csua.org/u/d3l -> www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/08/20/state/n155157D81.DTL
Email This Article (08-20) 15:51 PDT Crawford, Texas (AP) -- A patriotic camp with a "God Bless Our President!" banner sprung up downt own Saturday, countering the anti-war demonstration started by a fallen soldier's mother two weeks ago near President Bush's ranch. The camp is named "Fort Qualls" in memory of Marine Lance Cpl. Louis Wayn e Qualls, 20, killed in Fallujah, Iraq, last fall. His father, Gary Qual ls of Temple, said his 16-year-old son also wants to enlist, and he supp orts that decision. "If I have to sacrifice my whole family for the sake of our country and w orld, other countries that want freedom, I'll do that," said Qualls, a f riend of the local business owner who started the pro-Bush camp, Bill Jo hnson. It has grown to about 100 core participa nts, and hundreds more from across the nation have visited, many staying a few days. Sheehan remained Saturday in Los Angeles, where she flew Thursday after h er 74-year-old mother had a stroke. Her mother has some paralysis on her right side but is in good spirits, and if she improves Sheehan may retu rn to Texas in a few days, some demonstrators said. In her absence, the rest of the group will keep camping out for the unlik ely chance to question the president about the war that has claimed the lives of about 1,850 US soldiers. Casey Sheehan, died last year just five days after arriving in Iraq. Sheehan had refused to leave until Bush talked to her or until the end of his monthlong vacation, scheduled for Sept. She an d other families met with Bush about two months after Casey died, before she became a vocal opponent of the war. Large counter-protests were held in a ditch near Sheehan's site a week af ter she arrived, and since then a few Bush supporters have stood in the sun holding signs for several hours each day. But Johnson, who owns the town's biggest gift and souvenir store Yellow R ose, said he created "Fort Qualls" as a larger, more convenient place fo r Bush supporters. The tent and a trailer on a vacant lot beside his sto re will be staffed each day, but people will probably not sleep there. "A lot of people saw a problem (with the war protest) and said there need s to be relief," Johnson said Saturday afternoon, as patriotic music pla yed at the tent containing a life-size cardboard cutout of Bush. Qualls gained attention last week when he went to Sheehan's camp, which h as hundreds of crosses as a tribute to troops killed, and removed one be aring his son's name. he has y anked two more crosses, saying the protesters' views are disrespectful t o soldiers. Johnson and others at "Fort Qualls" have asked for a debate with those at the Crawford Peace House, which is helping Sheehan. But a member of Gold Star Families for Peace, co-founded by Sheehan and comprised of relatives of fallen soldie rs, said her group would not participate. "We're asking for a meeting with the president, period," said Michelle De Ford, whose 37-year-old son, Sgt. David W Johnson, was in the Army Nati onal Guard from Oregon when he was killed in Iraq last fall. "We don't w ant to debate with people who don't understand our point of view."
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