Saturday, 01 November 2008
 

Semper I
Contributed by Bill Faith

A Russ Vaughn classic in honor of the fact it looks like Mad Jack's really going down this time. Originally posted 2006.07.23.

Semper I
Semper I is an old Marine Corps term applied to those selfish careerists who place their own success ahead of their men and the wellbeing of  the Corps. Congressman John Murtha is a living example of that disgraceful term.

A bugle blows in Arlington,
Lilting notes fill still sad air,
An eagle's tears a globe fall on,
Trail an anchor with despair,
For a man we'd wish had not to die,
Brave youth among the best,
A Marine, he lived for Semper Fi,
And with Semper Fi he'll rest.

So sadly is the contrast,
Between those who talk and fight;
Fat Pols for whom their war's past,
But now can't see the light,
Accusing brave young fighting men,
Of crimes they can't defend,
Disgraceful fat old congressmen,
Who've lost the will to win.

Yes there we see the difference,
Between those who fight to win,
And a congressman with no sense,
Who's committed grievous sin;
He's turned against his Corps,
And no one knows quite why,
Except he loves himself much more:
Classic case of Semper I.

Semper Fi to all Marines everywhere from an old paratrooper who holds Murtha in as much contempt as you do.

Russ Vaughn
327th Parachute Infantry Regiment
101st Airborne Division
Vietnam 65-66

Murtha portrait courtesy of BootMurtha.com. 

Contributed by Bill Faith on November 1, 2008 at 01:15 AM in Mad Jack Murtha, Poetry, Politics, Russ Vaughn, US Marine Corps | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 25 June 2008
 

The Real Command Influence
Contributed by Russ Vaughn

In dismissing the very dubious war crimes charges against Marine LTC Jeffrey Chessani, his trial judge, COL Steven Folsom, said this:

"Unlawful command influence is the mortal enemy of military justice,"

COL Folsom was referring to influence within the Marine Corps command structure, specifically involving two officers of general rank. We should all applaud the colonel’s decision as it would make no sense whatsoever for the Marines to try an officer for failing to investigate crimes that to this point several military courts have failed to establish ever occurred. With one exception, all of the Haditha Marines now have been exonerated. The exception is SSGT Frank Wuterich and if the Marines insist on pursuing his prosecution, they will find themselves in the position of trying to prove homicidal behavior on the part of a non-commissioned officer whose troops apparently killed no one in an unlawful manner according to Marine courts. The only conclusion is that he acted alone, and in the midst of battle, while commanding his troops, somehow single-handedly slaughtered more than twenty innocent Iraqi civilians.

Sounds preposterous, right? Well, that’s apparently what the Navy would have us believe. And make no mistake about it, it is the Navy that controls military prosecutions in the Marine Corps, and the Navy appears willing to pursue this prosecution even though SSGT Wuterich’s subordinates and his two superiors who were charged have all been cleared by military courts. That leads us to speculate that either SSGT Wuterich killed those Iraqi civilians all by himself or Navy JAG is desperately in need of at least one face-saving conviction in this Haditha mess.

Or is there another reason? Perhaps command influence from a higher level? Most civilians are unaware of the tremendous pressure members of Congress are able to bring to bear on military commanders. If a particular senator or congressman doesn’t happen to be on a committee or subcommittee with direct oversight over military budgets or affairs, you can bet one of his cronies does. This congressional pressure is particularly influential with flag rank Navy officers and generals in the other services because their promotions into these lofty ranks require congressional approval.

By now you must have guessed where this is going. Consider…who is the most powerful person in this situation who stands to not only look like the grandstanding, blowhard fool that he is but could perhaps be threatened with defamation lawsuits by the young Marines whose lives he turned into hell by publicly proclaiming them “cold blooded killers.” Ah yes, that would be the reigning Prince of Pork and should-be federal prison inmate, John Murtha. Think about it, with a single conviction of any one of the Marines charged, Murtha can claim vindication and use that conviction as an effective defense against any defamation suits from any of the other defendants.

So the question begging to be asked is whether or not this congressman, who was videotaped by the FBI as indicating he is bribable, is pulling strings behind the Navy/Marine Corps command structure to pursue this phony war crimes prosecution to the bitter end. Murtha claims to be an ex-Marine to which I say, you may have worn the uniform, John, but you are sure as hell no Marine. As I have said before, the Marine Corps motto is Semper Fi, always faithful; John Murtha’s motto is Semper I, always him.

Contributed by Russ Vaughn on June 25, 2008 at 12:11 AM in Iraq, Mad Jack Murtha, Russ Vaughn, US Marine Corps | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, 19 April 2008
 

Boneheads vs. Jarheads
Contributed by Russ Vaughn

TIME Magazine, that bastion of objective news reporting, where journalistic ethics are disappearing even faster than their readers (circulation rates down 17.5% in 2007 from the previous year according to Wikipedia) has trashed an American patriotic icon with its latest cover:

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=293411344350742

The cover is insulting to all American warriors but constitutes absolute sacrilege to one particular branch of American fighting men. TIME’s clueless, liberal editors may have endeared themselves to Al Gore and his Green Lemmings but they have surely incurred the wrath of a far more formidable green organization, the entire present and past United States Marine Corps, the lean, mean Green Machine.

