March 31st and April 4th are two very special five-year anniversaries. No, they probably aren't delineated by any special ceremonies for the masses, although they should be because each date marked both personal and national milestones.
March 31st 2004: Jerry Zovco was in Iraq working for a defense contracting firm, the defense contracting firm, Blackwater. April 4 Casey Sheehan was performing his duties as an Army Specialist. Their lives were linked by an incident in Fallujiah that would end their lives and change their mother's and family's lives forever.
Donna Zovco remembers the day her Jerry died.
"I was listening the 12 o'clock news and heard what happened. I wanted to email my Jerry and tell him that they were doing in Fallujiah the same thing that they did in Somalia, going after Americans, and to be careful. I wanted him to be careful on April Fool's day to be sure nobody played any dangerous tricks on him.
"The Disney movie 'Brother Bear' came out that day on DVD, March 31st, 2004, and I was determined to go get it and spend some time with my grandchildren from one of my other sons. It wasn't until 2:30 that day that I found out that my Jerry had been involved."
Involved. Her son Jerry was on an odd mission to move kitchen equipment from one location to another in Iraq. He and his three highly trained special ops or Navy Seal friends had no idea it would be their last.
No one is sure of the minutia, but we all know the outcome. On that day, a mob inside Fallujiah attacked Jerry's vehicle, not just killing each of the four, but brutally shooting, stabbing, dragging, burning, dismembering and then hanging two from a bridge to be beaten by passer's by like grotesque piñatas.
"I'm told my Jerry was one of the ones hanging from that terrible bridge," she recalled.
That incident enraged Americans and prompted an escalation and incursion in to Fallujiah. Casey Sheehan's got to Iraq on March 19, 2004, just weeks before the incident. On April 4th, he volunteered to be part of a quick response team to rescue American soldiers, a mission that would be his last...a mission that was a direct result of the increased violence since the March 31st event that killed Zovco and the others.
"On April 4th, 2004, I went to the ground screaming my son's name, and came up a changed woman," Cindy Sheehan reflected. "Everything I knew, everything I believed in, every value I had changed that day in an instant, and since there's not an aspect or relationship in my life that hasn't changed or been redefined or eliminated," she added.
Like Zovco, Sheehan wanted answers and accountability. Her battle led her to Crawford Texas, and a stand that became a movement, another incident that changed the war. Two mothers, two children, two deaths, one question: why?
Sheehan never got hers answered by George W. Bush. She never got her meeting. Would she take it now?
"Geez, I don't know, now?" she wondered out loud. "I despise his actions and policies and what he has done so much, what would I say now? In my mind, he's a murderer, a war criminal...what do you say to those people?
"Six years ago I was a mom from Vacaville visiting Casey in Fort Hood, TX, because he was going to be deployed to Iraq. That took a year, but he finally went. That woman that went to Ft. Hood, she's changed, forever the following year with the death of one of her children. "
But she still wants accountability, as does Zovco.
Zovco and the other families of the men that were on that job for Blackwater that day are suing Blackwater. None wanted to.
"Blackwater brought us all out there, for, what we thought would be some answers, and explanation about it all," Donna Zovco commented. "We needed some answers. Everything was so secretive. We weren't allowed to mingle with the other families that had lost people. And when I finally demanded some answers, I was taken to a room and told, to my face, if you want that information, you're going to have to sue us. So, I did."
Zovco was also told the CEO of the renamed Blackwater (It's now Xe), a man that has his own private army, arsenal and military connections Erik Prince would meet with her. That hasn't happened, his office citing "scheduling conflicts."
"I have made myself available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at any location in this country to that man," Zovco states. "They've never tried to schedule anything."
Her case stems around the fact that Blackwater made promises to these men, that they would have maps, GPS, sufficient armor, backup, everything they could need to do their jobs safely. They had little to none of that. In fact, they were attacked partly because they were lost. They were not supposed to even be in the middle of Fallujiah.
"Blackwater sent my Jerry and his friends in to a horrible situation unprepared. He died working for them, without the tools they promised. Each of these men had extensive military training. If they would have had the proper tools, this would not have happened. I blame Erik Prince and Blackwater."
And she holds no malice towards the Iraqis.
"It was Al Queada and their supporters that did this, not the rank in file Iraqis. Those people did not want to kill my Jerry or Americans, but Al Queada and their supporters did. Blackwater should have known where they were sending them."
And while Zovko seeks accountability from Blackwater and Xe, Sheehan still believes we cannot progress as a nation fully until we hold everyone accountable in our government.
