Antiwar Activist Bids a Son Farewell (Sen Lourey in DC)

[katinmn]

Rest in peace, Matthew.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/10/AR2005061001980_pf.html

Antiwar Activist Bids a Son Farewell
Minnesota State Senator Never Asked Lorton Soldier to Refuse His Duty

By Brigid Schulte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 11, 2005; B02

Becky Lourey walked the nearly two miles in the sweltering heat of the afternoon yesterday from the Old Post Chapel at Arlington National Cemetery to the freshly dug grave in Section 60, No. 8,187, where her son, Matthew, was to be buried.

Lourey, one of the most liberal state senators in Minnesota, had been one of the most outspoken critics of the war in Iraq. She circulated a petition opposing the U.S. decision to go to war unilaterally. She publicly sparred with Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld.

And at a Democratic campaign rally last year, as Matthew was preparing to return voluntarily for a second tour of duty in Iraq, she railed against President Bush. "I don't want any more chicken hawks making these decisions, lying to us about the reasons," she said.
--snip--
Military officers left the family alone with the silver coffin that soon would be lowered into the ground. Becky Lourey, a woman who bore four children and adopted eight, a politician who voted on a resolution to support the troops but not President Bush, wept.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. There are no words that can comfort a mother who loses a child.

:cry:

I am going to post this on LBN. It deserves greater recognition.

[katinmn]

2. That's right

She and 1700 other mothers will all carry deep wounds from losing a soldier in Bush's War.

The mourning taking place in Iraq is beyond comprehension.

[katinmn]

3. kick!

[katinmn]

4. The DFL Progress Caucus has posted a memorial fund in

honor of Matthew Lourey.
http://www.progressivecaucus.net/

[katinmn]

5. Democracy Now! interview with Sen Lourey.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/06/1328251