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Mother's Anti-War Tour Lands in New York
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Mother's Anti-War Tour Lands in New York
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by Luis Perez and Herbert Lowe
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Cindy Sheehan brought her anti-war message to a Brooklyn church last night, earning thunderous applause while urging her supporters to help press Congress to end the war in Iraq.
"We are just doing what we believe is right," Sheehan told 400 people at Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in Fort Greene - the latest stop on the national Bring Them Home Now tour that will culminate with a massive protest in Washington Saturday through next Monday.
"We just get up in the morning and do everything we can to try to stop this illegal and immoral occupation of Iraq," she added. "Let me tell you, it's not easy, but you know what it's worth it."
Sheehan, of Vacaville, Calif., gained international fame when she camped outside President George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, demanding that he meet with her a second time concerning the death of her son. Spc. Casey Sheehan, 24, was killed in action in Sadr City, Iraq, on April 4, 2004.
Today, Sheehan has two more scheduled stops in the city, including a morning news conference promoting the Washington protest and an 8 p.m. event at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in Harlem.
Among the Sheehan supporters at Lafayette Avenue was Phil Donahue, the former talk show host. "I'm here to see and hear Cindy Sheehan, who just when we were about to give up has proven that dissent continues in America," Donahue said before she arrived.
"There is no democracy without dissent and Cindy Sheehan has kept that flame alive."
Vicki Rovere, 61, a writer from the Lower East Side, sold anti-war buttons - including those stating "Cindy Sheehan for President" and "Stop this stupid war" - before Sheehan made it to the church.
"An event like this is going to strengthen us and give us more resolve," Rovere said.
Earlier at Bryant Park, about 50 gathered at a rally sponsored by Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission.
Army veteran Gary Qualls, whose son, Marine Lance Cpl. Louis Qualls, died as a result of enemy fire last November in Iraq, was among the speakers.
The group was formed last month to counter-protest Sheehan's encampment in Texas and the timing of its rally was "not entirely coincidental," said Bill Noble, a group spokesman.
"These families are not pro-war; they lost their children fighting the war," Noble said. "But they are absolutely supportive of the war in Iraq because they believe, as their sons believed, that it is making the country safer."
Copyright © 2005, Newsday, Inc.
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