"It's not just George W. Bush, or Dick Cheney," Sheehan goes on. "Democrats and Republicans alike sat by and did nothing. Nancy Pelosi did not impeach, and should have called for it. She funded the war like everyone else. The world notices. As Spain moves to indict Bush administration officials for torture, and I believe it's the same judge that led the prosecution of Pinochét, so I'm encouraged. Pelosi failed America when she took impeachment off the table, Bush is responsible, directly, for the death of Americans. One District Attorney from one city that lost a resident in Iraq needs to move forward with murder charges against him. Others, including Vincent Bugliosi, are waiting. As am I, and as is the world from the look and sound of things."
And Sheehan is equally concerned for other's children.
"Afghanistan is a no win situation, it's an Empire killer historically and Barack Obama has to know that. We need to find a nonmilitary solution and bring our troops home. Multinational forces, peace keepers, but not active military troops on the ground to engage. It doesn't work in that region. Russia sent 500,000 troops and lost, how many are we willing to commit and for how long?"
Jerry Zovco and Casey Sheehan changed the course of the war, by changing public opinions, but more importantly, by changing their mothers in to accountability crusaders. After five years Sheehan has become an electric force in the American accountability movement and Zovco's crusade against Blackwater is a classic case of David vs. Goliath.
Five years and one month ago Cindy Sheehan and Donna Zovco were proud parents of two sons off to war, off the support their country, off to make a difference in people's lives. Five years later, they are making differences in the very fabric of the nation, in the fight to make sure that no death of a soldier goes unaccounted for, that no American life is dispensable.
The gift for a five year wedding anniversary is wood. It's obvious if either were given wood they'd use it as kindling to keep the fires of accountability burning.
Jerry Zovco and his friends apparently died because Erik Prince's company placed profit over safety and the government had contractors performing the job of soldiers. Casey Sheehan died because George W. Bush launched an illegal occupation of a sovereign nation that put Americans in harm's way and somebody had to go get them.
They died and their mothers became crusaders. It's time America helped them both out and started screaming for the same accountability that each of them has tirelessly fought for when they each could have retreated in to grief.Accountability is the Only Anniversary Present Zovko and Sheehan Need
By Charles Karel Bouley
March 31st and April 4th are two very special five-year anniversaries. No, they probably aren't delineated by any special ceremonies for the masses, although they should be because each date marked both personal and national milestones.
March 31st 2004 Jerry Zovko was in Iraq working for a defense contracting firm, THE defense contracting firm, Blackwater. April 4 Casey Sheehan was performing his duties as an Army Specialist. Their lives were linked by an incident in Fallujiah that would end their lives and change their mother's and family's lives forever.
Donna Zovko remembers the day her Jerry died.
"I was listening the 12 o'clock news and heard what happened. I wanted to email my Jerry and tell him that they were doing in Fallujiah the same thing that they did in Somalia, going after Americans, and to be careful. I wanted him to be careful on April Fool's day to be sure nobody played any dangerous tricks on him.
"The Disney movie 'Brother Bear' came out that day on DVD, March 31st, 2004, and I was determined to go get it and spend some time with my grandchildren from one of my other sons. It wasn't until 2:30 that day that I found out that my Jerry had been involved."
Involved. Her son Jerry was on an odd mission to move kitchen equipment from one location to another in Iraq. He and his three highly trained special ops or Navy Seal friends had no idea it would be their last.
No one is sure of the minutia, but we all know the outcome. On that day, a mob inside Fallujiah attacked Jerry's vehicle, not just killing each of the four, but brutally shooting, stabbing, dragging, burning, dismembering and then hanging two from a bridge to be beaten by passer's by like grotesque piñatas.
"I'm told my Jerry was one of the ones hanging from that terrible bridge," she recalled.
That incident enraged Americans and prompted an escalation and incursion in to Fallujiah. Casey Sheehan's got to Iraq on March 19, 2004, just weeks before the incident. On April 4th, he volunteered to be part of a quick response team to rescue American soldiers, a mission that would be his last...a mission that was a direct result of the increased violence since the March 31st event that killed Zovko and the others.
"On April 4th, 2004, I went to the ground screaming my son's name, and came up a changed woman," Cindy Sheehan reflected. "Everything I knew, everything I believed in, every value I had changed that day in an instant, and since there's not an aspect or relationship in my life that hasn't changed or been redefined or eliminated," she added.
