Advertisement

Singer Visits Activists in Texas

Share
From Times Wire Services

Folk singer Joan Baez joined war protesters near President Bush’s ranch Sunday to meet with military families who want troops pulled out of Iraq.

“You know, in the first march I went on against the war in Vietnam, there were 10 of us,” Baez said as she met with a group of women whose sons were heading to Iraq or had died there. “This is huge.”

About 500 people gathered to hear Baez play a free concert on a 1-acre lot offered by a landowner who opposes the war. Not far away, protesters continued a campout started by Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier who was killed in Iraq.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, more Bush supporters arrived at a camp downtown. As of Sunday afternoon, more than 150 people had visited a large tent that was decorated with “God Bless Our President!” and “God Bless Our Troops” banners and a life-size cardboard cutout of Bush.

“When we saw this, we said, ‘Thank God you’re here,’ ” said Frances Lee, who arrived in Crawford with her Douglasville, Ga., neighbor Brenda Bohanan. They planned to hold pro-Bush banners down the street from the protesters.

“We said, ‘We wanted y’all to know that there are people from all over the United States that care,’ ” Lee said.

The pro-Bush camp is called Fort Qualls, for Marine Lance Cpl. Louis Wayne Qualls, 20, who was killed in Fallouja last fall. His father, Gary, of Temple, Texas, said the antiwar demonstrators were disrespecting soldiers.

The original camp set up by Sheehan about two miles from Bush’s ranch is called Camp Casey, after her 24-year-old son who died last year, and the second site, where Baez performed, is called Camp Casey II.

Sheehan, of Vacaville, Calif., started the antiwar demonstration Aug. 6 and vowed to remain until Bush agreed to meet with her or until his monthlong vacation ended Sept. 3. She left for Los Angeles last week after her 74-year-old mother had a stroke, but was expected to return.

Advertisement
Advertisement