Contributed by: filbert Wednesday, September 13 2006 @ 08:13 AM CST
SMASH: If people are uncomfortable, they don’t have to talk to me. . .Emphasis in original.
BRUCE: You see, we have two hours when we do our vigil. . . So this isn’t the time for us to be talking to anybody else or anything... We’re not here to do interviews... What we’re thinking about, to be really honest, are the soldiers. You know, whether you believe us or not, that’s what we’re here for. So, we’re just staying focused on that. . . We’re really not here for ourselves. To be honest... We don’t go out of our way to attract media attention... But we’re not here, between seven and nine, to get into. . . I know it happens sometimes, because we’re human...
SMASH: Well, maybe you’re not here to do that, but everybody here is an individual, in addition to being part of a larger group, but if people want to talk to me. . . I’m not trying to break up the protest, or anything, I just want to talk to them. . . That shouldn’t be a problem.
BRUCE: You’re right, if anybody wants to talk to you, that’s perfectly OK... I’m just trying to communicate to you, the general thrust, and rules if you wanna say. . . Well, they’re not rules, but you know what I mean... What we’re here for, that is, we’re trying to be facing out this way (he gestures towards the street). And that’s basically what we’re doing. Well, I will admit, when soldiers come out, we like to talk to them, because we know that they need to. . . I mean, it’s healthy for them. They can say whatever they want, but just to be able to speak their minds. We have no problem with that. We communicate, and they can tell us what’s going on. But, that’s 'cause we’re here for them.
SMASH: What do you think their general attitude was towards the military?
P.D.: Towards the military... they really don’t support what we’re doing over there.
Mason: But they say they "support" us.
P.D.: I’m not saying that they do, but they say that they support us.
SMASH: Did you feel supported?
P.D.: I don’t feel supported, because they’re...
Mason: They wouldn’t even talk to us! How are they supporting us, if they won’t even talk to us, or look us in the eye?
P.D.: Exactly! That’s what we got from them. If they won’t even talk to us...
SMASH: Well, what was the general attitude, when you first got down there?
P.D.: The general attitude was, they were kind of pushing us out. Wouldn’t talk to us. Just blowing us off.
SMASH: Had you identified yourselves as soldiers from Walter Reed?
P.D.: Oh, yeah...
Mason: Oh, yes sir. We had told them all about our background. I served in Iraq. He served in Afghanistan and Iraq. We were patients at the hospital. That we were just curious... But that did not seem like a good answer to them.
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