2 Valley moms in Texas to protest war

Carol Sowers
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 13, 2005 12:00 AM

Two Scottsdale mothers were among about 150 Iraq war protesters who waited in the Texas heat for more than two hours Friday so President Bush could get a glimpse of them as his motorcade traveled to and from his ranch in Crawford.

"He would have had to close his eyes not to see us," said Sherry Bohlen, whose 36-year-old son, Thor, is in the Army in Iraq.

Bohlen and Rebecca Bahr, who has a daughter stateside in the Marine Corps, drove from Scottsdale to Bush's ranch to join Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed while serving in Iraq. The group watched as Bush's motorcade traveled to and from a political fund-raiser and barbecue at a neighbor's ranch.

As Bush's darkened limousine rolled back from the fund-raiser at 11:30 a.m., Bohlen waved a sign exhorting him to "Bring my son home now. He doesn't deserve to die for a lie."

Some protesters wore T-shirts or lockets with pictures of their loved-ones who have died in Iraq.

Bohlen said Bush made a mistake by not stopping to talk to the peaceful protesters.

"It would have defused the entire situation," she said, adding that he appears at "other public gatherings all the time."

Anti-war activists have been gathering near Bush's ranch since Sheehan's arrival last Saturday. The mom from Vacaville, Calif. has become a symbol of the growing anti-war movement. She vows to stay in Crawford until Bush talks to her about her son, who was part of the Army's 1st Battalion. He was killed in Iraq last year. If Bush will not meet with her in Crawford, Sheehan says she will camp in front of the White House, where she expects to be joined by more anti-war groups.

Bush has said he sympathizes with families of troops in Iraq but says it is too early to abandon the war.