In this confrontation between boneheads and Jarheads, all I can say is Semper Fi!

Russ Vaughn

[BF adds:] See also The Continued disrespect of our Armed Forces..., The MSM poor taste award of the week, Time magazine’s idea of “respect”

Contributed by Russ Vaughn on April 19, 2008 at 08:18 PM in Russ Vaughn, US Marine Corps | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Monday, 31 March 2008
 

The official OWD Music Video of the Month
Contributed by Bill Faith

If I could find a way to imbed this one I would but I can't so you'll just have to watch it here.

This post will remain at the top of the site through the end of March.

***

You'll like this one, too.

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 31, 2008 at 11:59 PM in Music, National Defense, The American Warrior, US Marine Corps | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 20 June 2007
 

CH!CKEN SH!T
Contributed by The Gray Dog

The Gray Dog’s Note: The following is inspired by a flurry of links I found in my email today, courtesy of Rurik, and today’s post, “I Guess Our Only Leaders Now Are In Uniform,” at one of my favorite BLOGS, Seaspook’s Rants.

I am not pretentious enough to believe I am an authority on all matters military. I certainly have no expertise or specific knowledge which would allow me to formulate judgments about our top command structure as it pertains to such characteristics as leadership, strategic thinking or performance. I can only offer my less than expert opinions based upon anecdotal reporting and my less than perfect ability to gauge character based upon observing someone on a television screen. Having never let personal limitations prevent me from opining in the past, I am loathe to begin now, so here goes:

FIRE ROBERT GATES NOW!!

How in the hell can we expect this man to prosecute a global war on terror if he doesn’t have the stomach to mix it up with Carl Levin. Of course I’m referring to Gate’s feckless decision to withdraw Peter Pace’s re-nomination for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs last week because Sen. Levin, D-MI, threatened that the confirmation process for Pace would be contentious. What an absolute crock. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Gates asked Levin for his pick to replace Pace.

Continue Reading "CH!CKEN SH!T"

Contributed by The Gray Dog on June 20, 2007 at 07:03 PM in Caring about our troops, Current Affairs, G W Bush, Politics, The Gray Dog, US Marine Corps, US Navy, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, 18 May 2007
 

Colonel Bud Day, American Patriot
Contributed by Bill Faith

Many thanks to Rurik for permission to copy his Veteran-American Voices review of an excellent book we were both privileged to receive review copies of. I may or may not manage to put together a review of my own later, knowing that anything I do will suffer greatly by comparison to Rurik's piece.  In the short term, I'm nowhere close to done with my copy, due in no small part to the fact my sister and nephew both recognized it as something they'd enjoy. I have read enough of it to know I heartily agree with Rurik's recommendation to buy a copy at the first opportunity. (I've provided a convenient link for that purpose here.) For now then, Rurik's review:

American Patriot, The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

Who is Colonel Bud Day? Is he the most decorated living American warrior? Or is he a three-war “lifer”, with service in World War II, Korean War, and Viet Nam? Or is he a three service “lifer”, Marines, Army, and Air Force? Is he the only American to escape from North Vietnamese captivity back to South Viet Nam? Or did he spend five and a half years resisting the Communists while a prisoner in the Hanoi Hilton? Is he an aviation hero with numerous flying accomplishments? Yep. Colonel George E. “Bud” Day was all of those and more. He also became a lawyer before he became a fighter pilot, and after retiring from active duty, he began a second career as a practicing lawyer, a career which continues to this day.

Robert Coram has written his biography, American Patriot, the Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day, Hachette Book Group, Little, Brown & Co., New York, 2007. It is a most revealing, and even inspiring look at remarkable man, whom I used to admire, but now revere.

Bud Day’s early years were unpromising, born on the wrong side of the tracks in Sioux City, Iowa. Unpromising but for the fact that he absorbed Midwestern traditional values and an ability to cope with adversity. Dropping out of high school, Bud Day enlisted in the Marines in 1942, though he never got into combat. With time on his hands and initiative, he got in a variety of scrapes, and ended up court-martialed and sentenced to 28 days in the brig. Consequently, Bud Day, future MOH recipient, was denied the Marine Good Conduct Medal. Marriage, college and law school followed, but in early 1950, Bud Day joined the Iowa National Guard. He foresaw a coming conflict with communism, which he detested from an early age, and took a commission in the Army Reserves. In 1951 it became clear that the National Guard would not send him to Korea, so Bud Day transferred his commission to the Air Force and attended flight school. He graduated from his flight training too late for Korea, but was on the path that led to his first career. One of his first accomplishments was finding the solution to the T-33’s proclivity to catching fire on take-off and exploding. The corrective measure when the fire developed was counter-intuitive, and no pilot had survived the experience before Bud Day. Numerous other piloting accomplishments followed in the F-84 Thunderjet and F-84F Thunderstreak, including his ejection without a working parachute. (Read the book to learn the details.) Between these flying adventures, Coram takes us through the career and life developments of an Air Force pilot flying during the Cold War 1950s and 1960s. And Bud Day was becoming one of the USAF’s most proficient tactical pilots.

