American whose son was killed in Iraq on April 4, 2004 and who subsequently led a protest movement against the Iraq war.
Sheehan, a wholesome-looking mom, and her husband Patrick were grief-stricken when their son Casey was killed in Sadr City, Iraq. A few months after their son’s death, they and other grieving families met with President George W. Bush. At the time, she reported that, while the President seemed sincere in his stated goal of wanting freedom and democracy for Iraqis, she had become tired of the President’s changing his reasons for conducting the war and occupation.
In January 2005, the Sheehans and eight other families began Gold Star Families for Peace. The families attended and led peace conferences. In her grief, Sheehan began to express frustration that the President had not adequately explained to her or the nation his reasons for the war and the deaths of her son and nearly 2,000 other US soldiers. On August 6, 2005, to coincide with the President’s vacation on his ranch in Crawford, TX, Sheehan established a camp near the ranch. “I want to ask the president, why did he kill my son?” Sheehan told reporters. “He said my son died in a noble cause, and I want to ask him what that noble cause is.” She stayed for several weeks, joined by other families, fellow protestors, reporters, media personalities, entertainment figures, and politicians. Interest in her message grew, and other activist groups lent support and financing. One of the area denizens invited her camp to move onto his land, closer to Bush’s property than the original site of the protest. Detractors were critical of her and of her mission, with some accusing her of aiding and abetting the enemy and contributing to Iraq’s insurgency. Protestors with differing views of the war’s purpose and effectiveness countered her movement with “You don’t speak for me, Cindy.”
After decamping from Crawford at the end of August, Sheehan and her fellow protestors vowed to take their peace movement to Congress and to keep it alive if necessary by returning to Crawford each August during the President’s summer vacation. She and others began a tour around the country, lecturing and meeting with others, gathering support for ending the war in Iraq. Her demonstration ended at the White House where she and 350 other protestors were taken into custody after they repeatedly refused to move from a sidewalk, according to police.
Sheehan’s husband filed for divorce on August 12, 2005. Although Sheehan has tried to keep her personal life out of the spotlight, she has acknowledged that she and her husband are grieving differently for their eldest son. In addition to Casey, the couple has three other children.
The activist was arrested and convicted of trespassing on December 11, 2006 in New York City after she tried, with three other women, to deliver an anti-Iraq war petition to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.
On Memorial Day at the end of May 2007, Sheehan announced that she was leaving the peace movement to return home and spend more time with her family. Claiming physical and financial exhaustion, Sheehan expressed disappointment in the Democratic Party’s actions on the Iraq War since their winning a majority position in Congress the previous year. She told the Associated Press: “I’ve been wondering why I’m killing myself and wondering why the Democrats caved in to George Bush.”
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