Texas Ukrainians head for Crawford (12/05/04)

Texas Ukrainians head for Crawford

by Chrystia Wynnyk-Wilson

CRAWFORD, Texas - As President George W. Bush prepared to enter the Burger Barn in Crawford, Texas, on November 26 for a lunch with his wife, his parents and mother-in-law, he was greeted by throngs of cheers from 100 Texas Ukrainian Americans from Houston, Dallas, Forth Worth, Austin and College Station, including the Rev. Vasyl Savchyn of Dallas, the Rev. Mykola Dovzhuk of Houston, several students from Ukraine studying at Texas A&M and a Ukrainian businessman visiting Austin.

The group carried a sea of Ukrainian and American flags, orange "Tak" (Yes - the Yushchenko slogan) ribbons, "Tak" Yushchenko signs, and placards bearing sincere thank-yous to President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell for their powerful statements regarding their disapproval of the fraudulent Ukrainian election results. One demonstrator held aloft a sign saying "Putin: Kyiv is NOT your new Moscow on the Dnipro."

The demonstrators were seen by President Bush, who stopped, smiled and waved to the group. The group returned the greeting with chants of "Democracy for Ukraine."

The Ukrainian message from Crawford was seen and heard. Footage of the rally aired on CNN as part of its continuous coverage of the fraudulent Ukrainian presidential election.

The Texas Ukrainian Americans also sent a fax to the White House, which included the rally press release signed by all present and a letter thanking President Bush and Secretary Powell for their statements regarding the Ukrainian election, as well as asking the president to continue to demand democracy for Ukraine. Sen. Richard Lugar was copied on the correspondence.

On the way out of Crawford, the caravan of Ukrainian Americans sported orange yarn flying from their cars.

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