LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Robert Byrd: Iraq War
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In 1982, Byrd convinced a local cable company executive to give him a position as a producer. He put in 16-hour days at Continental Cable, learning the craft of filmmaking. He completed his first documentary, Legacy of Tears, the same year. The film recounts the experience of the Hmong, an ethnic minority in the Southeast Asian country of Laos who were caught in the crossfire of the Vietnam War. Byrd summarized their story in an interview with CBB: "The Hmong were primarily recruited by the [Central Intelligence Agency] CIA, to rescue downed American pilots flying secret, and basically illegal, missions against the communists in Cambodia and Laos. Eventually they were involved in direct combat against Vietnamese communists who made their way into the mountainous regions of Laos."
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In 2002, during the debate over giving President Bush the authority to use military force in Iraq, Sen. Byrd introduced several amendments to the bill. The first (S.AMDT.4869) would have placed a one-year limit on the authorization. Once the year ended, the president could extend the authorization if he believed it was necessary and Congress had not passed a joint resolution disapproving of the extension. The amendment failed 31-66. Another (S.AMDT.4868) clarified that Congress had not abandoned its constitutional power to declare war, and that any additional use of force in Iraq not connected to an imminent threat would require an additional grant of authority. That amendment failed 14-86.
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After acquiring this skill, Byrd worked as a meat cutter at a number of stores in Fayette and Raleigh Counties. It was during this period of his life that a second daughter, Marjorie, was born. While working as a meat cutter, Byrd took classes in welding at Beckley College. During World War II he used this skill to build cargo ships, known as victory or liberty ships, in Baltimore, Maryland and Tampa, Florida. But when the war ended in 1945, the Byrds returned to Crab Orchard where Robert again worked at the Carolina supermarket.
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Taking time out to illustrate books by Stephanie Calmenson and Riki Levinson, Byrd returned for his next solo effort, a retelling of the Brothers Grimm tale The Bear and the Bird King. This little-known fable highlights how easily and how foolishly wars get started. School Library Journal critic Linda Boyles described Byrd's successful adaptation as "an easy narrative" with "bright watercolor washes [that] are filled with humor and movement" and "complement the text." Other reviewers found the book's intricately designed illustrations equally enjoyable, noting that the author/illustrator's detailed drawings ground the story in the eighteenth century, with birds in frock coats, top hats, and bustled costumes. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly wrote that the "verve and humor that infuse" Byrd's retelling "are reflected and multiplied in wonderfully detailed artwork."
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A former butcher who worked in shipyards in Baltimore and Tampa as a welder during World War II, Byrd remains mentally sharp, supporters say. At the recent groundbreaking for the latest project to bear his name, a new pharmacy school in Charleston, Byrd quoted the poet Edwin Markham from memory and included the names of several people in the audience in his remarks.
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Byrd was sent to a Prisoner of War Camp, but not the one on Hogan's Heroes, but one which was even zanier. Byrd was released from the camp in 1949, and soon returned home to West Virginia.
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