Soldier's death steels mom's voice

Capt. Brian S. Freeman, USMA 1999, a civil affairs officer assigned to the 412th Civil Affairs Battalion, Whitehall, Ohio, a subordinate unit of the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne), died while deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Utah delegate to Dem convention
Soldier's death steels mom's voice
By Robert Gehrke
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 08/23/2008 01:26:51 AM MDT

Four years ago, Kathleen Snyder wouldn't have considered being a national delegate to the Democratic Convention.

But that was before her son, Capt. Brian Freeman, was kidnapped, tortured and executed while fighting in a war he didn't believe in.

"He would always say 'quit complaining and do something,' " she said.

A lifelong Democrat, she hadn't done much more than vote before her son was called up and deployed to Iraq.

She started working in local races and became more active in the state party. But she says her new vocation was given a keen focus when she learned her son had been killed.

Next week, Snyder will be casting a vote for Sen. Barack Obama when Democrats gather in Denver, hoping it might help end the war.

"I was against the war and he was against the war long before he was called back" to active duty, Snyder said. "I think it's futile. It never should have been fought. It's the saddest thing ever in my life."
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