‘Peace Mom’ to protest Maine air show

Peace groups planning to protest a Blue Angels air show next month at the Brunswick Naval Air Station have enlisted a woman whose own demonstrations outside President Bush’s Texas ranch have galvanized many against the war in Iraq.

Cindy Sheehan of Vacaville, Calif., will be the featured guest at a protest on Saturday, Sept. 10, in Brunswick. Her son, Casey Sheehan, is one of more than 1,800 U.S. soldiers who have died in Iraq since March 2003.

“She’s definitely coming. She’s already bought her [plane] ticket,” Bruce Gagnon of Maine Veterans for Peace said Monday.

Sheehan has earned the nickname “Peace Mom” after staging a monthlong demonstration outside Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, where the president was vacationing for most of August. She has said she will end her protest on Wednesday, and even though she hasn’t achieved her goal of meeting with the president, Sheehan’s resolve has roused considerable interest across the nation.

“She has a lot of guts, and she’s willing to stand up to Bush in a big way,” Gagnon said of Sheehan.

The Maine Veterans for Peace has been planning the event for months in collaboration with several other peace groups across the state. Gagnon said he expects a turnout of several hundred and said Sheehan’s appearance likely will multiply those numbers.

The air show itself is expected to draw as many as 100,000, according to BNAS Director of Public Affairs John James.

It is the first time the Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy’s elite team who fly F/A18 Hornets in synchronized formations, have been in Brunswick since 1999, and it could be the last time now that BNAS has been slated for closure by the Base Realignment and Closure commission.

“This is the largest single event in the state,” James said Monday. “It is an opportunity for the military to demonstrate its missions and capabilities to taxpayers of America and to entertain families and individuals.”

As for the protest, James said he isn’t concerned that it will interfere with the show.

“We respect the right of parties to protest,” he said. “They have been working with [Brunswick] police, and they seem to have covered all their bases.”

Gagnon said the Blue Angels air show is a recruiting gimmick for the Navy, which has seen enlistment numbers decline steadily. He pointed out that the air station in Brunswick has played a significant role in the Iraq war.

“We need to shine a light on BNAS’ role in Iraq … we need to talk about that,” Gagnon said. “We have to start having some debate within Congress. I think, nationally, the [Democratic] party is starting to feel a lot of pressure.”

The Sept. 10 protest will begin at 9 a.m. at the Brunswick mall on Maine Street. From there, protesters will march to BNAS, a trek expected to take about an hour. Once the protesters reach the gate, they will hold a rally during which Sheehan and others, including an Orrs Island couple whose son is now in Iraq, will speak.

“For a lot of us, it’s personal,” Gagnon said. “A lot of people try to make the impression that we don’t care about the troops, but that’s not true.”

For more information on the protest, visit the Veterans for Peace Web site at www.vfpmaine.org.

For more information on the air show, visit its Web site at www.greatstateofmaineairshow.com.