Military Members Introduce Resolution in Response to Westboro Baptist Church and
their Protest of Fallen Soldiers Coming Home from Iraq, Afghanistan
Westboro Baptist Church: Thank God for Dead Soldiers
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Congressman John Boccieri (D-OH) along with his fellow military veteran and Republican colleague U.S. Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) today joined together to introduce a resolution reminding the United States Supreme Court that the right to free speech ends where the right to privacy begins. Their resolution upholds current state laws allowing a family who is mourning the loss of their soldier killed in Iraq and Afghanistan to grieve privately.
“The right to free speech ends where the privacy of a family mourning the loss of a service member begins,” said Congressman Boccieri, a C-130 pilot flying missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. “While our law doesn’t restrict hate groups from spewing their venom, it forces them to do it at a respectful distance from the grieving family. This is personal for me after flying wounded and fallen soldiers out of Baghdad. Not only do we fight for the right to free speech, we fight for the right to privacy as well.”
“Service members who make the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nation – as well as their families – deserve our unending respect and appreciation,” said Congressman Hunter, a combat veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Those who attempt to discredit their sacrifice by hurling insults and engaging in other offensive behavior bring great shame to themselves. The right to free speech is one of our nation’s most fundamental and protected rights, but it’s unfortunate when certain individuals or groups think it’s appropriate, for the purpose of creating controversy, to publicly malign our fallen heroes and disrupt such an important moment for their families. It’s my hope is that the Supreme Court will move to uphold existing laws that allow these families to mourn the loss of their loved ones without disturbance.”
A copy of the Congressmen’s resolution is attached as a PDF file.
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I am a Viet Nam veteran. I attended the funerals of more than just one or two of my comrades.
The thought of those funerals causes me to still, some 35 years later, reach for tissues, especially when I now consider my son's entry into military service.
I would have zero tolerence for these "people" exercising their right of "free speech".
It is just wrong to politicize the fear of every parent with a son or daughter in military service, let alone the reality of their loss. Some things are just not open to discussion. This should be one of them.