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Residents commemorate dead in Iraq
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| Kyle Haines, far left, Mary Been, Bob Lander and Victoria Tenbrink stand on the steps of the Klamath County Courthouse Wednesday night to commemorate the 2,000 American soldiers killed in Iraq. |
Published Thursday Ocober 27, 2005
By DYLAN DARLING
With candles of remembrance and signs of protest, a small group of people gathered Wednesday evening on the steps of the Klamath County Courthouse to mark the deaths of 2,000 American soldiers in Iraq.
“I'm tired of it,” said Sam Landsiedel of Klamath Falls. “It's time to come home.”
One of the soldiers he wants home is his son, who is on his second tour on an U.S. aircraft. Landsiedel is a veteran himself, having served three tours in Vietnam War.
On Tuesday the death toll of U.S. soldiers reached 2,000. Wednesday it was upped by one, after the military announced that a soldier had died in an accident the night before.
Sixteen people, many members of the Klamath Basin Peace Forum, gathered at about 7 p.m. for a half-hour ceremony. They talked about their thoughts on the war and their hopes for U.S. government. Then they read some of the 2,000 names on the Iraq casualty list.
Two of the 2,000 had grown up in Klamath Falls. Both were Marines. Lance Cpl. Gary Van Leuven died April 17, 2004, during combat in Iraq near the Syrian border. Lance Cpl. Bryan Kelly was killed in action July 16, 2004, by a roadside bomb in Iraq's Al Anbar Province
The event was one of 1,354 candlelight memorials across the country Wednesday night, according to MoveOn.org. MoveOn.org is a national non-profit political advocacy group started in 1998 by two Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.
Many at the vigil said the war in Iraq is beginning to parallel the war in Vietnam.
“I'm old enough to remember a big debacle in the 1960s where we were told to ‘Stay the course,' ” said Victoria Tenbrink of Klamath Falls.
She says America's leaders give the same reasons to stay in Iraq that they did to stay in Vietnam.
Others talked about how the government should be spending money to mend problems at home, including recovery from hurricanes in the Gulf Coast, rather than on trying to build a government in a faraway land.
“We are not taking care of Americans,” said David Hedelman. “Enough is enough.”
By DYLAN DARLING
With candles of remembrance and signs of protest, a small group of people gathered Wednesday evening on the steps of the Klamath County Courthouse to mark the deaths of 2,000 American soldiers in Iraq.
“I'm tired of it,” said Sam Landsiedel of Klamath Falls. “It's time to come home.”
One of the soldiers he wants home is his son, who is on his second tour on an U.S. aircraft. Landsiedel is a veteran himself, having served three tours in Vietnam War.
On Tuesday the death toll of U.S. soldiers reached 2,000. Wednesday it was upped by one, after the military announced that a soldier had died in an accident the night before.
Sixteen people, many members of the Klamath Basin Peace Forum, gathered at about 7 p.m. for a half-hour ceremony. They talked about their thoughts on the war and their hopes for U.S. government. Then they read some of the 2,000 names on the Iraq casualty list.
Two of the 2,000 had grown up in Klamath Falls. Both were Marines. Lance Cpl. Gary Van Leuven died April 17, 2004, during combat in Iraq near the Syrian border. Lance Cpl. Bryan Kelly was killed in action July 16, 2004, by a roadside bomb in Iraq's Al Anbar Province
The event was one of 1,354 candlelight memorials across the country Wednesday night, according to MoveOn.org. MoveOn.org is a national non-profit political advocacy group started in 1998 by two Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.
Many at the vigil said the war in Iraq is beginning to parallel the war in Vietnam.
“I'm old enough to remember a big debacle in the 1960s where we were told to ‘Stay the course,' ” said Victoria Tenbrink of Klamath Falls.
She says America's leaders give the same reasons to stay in Iraq that they did to stay in Vietnam.
Others talked about how the government should be spending money to mend problems at home, including recovery from hurricanes in the Gulf Coast, rather than on trying to build a government in a faraway land.
“We are not taking care of Americans,” said David Hedelman. “Enough is enough.”
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Kaylah wrote on Dec 19, 2007 3:21 PM:
" this was my grandmother, i am one of her many grandchildren and boy oh boy do i miss her. i was looking back throught the herald and news and i am suprised i found this article. it nice to save the news papers every year for some people to pull memories off the web. thank you "
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Sarah Ritch wrote on Jun 18, 2008 10:47 AM:
She made my ribbon dresses and helped to teach me how to fancy dance.
-Sarah Ritch(Garcia) "