Mothers of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq
Cindy Sheehan and Jane Bright
Mothers and fathers of U.S. soldiers killed in the Iraq war gathered at a Berkeley church
on July 4 to speak out against the war. Jane Bright is a member of Military Families Speak Out.
Her 23-year-old son, Sgt. Evan Ashcroft, was killed in an ambush near Mosul, Iraq, on July 23, 2003.
Cindy Sheehan's son Casey Sheehan (24, Vacaville, California), and Bill Mitchell's son
Army Sgt. Michael W. Mitchell (25, Porterville, California), were both killed on April 4, 2004,
in the same battle in Baghdad.
President Bush met with Jane Bright after her son's death.
"The President said to me, 'I wish I could bring your son back,'" recalled Bright.
"I thought, 'What was he doing there in the first place?'"
Bright told the congregation: "When my son was deployed to Iraq, he went willingly
because he went under the lie that he was doing something to save his country.
Our country did not need to be defended against Iraq. It's another lie.
I believe we've sent our loved ones to war for the wrong reasons. Was the war in Iraq really started
to free the Iraqi people? Are we killing people to save them?"
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