BUSH Country! Crawford, Texas

One morning my family woke up and decided to visit Crawford Texas! What the heck, after all, Cindy Sheehan was there. All this stuff in the news about protesting, and Camp Casey. We wanted to see this with our own eyes.

Here we go again... another opportunity for HOME SCHOOL! "Kids, you are witnessing history in the making!"

I'll never forget that day as we steered our car into Interstate 35. It was a muggy 100+ degrees outside. We were headed north in the direction of Waco, Texas.

Crawford is west of Waco, so we took the back roads through various small towns. My husband, a preacher's son, grew up visiting these dusty towns, pointing out various churches that his father had preached in. One particular town that brought back memories was MOODY TEXAS!

We arrived at Crawford and noticed immediately the town was PACKED bumper to bumper! At the center of the town was a GEORGE BUSH gift store doing what else but capitalizing on the fact that the President of the United States lives there.

After nosing around town and seeing the gift store, we jumped in the car and headed down the road for Camp Casey.

The road to Bush's ranch and Camp Casey.

Before the camp appeared in site, we noticed small white crosses lining both sides of the road. I asked my husband to pull over so that I could stop and read the names of our servicemen who had died in Iraq. I was searching for a particular name... A name that still brings me sadness and disbelief that the war could reach out and grab the shoulders of someone I knew personally.

It was surreal finding his name on the side of the road in Texas! After all, we graduated from high school together in a small town in Missouri. I mean a SMALL TOWN so having someone I know from there dying in Iraq, seemed well, impossible. But so sadly, it happened.

Cross of a classmate of mine from Missouri

After finding Steve Gottfried's cross, we pressed forward and arrived at the campsite.

Police watching the crowds at Crawford, Texas

As soon as we arrived, the police were on both sides ushering our cars forward. We had no choice but to pull over and park what felt like a mile from the campsites, backtracking by foot. I thought for sure we'd die of a heatstroke!

Right across the street from one another was Camp Casey and the Bush supporters. It was immediately apparent that the two groups had very different perspectives

Bush Camp!

Camp Casey!

First I walked on the Camp Casey side... I'll be honest, it was like stepping back into the 1960's --Women nursing babies under a tent, barefoot men in army jackets exposing their bare chests, hippies strumming guitars... A news crew was on Casey's side filming the protestors. I stepped over their electrical cords and ducked as they pointed their cameras. After spending some time observing Camp Casey, I crossed the road to visit the Bush supporters.

I'm not going to criticize Cindy for her protesting. If my son had died in that war, I don't know how I would have reacted. Nor am I a Bush supporter. All in all, it was an interesting day.

We drove past the crosses again and I bid Steven a farewell. Such a sad day two years ago, and still no sight that this war is ending!

2026 Update

This article was originally written in January 2008, while the Iraq War was still ongoing. I've chosen to leave much of it as originally written because it captures my thoughts and observations at that point in time.

My purpose in sharing this experience has never been to persuade readers politically, but to preserve a firsthand account of visiting Crawford, Texas, during a significant moment in American history. Looking back today, what stays with me most isn't the politics—it is the people I met, the memorial crosses honoring fallen service members, and the realization that history is often best understood by seeing it firsthand.

As with many historical events, readers will have different perspectives. This post reflects my personal experience on that particular day.