Son's death ended normal life for protest mom

Critics have started calling her a pawn of the left-wing. Some conservative organizations, talk show hosts and even some of her own extended family accuse her of shifting her position and say she is lowering troop morale.

“To be perfectly honest, I think it is disgraceful,” said bookkeeper Diana Kraft of Vacaville, whose son is in the Navy. “I don’t know the loss she’s feeling to lose a son because, thank goodness, I haven’t had that, but we’re in this war and we have to support the troops.”

Other friends, neighbors and church members argue that she is a hero, and say they’re proud of what she’s doing.

Dozens of people have joined her and others have sent flowers and food. Other “Camp Casey” demonstrations and vigils are springing up around the country, with signs calling on Bush to “Talk To Cindy.” Activists in San Francisco rallied on her behalf Friday; others planned to gather Monday in New York’s Union Square.

Tensions flared Saturday at the protest site outside Bush’s ranch, with one heated exchange between a Bush supporter and a veteran who opposes the war in Iraq. When the veteran shouted about his war experiences and yelled, “I earned the right to be here!” several of his fellow protesters pulled him away as he sobbed and his knees buckled.

Bush responds
Bush acknowledged Sheehan on Thursday, telling reporters at his ranch that “she has every right in the world to say what she believes. This is America. She has a right to her position.”

Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images Supporters of Presdent Bush, Dena Moss (R) of Cornth Texas, and John Wilson of Grapevine, Texas, Saturday, near Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.

But Bush said Sheehan is wrong on Iraq: “I thought long and hard about her position. I’ve heard her position from others, which is: Get out of Iraq now. And it would be a mistake for the security of this country and the ability to lay the foundations for peace in the long run if we were to do so.”

Sheehan, a lifelong Democrat, said that until her son died, she’d never spoken out about her views. She was too young during the Vietnam War — “I only saw it on the news and I thought it was horrible,” she said. She didn’t agree with the first Gulf War, but only talked about it with friends and classmates.

As a child in Bellflower, about 20 miles south of Los Angeles, Sheehan was opinionated, but not outspoken, says her sister, Dede Miller. She was enrolled in programs for gifted students.

'Very devoted mom'
She married her first serious boyfriend, Patrick, whom she met when she was 17. They soon had Casey, followed by Carly, Andy and Jane.

“She was an earth mother, a very devoted mom,” said Miller.

In 1993, the family moved to Vacaville, midway between San Francisco and Sacramento, where Patrick worked as a sales representative.

The stress of Casey’s death prompted Sheehan and her husband to separate, she said.

Sheehan has vowed to remain in Texas through Bush’s August vacation, unless he meets with her.

“My whole family would rather I was home more than gone,” she said. “Some people have tried to discourage me from doing what I’m doing but I can’t be discouraged, I can’t be stopped because I know what I’m doing is so important. It’s a matter of life or death.”

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