Mother Fights for Removal of Dead Son’s Name from Anti-War Shirts

Judy Vincent lost her son, Cpl. Scott M. Vincent, more than two years ago while he was serving in the Marines in Iraq. Last year she learned that an Arizona man was selling anti-war t-shirts over the Internet, and her son’s name is on those shirts.

The front of each t-shirt reads, "Bush Lied," and the back reads, "They Died." The back of the shirt lists the names of about 1,700 soldiers who have been killed in Iraq, one of whom was her son. Vincent immediately began fighting to have her son’s name removed from the shirts. She said that the shirt vendor "has the right to voice his opinion, as we all do." But, she continued, "I believe the First Amendment stops when you use a person’s name or likeness to make a profit. I don’t care what he thinks about the war. I do care that he’s making money off my son’s death."

Vincent was successful in getting the Oklahoma legislature to pass a bill making it a misdemeanor to use a soldier’s name or likeness for advertising purposes without consent. The law goes into effect this November. Vincent asked Rep. Dan Boren to introduce a similar bill in the U.S. House, and he did just that two weeks ago.

The man selling the shirts tried to assuage the concerns of angry family members who have protested the use of their loved ones’ names by issuing an open letter to them on his website. Although he praises the bravery and sacrifices made by the soldiers and their families, he says that his shirts are not an attempt to degrade their service and he refuses to stop selling them "no matter how many requests I receive." The letter continues by saying, "Every name matters, and will be retained to help underscore the horrific loss of life that has been caused by President Bush’s rush to war under false pretenses." Saying that he will fight in court if necessary, the shirt vendor added that he will probably run out of shirts anyway before the new legislation takes place. He said that the shirt sold poorly and he probably will not make any more.