made those rights possible for each of us in the first place?
Are our rights to voice our opinions more important than revealing to the world a mature, respectful and united America?
Every evil in the world begins with the attitude that “My will or my wants are more important than yours.” Ego and pride tell us that my rights, my thinking and my desires come first. History has proven that narcissism and self-importance are the downfalls of every fallen empire.
My father was willing to die for this country during World War II. Yet, I really don’t think many of us are even willing to live for and value our common purpose as a nation. Whatever happened to a shared spirit and acceptance of differences?
Talk is cheap! We all want to think of ourselves as tolerant, but as my mom used to say, the proof is in the pudding. There is a poem that I remember hearing as a young teen about a man crossing the road. It has stayed with me to this day:
Darling Danny died one day
While maintaining his right of way
His will was clear
His right was strong
But he’s just as dead
As if he’d been wrong.“United we stand, divided we fall” is not an idle statement. If we as a people choose to be indifferent to the cold thoughtlessness that has taken root in our country, it will be our undoing.
America is great because our forefathers understood that no individual's rights outweigh what is best for the whole. The needs of the many truly do outweigh the wants of the few.
What worried me the most was a quote from Bremerton Sun columnist Steve Gardner who said on July 15: “We can expect plenty of the same partisans in communities across the country as our increasingly polarized electorate moves toward this fall’s election.”
I pray that this is neither a call to action nor a prediction on Mr. Gardner’s part, for if we cannot learn to accept each other's differences without degrading one another, every one of us who live in this great and free nation will lose.
God Bless America,
Tamar Gilson Bremerton, Washington
Patrick Mallon is a political columnist based in Mission Viejo, Calif., who can be contacted at gohabsgo@cox.net
