Two generations of a Columbia family continue to support each other despite vastly opposing roles related to the Iraq war.
Alan McLaine and his wife, Pat, are part of Military Families Speak Out, a national organization formed in November 2002 that brings together protesters against the Iraq war who have a family member who has fought in, returned from or died in the war effort.
The group on Thursday will launch Operation House Call, a summer-wide pilgrimage in which military families will travel to Washington, to visit with Congress and hold daily vigils. Gathering at the Cannon House Office Building at 10 a.m., the group will speak in opposition to the Iraq war.
“At some point, it would be nice if our son and daughter-in-law could join us, but it doesn?t divide us,” Alan McLaine said.
The McLaine?s son, Capt. Joe McLaine, and his daughter-in-law, Capt. Mary McLaine, wereU.S. Army helicopter pilots in the Iraq war.
“My father has said he wishes I had a different profession, but he loves me as a son, and I love him as a father,” said Joe McLaine, who supports the war. “I?m glad we live in a country where my family can have their opinions, and I can have mine.”
Their contrary positions came to a head when a news article about protesters ended up in Joe McLaine?s hands while he was stationed in Iraq.
“It was weird. I was trying to get news, and the last paragraph was about them at a rally in Washington,” said Joe McLaine, referring to his parents.
The organization serves as a support group for its 3,000 members.
“People who don?t have loved ones in the military don?t understand the heartache involved,” Alan McLaine said.
He and his wife rarely slept through a full night while their son and daughter-in-law were stationed in Iraq from 2003-04, and they were dismayed when Mary McLaine was injured in the eye and knee by shrapnel from an explosion.
Things are better today. Mary McLaine received a purple heart and maintains good health, and both are studying at the University of Illinois, preparing to teach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Alan said his love for his son and daughter-in-law helped him decide to protest the war.
“Staying silent while your loved one is at risk is not the right thing to do,” said Charlie Richardson, co-founder of Military Families Speak Out and whose son is a U.S. Marine.
At a glance
» The Associated Press reported
that 2,503 members of the U.S. Armed Forces have died in the Iraq war since combat began in March 2003. The Defense Department counted 2,502, in a Monday report.
