Lincoln peace rally among many across the nation
Terry Ricketts is sort of a black sheep.
The wounded Iraq veteran comes from a family of Republicans who support the way the Bush administration has dealt with the war.
Ricketts’ feelings about the war are taboo among friends and relatives, and were less than popular among the men he fought with in Iraq. The Nebraska National Guardsman went anyway, he said, because it was his duty.
On Saturday, he stood out in a crowd of anti-war protesters gathered at Centennial Mall North to mark Tuesday’s fourth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Surrounded by people playing bongo drums, cow bells and acoustic guitars, Ricketts stated his own musical tastes: metal, gothic, Pantera.
His physical appearance set him apart, as well, with a shaved head and goatee, and baggy pants and a dark gray hooded sweatshirt covering gothic-style tattoos.
And, as a self-proclaimed “independent – leaning more towards Republican,” he crossed political boundaries, as well, with the crowd of 350 mostly liberal peace protestors.
It was what they had in common that held them together.
“No matter what your overall stance ... you can support the troops without supporting the war,” he said, addressing his cheering audience. “George Bush’s proposal, to me, is like trying to smother a fire with a bundle of wood.”
Mixed in with the activist crowd were some political moderates who, until recently, remained virtually silent regarding the war.
Now that former political inactivists have become spoken critics, protest organizers found the need to stress acceptance of varying perspectives.
For rally emcee Jake Hoy-Elswick, the question for the crowd on Saturday was: “Why are you against the war, and why am I against the war, and how can we bring that together?”
Susan Emanuel, the mother of another Nebraska National Guardsman who served in Iraq, told the crowd of Lincoln protesters the war issue crossed party lines.
“Our own Senator (Chuck) Hagel, a Republican, says it is wrong to put American troops in the middle of a tribal sectarian civil war for which there is no U.S. military solution,” she said.
Her speech was one of many in a lineup that included two addresses by Ricketts, who was shot through the thigh when his unit was ambushed by Iraqi insurgents in 2005.
“At the same time,” he told the crowd during his rally-opening speech, “back here in the States, my mom was in the hospital with cancer.”
Ricketts’ father had to tell his mom about the ambush, and about their son’s injury, while she was struggling with chemotherapy. It was depressing news, but Ricketts looked on the bright side: “She said it ended up giving her strength in the end.”
Her health returned months after her son came home from Iraq.
After the speeches, the rally, sponsored by the Nebraska Coalition for Peace, funneled into a march through several blocks of downtown Lincoln. Protesters walked along the sidewalks while leaders with signs and musical instruments paced up and down at a quicker pace.
Ricketts kept pace with the crowd, but carried no sign and didn’t yell a word. Among hundreds of like-minded individuals, he had said his piece – twice, in two speeches.
The first one was planned, the second was not. He just had some things he still needed to get off his chest.
When walking in the march, he said he was trying his hardest not to go off on one of his rants again.
“They think I have a lot of anger and I do,” he said. “I had to argue and fight ... to get back home. ... They were going to keep me at Fort Riley (in Kansas) and not let me go home to see my family.
“The (military personnel in Iraq) generally got treated like crap anyway. ... I’m not out (of the National Guard) on paper, but I’ll never deploy again. ... I don’t see any reason to be over there, and I never have.”
Reach Zach Pluhacek at 473-7120 or zpluhacek@journalstar.com
The wounded Iraq veteran comes from a family of Republicans who support the way the Bush administration has dealt with the war.
Ricketts’ feelings about the war are taboo among friends and relatives, and were less than popular among the men he fought with in Iraq. The Nebraska National Guardsman went anyway, he said, because it was his duty.
On Saturday, he stood out in a crowd of anti-war protesters gathered at Centennial Mall North to mark Tuesday’s fourth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Surrounded by people playing bongo drums, cow bells and acoustic guitars, Ricketts stated his own musical tastes: metal, gothic, Pantera.
His physical appearance set him apart, as well, with a shaved head and goatee, and baggy pants and a dark gray hooded sweatshirt covering gothic-style tattoos.
And, as a self-proclaimed “independent – leaning more towards Republican,” he crossed political boundaries, as well, with the crowd of 350 mostly liberal peace protestors.
It was what they had in common that held them together.
“No matter what your overall stance ... you can support the troops without supporting the war,” he said, addressing his cheering audience. “George Bush’s proposal, to me, is like trying to smother a fire with a bundle of wood.”
Mixed in with the activist crowd were some political moderates who, until recently, remained virtually silent regarding the war.
Now that former political inactivists have become spoken critics, protest organizers found the need to stress acceptance of varying perspectives.
For rally emcee Jake Hoy-Elswick, the question for the crowd on Saturday was: “Why are you against the war, and why am I against the war, and how can we bring that together?”
Susan Emanuel, the mother of another Nebraska National Guardsman who served in Iraq, told the crowd of Lincoln protesters the war issue crossed party lines.
“Our own Senator (Chuck) Hagel, a Republican, says it is wrong to put American troops in the middle of a tribal sectarian civil war for which there is no U.S. military solution,” she said.
Her speech was one of many in a lineup that included two addresses by Ricketts, who was shot through the thigh when his unit was ambushed by Iraqi insurgents in 2005.
“At the same time,” he told the crowd during his rally-opening speech, “back here in the States, my mom was in the hospital with cancer.”
Ricketts’ father had to tell his mom about the ambush, and about their son’s injury, while she was struggling with chemotherapy. It was depressing news, but Ricketts looked on the bright side: “She said it ended up giving her strength in the end.”
Her health returned months after her son came home from Iraq.
After the speeches, the rally, sponsored by the Nebraska Coalition for Peace, funneled into a march through several blocks of downtown Lincoln. Protesters walked along the sidewalks while leaders with signs and musical instruments paced up and down at a quicker pace.
Ricketts kept pace with the crowd, but carried no sign and didn’t yell a word. Among hundreds of like-minded individuals, he had said his piece – twice, in two speeches.
The first one was planned, the second was not. He just had some things he still needed to get off his chest.
When walking in the march, he said he was trying his hardest not to go off on one of his rants again.
“They think I have a lot of anger and I do,” he said. “I had to argue and fight ... to get back home. ... They were going to keep me at Fort Riley (in Kansas) and not let me go home to see my family.
“The (military personnel in Iraq) generally got treated like crap anyway. ... I’m not out (of the National Guard) on paper, but I’ll never deploy again. ... I don’t see any reason to be over there, and I never have.”
Reach Zach Pluhacek at 473-7120 or zpluhacek@journalstar.com
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