A candlelight vigil to commemorate the death of the 1,000 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq turned ugly last week when anti-war protesters began heckling the family of a GI who was among those killed.
According to NBC's Dallas affiliate, one North Texas family - whose relative, Chad Drake, was killed outside Baghdad on Sept. 6 - were among the mourners at Dallas City Hall Plaza, at an event organized by the Dallas Peace Center.
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A family friend told NBC's News 5 that at one point during the ceremony, several peaceniks began hurling verbal abuse toward Drake's family after they learned Drake had fought in the war.
The friend, who witnessed the abuse, said Drake's mother was "harassed and yelled at, booed and hissed, [and] told her son died for nothing."
Mrs. Drake reportedly left the event in tears. Afterward, Drake's sister told NBC News 5 that the family thought some of the crowd was blatantly hostile to those who had sacrificed their lives while serving their country.
Lon Burnam, director of the Dallas Peace Center, said the event was not intended to be an anti-war rally, but acknowledged that e-mail notifications of the vigil were sent to a broad audience that might have included a few militants.
After family friends complained in the media about the mistreatment of the Drake family, the Peace Center issued an apology.
"I want to be clear in issuing an apology to the mother of the recent victim of that war," Burnam said, "I can certainly understand why she would not feel comfortable in that particular venue with that particular group of people."
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