by justin strawser
Dan Parker wasn't content sitting at home early Monday morning watching thousands gather on television in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the death of Osama bin Laden.
"Instead of watching history, I went to be a part of it," said the 50-year-old Shamokin man in an interview in the office of The News-Item Monday evening.
Pictures of the Mulberry Street man standing at the White House with his American flag circulated throughout the country via Reuters and Yahoo! News. He was also interviewed by many major news outlets, including a Norwegian television station.
When Parker heard the news of bin Laden's demise, he said he was "jamming."
"I remember 9-11 like it was yesterday. It was the biggest (attack) in my life time," he said, noting that everyone remembers where they were when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, where they were when the Twin Towers fell and now where they were when the day bin Laden was killed.
"I was at the White House," he said proudly, wearing a patriotic biker vest.
Before he left at 1:30 a.m. Monday to travel more than three hours to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., he visited several bars to ask if anyone wanted to accompany him to the capital. A man he never met before - Tom Miller, of Shamokin, who was on leave from Afghanistan - agreed to take the drive with him. When they arrived at 5 a.m., the crowds had already dispersed, so the two men stood outside the White House until 9 a.m.
Asked whether he had any reservations about celebrating the death of a man, he didn't hesitate in saying, "He (bin Laden) ain't a man. He's sub-human. Real men don't take innocent lives like that."
Parker wishes hope and peace to the families who have lost loved ones in 9-11 and the wars it started.
"As a country, we'll never be at peace, because there will be more murders and war in the name of religion," he said.