War foe's grandson is killed in Iraq

Leon "Bud" Deraps has spent years opposing the war in Iraq, concerned about the death toll, the impact on U.S. troops and innocent Iraqis.

This weekend, Deraps found a more personal reason when he learned that the grandson named after him, a Marine, was killed in the war he opposes.

The Iraqi people "are not the enemy, but we're making enemies out of them," he said. "We never should have been there in the first place."

Lance Cpl. Leon Deraps, 19, of Jamestown, Mo., was killed Saturday when a roadside bomb blew up near his vehicle in Fallujah, family members said. Jamestown is southwest of Columbia, Mo. The Defense Department had not yet confirmed his death Monday evening.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/4B05E91950B5F7D686257169001BCD43?OpenDocument

:( Rest in peace, LCpl Deraps. :(

campaigns for his party, plays hooky from Congress and flies around in a plane all the damn time

Just a baby... :cry:

liberating the liberators from their burden.
sad.

I hope the * bastards rot in hell for what they are doing to these kids...

face brings tears to my eyes. The look of a life so filled with optimism cut down by the bastards running this country. :cry:

Who knows what he might have become or what contributions he might have made? But this is true of all of them, so many lives snuffed out at such a young age. What a waste. ;(

The minimum age should be 28.

because some fat Fxxx retired Exxon CEO can live off a 400 million$ pension, and so Cheney's Haliburton stocks can rise, and because that useless POS George Bush can pretend that he's a great leader, who in reality, couldn't lead a pack of horseflies to a pile of horseshit. For these war criminals whose hands are covered with the blood of this KID, I wish a painfully slow and agonizing death by disease.....the rotten bastards.

:(

:(

it was basically a swift-boat reference, but I don't think it was timely.

of the how many?... that have died in the past month or so. Reading about the deaths is one thing, but seeing those baby faces leaves me without words, or a coherent thought. Their lives need to be noted...this can not continue to happen in silence. Maybe it's time for underground newspapers to make a comeback.....

:cry:

I am absolutely positive - by an overwhelming majority - our WWII vets and ancestors of the age - people that REALLY know war - are so saddened by this episode in our history.

The exact people we should we listening to, this administration ignores.

They will do so to their peril in the end, though. What goes around comes around.

Yes, they really are just little kids. I'd advise everybody to go to a basic graduation class and look into those faces - and then tell me and the world their lives were worth this stupid war.

They can't do it.

Joe

a couple of things about the age of some of the casualties.

I see a lot of Specialists around 30 years old.... I don't know army rank very well, but Specialist is pretty far down there, isn't it?

Lotta old farts, too.... 40 or 45.

I think our military is not only killing the kids, I think the military is eating it's own "seed corn"... the professionals. High end NCO's.

Those IED's don't discriminate.

It's all a fucking waste!

But the death of someone young enough to be your kid strikes an especially emotional note. (Not that I have kids.)

And I agree that every death is a waste & a shame.

How can Bush, Cheney, Sleeza and Rummy Sleep.

150000-200000!! Who's mourning for them? nobody.

Some of our kids in uniform are getting it, too.

I don't know how to say this - IF you are christian, truly - there is only one overridding principle - just one.

"What so ever you to do the least of my brothers, that you do unto me."

People that do not get this, they are not christians - just not!!

There is no christian right. They get it or they don't. And if they get it - B*sh isn't elected president in 2004. If they don't they are not christian and I really think it is that simple in the end.

No more christian right - if they are "right" - they know just how wrong this war is.

Joe

I find myself wondering what that many people would look like. And if you add Afghanistan & Katrina...not to mention all the other 'hot-spots'..it gets even more bizzare...One death...regardless of it's nationality...I can comprehend.

Just another notch in the evil dictator's belt!

:cry:

no no no :cry:

:cry: How many more?

....another Thursday.

Hey!!! Did anybody check out the closing price of Haliburton? The economy is booming!!!

< /bleeding between the teeth sarcasm>

placed on.

Probably a long shot, but I do wonder.

"The troops knew what the risks entailed were when they signed up to serve in the military."

Sort of, but not entirely. Troops know they might very well end up getting wounded/killed during their service, but they also expect their Commander-in-Chief and the people around him to know what they're doing. They don't expect to be poorly used.

:cry:




:kick:

Yep, George, when there was no cause to sacrifice a SINGLE life, Iraqi, American, or coalition, you.. well.. went the other route. Now live with that. I don't believe in Judgment Day. But if it does exist, you better get ready.

And Rumsfeld. And Cheney. And the rest of them.

I don't even want to go on reading the news after this... there is no end to the injustice in this world.