Like Zovko, Sheehan wanted answers and accountability. Her battle led her to Crawford Texas, and a stand that became a movement, another incident that changed the war. Two mothers, two children, two deaths, one question: why?
Sheehan never got hers answered by George W. Bush. She never got her meeting. Would she take it now?
"Geez, I don't know, now?" she wondered out loud. "I despise his actions and policies and what he has done so much, what would I say now? In my mind, he's a murderer, a war criminal...what do you say to those people?
"Six years ago I was a mom from Vacaville visiting Casey in Fort Hood, TX, because he was going to be deployed to Iraq. That took a year, but he finally went. That woman that went to Ft. Hood, she's changed, forever the following year with the death of one of her children. "
But she still wants accountability, as does Zovko.
Zovko and the other families of the men that were on that job for Blackwater that day are suing Blackwater. None wanted to.
"Blackwater brought us all out there, for, what we thought would be some answers, and explanation about it all," Donna Zovko commented. "We needed some answers. Everything was so secretive. We weren't allowed to mingle with the other families that had lost people. And when I finally demanded some answers, I was taken to a room and told, to my face, if you want that information, you're going to have to sue us. So, I did."
Zovko was also told the CEO of the renamed Blackwater (It's now Xe), a man that has his own private army, arsenal and military connections Erik Prince would meet with her. That hasn't happened, his office citing "scheduling conflicts."
"I have made myself available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at any location in this country to that man," Zovko states. "They've never tried to schedule anything."
Her case stems around the fact that Blackwater made promises to these men, that they would have maps, GPS, sufficient armor, backup, everything they could need to do their jobs safely. They had little to none of that. In fact, they were attacked partly because they were lost. They were not supposed to even be in the middle of Fallujiah.
"Blackwater sent my Jerry and his friends in to a horrible situation unprepared. He died working for them, without the tools they promised. Each of these men had extensive military training. If they would have had the proper tools, this would not have happened. I blame Erik Prince and Blackwater."
And she holds no malice towards the Iraqis.
"It was Al Queada and their supporters that did this, not the rank in file Iraqis. Those people did not want to kill my Jerry or Americans, but Al Queada and their supporters did. Blackwater should have known where they were sending them."
And while Zovko seeks accountability from Blackwater and Xe, Sheehan still believes we cannot progress as a nation fully until we hold everyone accountable in our government.
"It's not just George W. Bush, or Dick Cheney," Sheehan goes on. "Democrats and Republicans alike sat by and did nothing. Nancy Pelosi did not impeach, and should have called for it. She funded the war like everyone else. The world notices. As Spain moves to indict Bush administration officials for torture, and I believe it's the same judge that led the prosecution of Pinochét, so I'm encouraged. Pelosi failed America when she took impeachment off the table, Bush is responsible, directly, for the death of Americans. One District Attorney from one city that lost a resident in Iraq needs to move forward with murder charges against him. Others, including Vincent Bugliosi, are waiting. As am I, and as is the world from the look and sound of things."
And Sheehan is equally concerned for other's children.
"Afghanistan is a no win situation, it's an Empire killer historically and Barack Obama has to know that. We need to find a nonmilitary solution and bring our troops home. Multinational forces, peace keepers, but not active military troops on the ground to engage. It doesn't work in that region. Russia sent 500,000 troops and lost, how many are we willing to commit and for how long?"
Jerry Zovko and Casey Sheehan changed the course of the war, by changing public opinions, but more importantly, by changing their mothers into accountability crusaders. After five years Sheehan has become an electric force in the American accountability movement and Zovko's crusade against Blackwater is a classic case of David vs. Goliath.
Five years and one month ago Cindy Sheehan and Donna Zovko were proud parents of two sons off to war, off the support their country, off to make a difference in people's lives. Five years later, they are making differences in the very fabric of the nation, in the fight to make sure that no death of a soldier goes unaccounted for, that no American life is dispensable.
The gift for a five year wedding anniversary is wood. It's obvious if either were given wood they'd use it as kindling to keep the fires of accountability burning.
Jerry Zovko and his friends apparently died because Erik Prince's company placed profit over safety and the government had contractors performing the job of soldiers. Casey Sheehan died because George W. Bush launched an illegal occupation of a sovereign nation that put Americans in harm's way and somebody had to go get them.
They died and their mothers became crusaders. It's time America helped them both out and started screaming for the same accountability that each of them has tirelessly fought for when they each could have retreated in to grief.
To hear the audio of the interviews please go to the podcast.