Tina B. Shannon – 4/11/07

This page was last updated on April 22, 2007.

Bring the troops home; Tina B. Shannon; Beaver County Times; April 11, 2007.

As background, since they both live at the same New Brighton address, I think it’s fair to assume Ms. Shannon and Randy Shannon are related. For background info about Mr. Shannon, please see my critique of his most recent letter.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Early Saturday morning, I was almost to Cleveland but had to turn back due to a blizzard covering I-480 that brought traffic to a standstill.

“I arrived back in New Brighton around 12:30 p.m., just in time to make it over to the Beaver County Courthouse for the weekly peace vigil.”

[RWC] Occasionally, the Beaver County Coalition for Social Justice (BCCSJ) has speakers at these so-called “peace vigils.” As noted in my background info about Randy Shannon, these are primarily rants against anything that’s not at the far left end of the economic, political, and social spectrum. I believe theses folks use the “peace” theme merely as bait to attract followers.

“Although tired and cold, I went anyway. I’m really glad I did.

“While I was holding one end of the banner that says ‘Bring the Troops Home Now,’ a car pulled over across the street. A tall young man with a buzz cut stepped out of the car and walked over to us. He said, ‘I just want to thank you all for what you are doing to support us. None of us want to be over there and I have to go back to Iraq in two weeks.’ He shook our hands and left. I had tears in my eyes.”

[RWC] Note Ms. Shannon provided nothing we could use to verify her story.

FYI, this woman who tells us she had tears in her eyes had no problem telling me on the BCCSJ forum that I think it’s OK for babies to die.

“It is our duty and responsibility to support this young man and others like him. U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire should vote to cut funding of the occupation of Iraq to force Bush to bring them home.”

[RWC] In case you don’t remember, Ms. Shannon sent another “tear jerker” just two months ago. In “Taking away the chill,” Ms. Shannon alleged, “Last Saturday was one of the most moving in those three years. Six of us were braving the 20 mph wind and 18 degrees with our ‘Bring the Troops Home Now’ banner and signs. All of a sudden, a young woman walked up with five cups of hot chocolate. She had apparently driven by the vigil, gone to a fast-food restaurant and come back. She handed them to us and said, ‘A very good friend of mine was killed in Iraq last year. I understand what you are doing.’ She smiled nervously and left with our heartfelt thanks. It didn’t seem cold at all for the rest of that hour.”

Maybe it’s just me, but these two stories read a little too “cute” to believe.

Finally, had “A tall young man with a buzz cut” told Ms. Shannon the way to support the troops was to support their mission, does anyone believe we’d have seen a letter from Ms. Shannon relating that story?

As an update, letter writer John Fray (here and here) claims Ms. Shannon’s story is true. He made this claim in a comment on the Times website. The problem is, Mr. Fray alleged he was one of the BCCSJ members participating in the “peace vigil.” Thus we have no independent verification.

Another BCCSJ member, Peter Deutsch, claims both of Ms. Shannon’s stories are true. In addition to being a BCCSJ member (meaning still no independent verification), comments Mr. Deutsch has made on local forums call his credibility into question.

For the sake of argument, let’s assume Ms. Shannon’s story is true and look at the alleged soldier’s comments.

First, the man allegedly said, “None of us want to be over there.” Duh, no joke! No one wants to be in a combat situation, but sometimes we need to do things we don’t want to. Does anyone believe anyone wanted to be in combat in the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, et cetera?

Second, we have an all-volunteer military. The war has been going on long enough that the alleged soldier either enlisted after the beginning of the war or reenlisted if he originally enlisted before the war. If the alleged soldier truly opposes the war, why does he continue to serve?

Finally, what did Ms. Shannon mean when she wrote “It is our duty and responsibility to support this young man and others like him?” Does she want to save only those men and women who oppose the mission?