Hood River came out to support the family of a war hero and to make sure the hate group stayed in line.
(HOOD RIVER) - Hood River may not always be the quietest place in Oregon. It is a popular recreational area with plenty of boats on the water, and it is the place where Navy SEAL Marc Lee grew up. It’s also the place where Marc's Memorial was held Saturday, following his recent death in Iraq.
But a different kind of noise was in the air, it’s the last noise these people who came to say goodbye to a hero, wanted to hear.
A hate group from Kansas that disrupts military funerals drug American flags on the ground, carried anti-American and anti-gay signs, and did their best to harass people. None of the veteran’s whose funerals they picket were selected because they were gay.
Margie Phelps is the ringleader of the hate group from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas.
People say there isn’t much they don’t hate, but they focus on being anti-gay. They claim that American military personnel are only dying in the wars overseas because America condones homosexuality.
Yes, the same nation that soundly defeated a recent gay marriage proposal.
The morning started peacefully, and at first it looked like the Westboro Baptist Church from Topeka, Kansas might be a no show. That’s what happened the last time they threatened to attend a funeral in Oregon, when Madras, Oregon laid Pf. Thomas Tucker, an Army Airborne Ranger, to rest.
But this event was prepared for the possible arrival of the dreaded right wing protestors from Kansas did arrive, a motorcycle group called the Patriot Guard showed up
Margie Phelps pelts vets with insults and desecrates flagsAlong with other motorcycle groups and clubs, they have been making it to all of the northwest military funerals. For a while it looked like the show of force would center on supporting the family of Mark Lee, the reason everybody was there. They come from all backgrounds, most are veterans, and they are serious about supporting the families of those who have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They had their work cut out for them, and they had help from the locals. Then the alarm was sounded for uninvited guests.
MJ Kesterson is the mom of Blackhawk helicopter pilot Erik Kesterson who was killed in Mosul, Iraq in 2003. She said it was outrageous that anyone would fail to see the sacrifice her son and Marc Lee had made, “They wore those uniforms with pride. I’m extremely proud of my son for serving his country.”
And there, waiting to yell her beliefs in the face of everyone was Margie Phelps. As she began singing a mockery of the Navy song, veterans raised the noise level on her.
It was something about RPG’s and IOD’s and “die, die die die” sung to Anchors Away. The veterans surrounded the woman ahd held their flags high as they grimaced over the sounds she produced, as offensive and indecent as anything a person could imagine.
It sounded like two groups and first and plenty of people, but only about five members of the Westboro Church showed up. The word is that the group is running low on money, they’re traveling less
Scowling and yelling insults at the veterans, the Westboro Baptist Church members from Kansas showed their colors and many people said the outward hatred they profess seems contrary to anything like Christianity.
Confrontational right down to the last word, Margie Phelps hurled more insults than a bully on an elementary school playground. Any chance of making a sound point was lost as the irrational blabber droned on.
As Phelps continued pelting the veterans with insults, she also made a victim of an active duty Army soldier in uniform, “Hey, there’s an Army soldier, rape anybody lately?”
My longer than average hair earned the title of “ma’am” when she spoke to me. She called the veterans crybabies and said it was America’s fault that God was killing the servicemen. The video has much of her dialogue and that amounts to a collection of the most whacked out fundamentalist religious values that I’ve ever heard anyone try to lay down.
A plan was in place to drown the hate protestors out as the family and official party arrived. Motors revved and even the bagpiper came through to drown out the words of this Midwest hate group.
The family arrived and saw little to nothing of Phelps and her band of women with hate signs. They went on to bury Marc Lee without interruption from the unwanted group that was allowed to protest at a distance from where the actual service was held. For many, the protestors are simply baffling.
Phelps and her followers come in the wake of the Westboro Church reverend Fred Phelps. Word is he won’t go out in public because it’s too dangerous, imagine that?
While they say they like to be in the news, they only show their harsh hateful side and it seems important to expose this small, extreme right wing fundamental religious extremist group for what it is, anything but religious.
The harsh noise of this hate group was drowned out by music from a bagpipe intended to honor the dead, and their efforts accomplished nothing in the way of diminishing the purpose of the day.
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This story was originally published on Salem-News.com August 27th, 2006 at 10:49 AM
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With almost 25 years of experience on the west coast and worldwide as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor, Tim King is Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. His background includes covering the war in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007, and reporting from the Iraq war in 2008. Tim is a former U.S. Marine who follows stories of Marines and Marine Veterans; he's covered British Royal Marines and in Iraq, Tim embedded with the same unit he served with in the 1980's.
Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing from traditional mainstream news agencies like The Associated Press and Electronic Media Association; he also holds awards from the National Coalition of Motorcyclists, the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs; and was presented with a 'Good Neighbor Award' for his reporting, by the The Red Cross.
Tim King reporting from the war in Iraq
Tim's years as a Human Rights reporter have taken on many dimensions; he has rallied for a long list of cultures and populations and continues to every day, with a strong and direct concentration on the 2009 Genocide of Tamil Hindus and Christians in Sri Lanka. As a result of his long list of reports exposing war crimes against Tamil people, Tim was invited to be the keynote speaker at the FeTNA (Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America) Conference in Baltimore, in July 2012. This is the largest annual gathering of North American Tamils; Tim addressed more than 3000 people and was presented with a traditional Sri Lanka ‘blessed garland’ and a shawl as per the tradition and custom of Tamil Nadu
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