Hippy Camper: Reigniting Activist Roots In Crawford, Texas — Bree Walker Has Big Plans As New Owner Of Camp Casey

CRAWFORD, Texas The new owner of property once occupied by a controversial anti-war figure is scheduled to make her first visit to Crawford this week with plans to introduce herself to the community.

“I’m basically going to come and get educated about what can be done to repair whatever kind of rift might have occurred between Cindy [Sheehan]’s people and the locals,” said Bree Walker, a progressive radio talk show hostess from San Diego, Calif.

The so-called rift dates back to August 2005 when Sheehan gained international media attention for attempting to ask President George W. Bush at his ranchette for what “noble cause” her 24-year-old soldier-son, Casey, died in Iraq.

As a consequence of backlash and personal frustration, Sheehan “retired” from the anti-war movement, deciding to sell the five acres of land intended for use as a staging area for future vigils during the president’s summer vacations.

The most aggressive potential buyer at the time was Move America Forward, a conservative pro-military group that planned to erect a monument there in honor of the fallen soldiers of the Iraq War.

However, both Walker and Sheehan refused to allow the property commonly known as Camp Casey to be sold to the “wrong hands.” Walker bought the land for $87,000 which also covered the cost of property improvements.

“I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do something,” Walker said. “[The land is] too important. It’s a piece of the anti-war movement because it represents one woman’s grief turned into a grassroots movement which hardly ever happens anymore because we live in such a slick, polished media spun environment.”

Walker admitted during an interview with the Lone Star Iconoclast that Sheehan’s initial means of selling her land through an online auction was flippant yet at the same time true to the nature of the “Peace Mom.”

“We live in an age of spin. Cindy has no spin,” said Walker, a veteran of broadcast journalism and television/film acting. “Putting it on eBay is about as non-spin as you can get. I mean, how unsophisticated is that, right? That’s both the beauty and the downfall of Cindy Sheehan’s message. She simply said what she believed, and it didn’t always come out nice.”

Walker said that Sheehan’s behavior was “a throwback to the 1960s” when far fewer public relations firms influenced political discourse. Walker added that her purchase was in the spirit of her own activism which she began as a Vietnam War protester. Her actions divided her family then, but now they have reached an understanding, she said

“It’s the old hippie in me coming back to the streets once again,” she said. “I’m not in it to make any money. I expect to lose every penny I put into it, but I’m feeling better these days about at least I’m doing something physically as opposed to just signing online petitions.”

When asked if she intends to cash in on the historical value of Sheehan’s property, Walker replied, laughing: “I’ve always bought high and sold low. I assume that’s my destiny. I live in California, so it’s almost