By Associated Press, 03/10/03

BOSTON -- Organizers of the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade in South Boston have told an anti-war veterans group they are not welcome.

The group, Boston Veterans for Peace, sought permission to march in the parade, which is organized by a veterans group and is honoring the nation's armed forces.

John Redue, a member of the group, said he received a call on Friday from longtime parade organizer John J. "Wacko" Hurley, informing him that Boston Veterans for Peace were not welcome.

"He didn't think our message was approprirate for the parade," Redue said. "He said he had nine Supreme Court judges who said (organizers) could pick who they want. That really caught me off guard -- I didn't think it was that big of a problem."

Redue, a Somerville medical writer who served in the Air Force for nearly a decade, including during the Gulf War, said the parade will present an inaccurate image of veterans and what they believe.

"I was very surprised by it," he said. "It's a parade put on by the (South Boston) Allied Veterans War Council. We're a veterans organization. It seemed to be a perfect fit."

Hurley, who served in the Navy during the Korean War, would not say why he denied the group's application to march.

"We don't have to give reasons," Hurley told the Boston Herald. "The Supreme Court told us what we can and can't do."

In 1993, the parade-organizing body headed by Hurley was taken to court for refusing to let the Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston march.

Two years later the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturned state court rulings requiring the council to allow the gay and lesbian group to participate.

"The Supreme Court made a ruling that we are the ones who decide who goes in the parade and who doesn't," Hurley said, declining to discuss the matter further.

But Redue said Hurley is unfairly wielding the power from that court decision to freeze out veterans who don't share his political views.

"You can support the troops and still be for peace," he said.