Families of slain troops join antiwar protest outside Dover air base

DOVER, Del. - Sue Niederer sought her son's permission before taking part in a protest against the war in Iraq.


Her son, Seth Dvorin, was an Army soldier killed last month about 30 miles south of Baghdad. But Niederer can't quite believe that her 24-year-old boy is gone. She still talks to him.


"I asked his permission to do this," said Niederer, a Pennington, N.J., resident, as she stood outside Dover Air Force Base clutching a poster-sized picture of her son in his dress uniform.


"I said `If you don't want me to do this, flatten my tires.' He wants me to do this."


Niederer was one of about 600 demonstrators Sunday who marched to the gates of the base to protest the war and complain about restricted access to installations, like Dover, where the bodies of those killed in Iraq are returned.

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