Parents of Fallen Troops Weigh Sheehan Protest

Aug. 21, 2005— -- Like Cindy Sheehan, the antiwar protester who has camped outside President Bush's Texas ranch, Ronald Griffin lost a son in Iraq.

But on many other details, Sheehan and Griffin part ways.

"She has the right to do anything she wants to do; she's a grieving mother," Griffin said. "I don't think she speaks for all of the parents or directly for me."

On the other hand, Rosemary Palmer, who also lost a son in Iraq, believes Sheehan's protest has encouraged a worthy debate.

"I think people have been silent for a very long time," Palmer said. "In part, they've been afraid to speak out."

Griffin and Palmer aired their differences on ABC News' "Good Morning America" Weekend Edition.

Much has been said about the "Sheehan effect." Sheehan, whose 24-year-old son Casey died last year in Iraq, started her antiwar demonstration along the roadside in Crawford, Texas, on Aug. 6, demanding to meet with the president.

So far, while in Crawford, Bush has denied her request -- though he previously met Sheehan following Casey's death.

But "Camp Casey" has grown to about 100 core participants and sparked similar campsites across the country, including a new one in San Francisco.

Although Sheehan herself flew to Los Angeles last week to tend to her sick mother, she intends to return to Crawford until the president's five-week-long vacation ends.

Of course, not everyone agrees with Sheehan's antiwar stance. Bill Johnson, a business owner in Crawford, has started a pro-Bush camp near "Camp Casey," called "Fort Qualls" in memory of Marine Lance Cpl. Louis Wayne Qualls, 20, who died in Iraq last fall.

Griffin is not against the debate Sheehan and others are provoking, but said people are forgetting about the young men and women on the front lines in Iraq.

"They chose to do this [to enlist]," he said. "I don't know Casey, but I read everything about him. He seemed like all the rest of the soldiers I know -- a magnificent young man, a devout Catholic."