BY DAVE DAVIES OF THE DAILY NEWS “She’s a publicity whore!” yelled Chris Hill, a pro-war veteran who led a group of about 20 hecklers calling themselves “The Gathering of the Eagles,” many with tattoos, denim vests and sunglasses. “You’re disrespecting your son’s honor!” Hill shouted at Sheehan, referring to her son Casey, who died in Iraq. “I hope he’s going to heaven, because you’re sure not!”
“Yes, my son Casey died in George Bush’s illegal and immoral war,” she said to the crowd, as some of the hecklers blew air horns to try to drown her out. “They don’t have any cogent arguments; they have
to blow their little horns!” Sheehan said.
The chaotic speech lasted only a few minutes, but it followed more than an hour of spirited debate on the mall as supporters and opponents of the Iraq war milled together with National Park Service police hovering close when things got heated. “Why don’t you volunteer and serve?” one of the denim-clad veterans challenged a long-haired youth. “I’m not going to fight to benefit some rich, white asshole!” the young man responded.
An elderly woman in an “Impeach Bush” T-shirt approached to join the discussion. “Look, you wore your jihadist T-shirt,” one of the veterans said. “Let’s end the killing and bring them all home,” the woman responded.
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