Sister Mary McGehee said she didn't know what to expect when she saw a man clearly upset over her and her fellow Benedictine nuns' protest of the war in Iraq approach them, reach out and grab a sign suggesting peace not war and rip it to shreds.
The man, later identified as Johnny Wood, a U.S. Army veteran who spent 17 months in Iraq as a gunner for the Arkansas 39th Infantry Brigade, later told Cullman police he "just lost it" when he pulled into the Town Square Shopping Center Saturday afternoon and saw the group of women holding signs protesting the war.
The story is heartbreaking in every way.
I humbly ask at the outset that any comments you may wish to add to this diary be thoughtful, rather than derogatory in any way, shape, or form towards the soldier in this incident. He obviously is suffering the effects of combat -- and most likely PTSD, too. Thank you.
More below the fold...
The Cullman [Alabama] Times carries the story today of the Army gunner who literally lost it when he came upon a peaceful protest of the Iraq war. Organized by a group of Sisters from the Sacred Heart Monastery in Cullman (who have been meeting at the shopping center without incident every first and third Saturday of every month since this past fall), the group is committed to peaceful protest of the Iraq War.
They are also the same group known locally as the 'No Nuke Nuns' -- a moniker given the Sisters due to their public protest of "armaments and other lethal ordnance shipments through Cullman by rail."
They hold signs with such slogans as "Make Bread, Not Bombs," "Peace Is Pro-Life," "Wage Peace," "Support Our Troops, Bring Them Home," and "War Is Not The Answer."
"Ours is a life of prayer and service. It's our prayer that we find a way to live on Earth together in peace instead of killing each other," Sister McGehee said.
They were peacefully protesting this past weekend when Johnny Wood and his wife arrived.
"We drove into the shopping center. We intended to go into Office Max and make some copies when we saw the protesters and that really upset Johnny," Lori Wood said. "He said, 'Do they not realize what I went through?' He said he wanted to tell them what they are doing to a soldier and he walked over to one of the women and grabbed her sign and tore it up.
The Sisters, many of whom have been members of Benedictines for Peace for 25 years, have no desire to press charges saying he "was clearly suffering inside as a result of his experiences in Iraq."
"When I first saw him, he walked straight and hard to Debbie (Williams), grabbed her sign and ripped it apart. He screamed something like, "Why are you doing this? Who are you? or something to that effect," Sister McGehee said. "He told us he had been in Iraq and that 35 of his friends had died there. Here is a man who faced the ultimate and the amount of suffering he has inside and the amount of suffering being experienced by those in Iraq is unimaginable to me."
The soldier, during his 17 months of combat duty, endured a lot. His wife, his son, his extended family endured a lot while he was in combat during that time. However wrong his reaction may have been that day, this soldier clearly deserves our empathy and respect for his service to our country.
A gunner and sniper, Lori Wood said her husband cheated death on at least seven occasions during his deployment to Iraq between October 2003 and March 20, 2005.
"We moved here from Arkansas last June to start new lives and put the past behind us and then we pull into the shopping center and see people protesting against a war that my husband lost close friends in," Lori Wood said, pausing a moment to wipe the tears from her eyes. "I wonder if those people have any idea what it's like for a wife to come home every day and expect to see a government vehicle parked in the driveway and military representatives standing at the door to tell you your husband is dead."
"My husband is not a violent man. He burst into tears when he saw those people protesting. He looked at me and said it was like they're spitting on me and everyone who has served this country," Lori Wood said.
So much anger and hurt flowing towards the Sisters who only want peace in the world. Towards the people who would not have -- and did not -- send them to war or cause them to endure the stress and worry for their loved one so far away in a combat zone. Sad, tragic tale in every way.
And sadly, another to be added to the 55 incidents in the PTSD Timeline at ePluribus Media.