Bill Mitchell

Bill Mitchell founded Gold Star Families for Peace with Cindy Sheehan. His son Sgt. Mike Mitchell was killed in Iraq on the same day—in fact, in the same battle—as Cindy Sheehan's son Casey. He's just as impressive a person as Cindy, which is saying quite a lot. He arrived in Crawford yesterday to be with her.

Here's a little bit of an interview with him in the Lone Star Iconoclast, but it's well worth reading the whole thing:

ICONOCLAST: How are you dealing with this?

MITCHELL: Not very well. My life's been devastated. It's been turned upside down. Very few aspects of my life have a similarity to the past. It just kind of churns you up, shakes you out, and drops you off. I'm doing much better than I have been.

ICONOCLAST: Does it help to bond with other people who have had similar experiences?

MITCHELL: Extremely. Extremely. I come to events like this and I really get empowered from being with other people and working for the cause. I met Cindy shortly after our sons' deaths. We did some military speak-out events together. I realized there was a power in her speaking and in her stories. Even those people who don't agree with the war, or our opinions, see this...

I'm here in Crawford, Texas today to support my friend, Cindy Sheehan. I appreciate what she's doing. I was against the war beforehand. I wish I could sit here and tell you how much you should appreciate my son for your liberty and freedom, but, you know, I didn't believe that before the war, and when my son died I surely couldn't grab that and cherish that feeling, because I know it's lies that got us there.