Note from MN: Another belated casualty of Vietnam, collateral damage of
Iraq -- and perhaps a measure of the weakness of our movement.--MN
SEAN DALY: PEACE WARRIOR
Died January 23, 2006
On January 23, 2006, Sean Daly hung himself in a motel
room because he felt he was not worthy of the visitors
and supporters who cared about his well being after
his recent hospitalization. His ex wife told me this
was evident in notes he left behind. I wish to honor
his courageous, loving spirit. Stevens County and
Colvill would be the poorer without the gracing of his
now past presence. I strive to do him some justice,
tho i know only a fraction of his contributions.
Sean founded Veterans For Peace in Colville,
Washington, a very challenging task, to say the least.
Colville is notorious for its violent, murderous
white supremacists such as the Kehoe brothers, one of
which killed a Black Arkansas gun dealer, his wife and
child and then was involved in shootout with police.
Another bigoted character left Colville to shoot up a
Jewish community center in Los Angeles, wounding
several children. He then shot to death a Fillipino
mail man. I could go on, but this is not the
inspiration for my piece.
Sean appeared at our 3rd vigil as Women In Black in
front of the Army recruiter in Colville back in fall
of 2001 following the tragic World Trade Center and
Pentagon attacks. Another woman and I were standing
for the women, children, elders and other innocents
under assault by the U.S. in Afghanistan. Sean
vigiled for many years, even when no one else was
there.
About a year ago, Sean stopped coming to the vigils.
His wonderful monthly VFP newsletter, that informed
the locals like nothing else outside of Berkeley, no
longer was produced via his solar powered laptop. His
low powered radio show was handed over to others. He
also stopped participating in the local Farmers
Market where he sold his delicious, home made goat
cheese. He no longer socialized with anyone. He was
missed.
About a month ago, I learned he had been hospitalized
due to blood clots that he was not taking the
medication for anymore. He was immobilized cell
phoning finally for help that came via snowmobile and
sled to take him out of his mountain home. He was in
a Spokane hospital for 10 days til he walked out
before he was to be discharged. He spent 2 weeks with
in the home of another VFP friend, then returned to
his beloved mountain dwelling. It was when friends
came to visit him that he left for a motel feeling he
was not worthy of their love and concern. He was
there til he ran out of money and when his friend went
to pick him up, he was hanging in the motel room.
Sean spent 2 years in Vietnam. He had tremendous
heart for the local Vets of Nam and told me that so
many of them had horror stories to tell, but were
limited by the circumstances surrounding the horrific
incidents, not to mention the enforced, permanent
mental distress. Too many here in Stevens County
still suffer the consequences of Post Traumatic Stress
Syndrome, Agent Orange, wounds both physical and
psychological. The scope of the damage done to so
many young men back in the 60s and 70s may never be
truly known. Now Sean is one of over 100,000 Vietnam
Vets who have committed suicide.
Sean traveled to Chiapas and Oaxaca, Mexico as well as
to El Salvador and other countries under the thumb of
U.S. militarism with Veterans For Peace as a human
rights observer. He also made at least one of those
journeys with Brian Willson, one of the founders of
the national Veterans For Peace. Sean donated to my
trip to Chiapas back in l998 to meet with the Mayan
Indigenous communities impacted by the Mexican army
incursions, including the massacre of 45 women,
children and men on December 22, l996 in Acteal,
Chiapas. Sean had an inherent understanding of human
oppression that was displayed in his compassion and
immediate support for any of us involved in peace and
justice work. His newsletter gave voice to conscience
unseen anywhere else in Stevens County.
What is particularly disturbing to me is that it is
not until such a person is gone that most will notice
what a valuable asset he was to this region, and
really, to the world. I personally feel shame at the
lack of visible conscience shown by those who oppose
war mentality here in our beautiful county. I do all
I can to educate myself and others about what fate
awaits us all. THE FUTURE OF ALL OF CHILDREN HANGS IN
THE BALANCE AS WELL AS THAT OF ALL LIFE.
I wish to ask anyone moved by this story or their own
particular situation to consider the possibility of
acting with the most courageous, outrageous and
wonderful stance as a tribute to all who have died in
Iraq, both American and Iraqi, all who have died in
Afghanistan as well as those who died September 11,
2001 and each and every single life lost due to greed,
violence, and the pursuit of mindless power and
colonialism. Sean's death can be directly tied to the
nightmare of war, all war. Each of us must face the
reality that we are at an unprecedented human
crossroads unknown in the history of humanity. Can we
rise to the challenge with integrity and the best of
human goodness? I think we can. We must
..
We will have a special vigil February 1st, 2006 in
front of the Colville Army recruiter to show our
resistance to an aggressive response to Iran's nuclear
dabblings. Americans are the most privileged people
on the face of the Earth. If we don't act with
unprecedented courage, what kind of mess will all of
us be dealing with? I shudder to think..... We are
quite close to getting a taste of military madness via
our own government and it's local shock troops. We
can prevent further bloodshed.
For the children and in peaceful struggle,
swaneagle harijan
Hippie Frontlinemom
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
