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Posted by: kwflatbed

Infamous Kansas sect to picket funeral of Pembroke soldier




Bean


By DENNIS TATZ
The Patriot Ledger

PEMBROKE - While his hometown prepares for a hero’s farewell, a handful of members of a controversial religious sect plan to picket the funeral of a 22-year-old soldier cut down by a sniper in Iraq.

A huge crowd of family, friends, neighbors and residents will pay tribute to Army Pfc. Matthew Bean today at his wake at the Shepherd Funeral Home in Kingston.

Tomorrow police, firefighters and veterans will escort his body to the funeral at a Pembroke church.

The Patriot Guard Riders, a national organization of motorcyclists, including many military veterans, will also participate in the escort.

Bean died last Thursday, a week after he was shot in the head while searching for three missing servicemen in Iraq.

As the community says goodbye, the Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church is planning to demonstrate.

Shirley Phelps-Roper, an attorney and spokeswoman for the group, said about 10 members will carry signs tomorrow outside the North River Community Church on Old Oak Street.

Phelps-Roper said the group has protested at more than 280 military funerals over the past two years to call attention to its anti-gay message. It has not showed up at previous military funerals on the South Shore.

‘‘The curse of God is upon this nation,’’ Phelps-Roper said in a telephone interview last night. ‘‘It’s a curse when a child comes home dead from battle.’’

Asked if she felt the protest would cause more pain for Bean’s family, Phelps-Roper, the mother of 11 children, dismissed the question as coming from someone who is ‘‘Bible-ignorant.’’

‘‘I will be a hook into the jaw and drag you into a war that you cannot win and I will turn back the weapon that is in your hands,’’ she said, referring to God. ‘‘We have false gods. God says man shalt not lie with mankind. America teaches that it’s OK.’’

Phelps-Roper, whose father founded the group, was arrested Tuesday in Nebraska for allowing her 10-year-old son to stomp on the U.S. flag during a protest at the funeral of another soldier killed in Iraq. She is charged with flag mutilation, disturbing the peace and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Michael Hurney, the incoming commander of the Pembroke American Legion Post 143, said last night he was disgusted by the planned protest.

‘‘It’s appalling,’’ Hurney said. ‘‘I can’t believe they would do that.’’

Julie Caruso, founder of the Pembroke Military Support Group, was also outraged.

‘‘It’s not the time or the place,’’ Caruso said. ‘‘How much more pain can they put on this family? Shame on them. Shame on them.’’

David Smith of Pembroke, American Legion District 10 commander for Plymouth, Barnstable, Nantucket and Dukes counties, called the protest ‘‘despicable’’ and ‘‘unpatriotic.’’

‘‘Groups like this are not what the United States is about,’’ he said.

A sniper’s bullet pierced Bean’s helmet May 19 while he and other members of the 10th Mountain Division searched door-to-door for three missing U.S. soldiers in the Sunni Triangle. One of those three has since been found dead, and insurgents liked to al-Qaida claim to have killed the other two.

Bean was treated for a massive brain injury before being flown to National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md, where he died a week ago. He was taken off life support a day earlier.

Several of Bean’s organs were donated to others.

A 2003 graduate of Silver Lake Regional High School in Kingston, Bean was awarded a Bronze Star for valor and a Purple Heart.

He was the 11th serviceman from the South Shore killed in Iraq. Two others were killed in Afghanistan.


http://ledger.southofboston.com/arti...ews/news01.txt


Anyone off duty who would like to be there.

Bean, Pfc. Matthew Alan BEAN Pfc. Matthew Alan, of Pembroke, May 31, age 22, beloved son of Mary and Shawn Brennan of Plymouth and Dana and Cheryl Bean of Pembroke. He is survived by his loving brother Timothy Bean of Pembroke and his loving sister Molly Brennen of Plymouth and step-siblings Rhiannon and Adam of Pembroke. Cherished grandson of Loring and Brenda Nudd of Duxbury, Frank and Marsha Nudd of ME and Joyce Bean and the late George Bean of Duxbury. He is also survived by several aunts, uncles and cousins. A Funeral Service will be held on Friday, June 8 at the North River Community Church, 334 Old Oak St., Pembroke at 10:00 a.m. Interment in Center Cemetery, Pembroke. Visiting hours on Thursday at the Shepherd Funeral Home, 216 Main St., Rt. 106, Kingston from 2-9 p.m.
Published in The Patriot Ledger on 6/4/2007. Notice • Guest Book • Flowers • Gift Shop • Charities

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Posted by: KozmoKramer

Quote:

Shirley Phelps-Roper, an attorney and spokeswoman for the group, said about 10 members will carry signs tomorrow outside the North River Community Church on Old Oak Street.

I'm really surprised that a distraught father hasn't taken that miserable cretin out yet.

Quote:

The Patriot Guard Riders, a national organization of motorcyclists, including many military veterans, will also participate in the escort.

Those folks are A number 1 in my book. Real patriots. Angels.

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Posted by: Redleg13D

This group is completely bat shit crazy. What's funny about this "church" is that they are all come from one family... quite litterally an inbred cult.

Anyway, about 90% of the planned protest are usually no shows... So if anyone here is on PPD (or has friends on PPD) I suggest getting every availible officer called in working double time for "crowd control"... then sue the Westboro Baptist Church for cost of putting the officers on!

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Posted by: dcs2244

This is not a free speech issue. Neither is it an issue concerning religion. This is merely pure evil and service to satan masquerading as "Christianity". I could understand a protest if the decedent were homosexual (even though I, and most Christians, could not condone it). However, there is no such charge in this case (and even if there were, it is of no moment to a midwestern "church", this is Massachusetts: f@ck off).

What this amounts to is mere bullsh*t at the expense of a family that has sacrificed their son at the altar of liberty, which allows these satanists the opportunity to "freely express their opinions".

I say we take a page out of Salems' book: burned-at-the-stake for consorting with the devil. But thats not going to happen. I reckon there will be enough south shore guys there to deal with these evil creatures. They, and the Patriot Guard will shield the family from this trash.

Red, nice avatar...its not often we see the crossed cannon of the artillery. My grandfather was with the Eighth New York Volunteer Heavy Artillery during the States' War. They garrisoned Washington D.C., and later deployed at Cold Harbor, where they earned their nickname: "The Bloody Eighth"...

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