Rocky Hill woman finds camaraderie even en route to Camp Casey
By: Kara Fitzpatrick
ROCKY HILL Some might call it luck, but Jessica Kennedy Delahoy believes it to be a "divine coincidence" that after boarding a flight to Dallas last month, she and two adjacent passengers had a common destination Crawford, Texas.
Typically, it might be unusual that three people on a plane arriving from Chicago where the Rocky Hill resident made her connection planned to visit a town that just a tad over 700 people call home.
But last month, that oddity became reality, as Ms. Kennedy Delahoy joined hundreds in Crawford to endorse an anti-war movement galvanized by Cindy Sheehan, the California resident whose son, Casey, was killed in Iraq.
Ms. Sheehan’s protest dubbed Camp Casey and located near President George W. Bush’s Texas ranch began in August, after the president declined to meet with the grieving mother for a second time.
When Ms. Kennedy Delahoy arrived in Dallas on Aug. 16 with a mission to join Ms. Sheehan, she had made no plans for travel to Crawford, a small town located 120 miles to the south.
Upon landing, "I called my daughter and told her to get online" to locate a ride to Camp Casey, recalled Ms. Kennedy Delahoy.
"Then, the woman sitting next to me pokes me on the shoulder and said, ‘I am going to Crawford. My son is picking me up, you can ride with us,’" she recalled.
The gentleman behind her who had overheard the conversation between the two women said if need be, Ms. Kennedy Delahoy could drive with him, too. He was also going to Crawford.
Upon arrival at Camp Casey, Ms. Kennedy Delahoy who, unlike some of the protesters, does not have children who served or are serving in the war said she witnessed a setting "unlike anything I’ve ever seen."
She estimated that during the two days she was there, more than 500 anti-war protesters filled the environs of Camp Casey and the nearby Crawford Peace House.
"The energy was tremendous," Ms. Kennedy Delahoy said. "My feeling when I got there was exhilaration."
Spending nights in the bed of a pick-up truck provided to her by a fellow protester, and meeting with mothers whose sons are serving or served in the current conflict, Ms. Kennedy Delahoy said her experience at Camp Casey has personalized the concept of Iraq casualties.
Ms. Kennedy Delahoy said when she did see Ms. Sheehan, "she was in tears. She was constantly surrounded by press."
Being there "made it so much more real to me and it also made me realize that perhaps there is a tremendous energy here that could bring people to their senses. Because woman fighting for their children is pretty powerful," she said.
Ms. Kennedy Delahoy said she made the trek to the Lone Star State because she felt it was her responsibility to support Ms. Sheehan and the anti-war movement. As a teacher with the summer free, Ms. Kennedy Delahoy was sent off with donations from friends who supported the cause but were unable to pick up and leave for Texas themselves.
"They wanted to be there, but people have jobs," she said. "They can’t just drop everything and I kind of could, so I felt like it was my responsibility."
Supporting the anti-war cause is something, she said, that is pressing.
"I think nothing is more important than a withdrawal of American troops," she said.