Thursday, May 25, 1972
Slain GIs' Moms Back President
WASHINGTON (UPI) --The mothers of three American servicemen killed in Vietnam presented Vice President Spiro T. Agnew with a petition Tuesday supporting President Nixon's policy in Southeast Asia.The three, from Wichita, Kan., have spearheaded an effort there to demonstrate public support for the President and participated in an American Legion parade there Saturday.The three -Mrs. E.H. Land, Mrs. Christie Bickford and Mrs. Maurice Hall -met for about 10 minutes with Agnew and told of their efforts to support the President.They and the Wichita American Legion organized a march to the cemetery where their sons are buried for a special prayer service, the theme of which was "I gave a son -will you give an hour of your time to support something positive?"The sons of Mrs. Land and Mrs. Bickford were childhood friends and were killed within two and a half months of each other. Mrs. Land's son died first and the Bickford youngster returned from Vietnam to serve as a pallbearer in his funeral. Then he returned to Vietnam and was killed."Slain GIs' Moms Back President", by (UPI), published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes Thursday, May 25, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.