Antiwar Women Confront Military Display

A war of worldviews was waged yesterday on the Mall, as U.S. troops showing parents and children the workings of howitzers, Humvees and helicopters were confronted by women from the antiwar group Code Pink, who called the display of arms on Mother's Day "offensive."

With police trying in vain to direct the protesters away from the exhibit, part of Public Service Recognition Week, dozens of protesters unfurled a massive banner and sang its message: "We will not raise our children to kill another mother's child."

With the country engaged in two protracted wars, the demonstration brought together mothers who stood on opposite sides of the fence.

On one side were those who view the actions of American servicemen and women with pride and gratitude. On the other were those who say they support the troops but oppose the wars and can't bear to see more people cut down in battle.

Code Pink's banner, made up of thousands of four-inch pink and green squares sent to the group from more than 15 countries, paraphrased a message from activist Julia Ward Howe's 1870 Mother's Day proclamation lamenting the carnage of the Civil War.

"It is the exact opposite intention of Mother's Day," Code Pink member Lori Perdue, a U.S. Air Force and Indiana National Guard veteran, said of the military display.

Before the Mall protest, Perdue, a mother of two, was across from the White House at Lafayette Square, where Code Pink members and allies munched on vegan wraps and ice cream bars yesterday afternoon before heading south in a procession.

At the exhibit, Staff Sgt. Raoul Sheridan, an Iraq war veteran wearing his camouflage uniform, stood beside a howitzer while kids in baseball caps and pigtails took instruction on how to fire the towering piece of artillery from a fellow Marine.

"My mother came and visited me here," said Sheridan, 34, who witnessed the protest. "She's very proud of what I do."

Upon Code Pink's arrival, U.S. Park Police instructed protesters to leave the area so as not to disrupt a permitted event, said Sgt. David Schlosser, a Park Police spokesman. One 47-year-old Tallahassee woman was arrested for shoving a Park Police detective, he said.

A few protesters managed to make it inside the exhibit, and one woman climbed atop a Humvee and swirled a pink hula hoop around her hips before being ushered out by police.

"I think it's disrespectful, because these guys are working hard and protecting us," said Shareen Scibek, 41, of Hampstead, Md., who was visiting the exhibit with her two sons, 8 and 10. " We should be thanking them."

Jacky Guaman of Belleville, N.J., was more conflicted by what she saw.

"I understand their point of view. . . . I also support the military," Guaman said.

She then looked down at her 2-year-old, Issac, saying she'd be fearful of sending him to war.

ÒHeÕs my only son,Ó she said.