In 1966, Major Bud Day volunteered for assignment to Viet Nam. After flying a numerous missions over South Viet Nam in the familiar F-100D Super Sabre, in 1967 he was assigned the task of organizing a special top-secret detachment of two-seat F-100Fs which would fly as fast-FAC (forward air control) over southern North Viet Nam using the code name Misty. Their job was to fly directly over enemy positions at tree-top level, looking for targets, armed only with their guns and the smoke rockets they would use to mark the targets for faster and higher-flying attack aircraft. If the mission was not actually suicidal, it came close enough, and this elite unit suffered higher casualties than almost any other unit in Viet Nam. They were also one of the most effective units, and Bud Day devised their operational techniques.

One of the early casualties was Bud, who was shot down on August 26,1967 and captured with several broken bones. Despite being denied medical attention and mistreated, he was able to escape captivity while still with the original capturing unit, and headed south through the jungles. After an epic trek, he managed to come within sight of a Marine base at Con Thien. But at the very last minute. he was recaptured by Viet Cong, shot, and dragged back north.

Now began Bud Day’s greatest epic, five and a half years of torture and resistance, refusing to cooperate with his captors. Now Bud Day’s ability to bear adversity came to the fore. During part of this time he shared a cell with John McCain, and is able to answer authoritatively one of our current controversies. This book, and Bud Day’s word vouch that John McCain did not collaborate with the enemy as some have subsequently charged. And that may be taken in the context that Bud Day did attempt to prosecute certain other POWs whom he did believe to have betrayed their oaths, and that he vigorously disagrees with many of John McCain’s political positions. The story of Bud Day’s captivity is the largest part of the book, and is highly relevant to contemporary controversies.

Bud Day came home in 1973 and after some healing, resumed his service career, learning to fly the F-4 Phantom, despite his near-crippling injuries. In 1976, Gerald Ford awarded Bud Day his Medal of Honor. Sadly, the episode became mired in political controversy, in part because Colonel Day, formerly a life-long Democrat, was already supporting Ronald Reagan. The situation of the POWs was not good, and careers were stymied. Robert Coram does a great service in his description of the problems and controversies confronting the POWs, and how Bud Day chose to respond. And this led to Bud Day’s next career.

After leaving the Air Force in 1977, Colonel Day began a career as a practicing attorney, falling back on his education from many years before. Due to the persistent problems he came to specialize in law relating to veterans and military retirees, and several times had to sue the government he served so faithfully during his first life. This second career is also fascinating, though not quite so much as his wartime deeds, and should again earn him the gratitude of every veteran. It seems as if each time Bud Day thinks his career is completed, something else has arisen. In 2004, at the age of 79, Bud Day recognized John Kerry, as the young naval officer whom he saw spewing anti-American propaganda in a film shown in the Hanoi Hilton. Once more Bud Day had to act, and he joined with the coalition of veterans’ groups, led by the Swift Vets, who opposed Kerry’s candidacy. During this time, he also took issue with the politics of John McCain, even while maintaining their friendship and mutual respect. And though it happened too late for inclusion in Coram’s manuscript, Bud Day’s latest stance occurred when he stepped forward to give public endorsement to the Gathering Of Eagles rally, which took place in Washington on March 17.

Since his first aviation escape, Bud Day has believed that he has been preserved by God for some special task yet to come. As if any of several of his accomplishments might have seemed that special consuming task already. Perhaps Bud Day, like Roland and Arthur, will only go to secluded sleep to awake when he is needed again. Meanwhile, he is an inspiration for the rest of us. Robert Coram has written an excellent book about a triply extraordinary American. Whether you are a patriot, military historian, or simple aviation buff, do not miss this book.

-Rurik

Contributed by Bill Faith on May 18, 2007 at 12:56 AM in Books, George Mellinger, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Marine Corps, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack

Friday, 27 April 2007
 

If you're at all concerned about justice....
Contributed by antimedia

....you should be reading this update on the Haditha story.  It's far too long to quote here, and there's extremely important information in this account.

The prosecution's case keeps getting weaker and weaker. They have now offered immunity to over half the people involved. Furthermore, the prosecution withheld crucial evidence instead of giving it to the defense.

In a nutshell, the case exploded when an intelligence officer dropped a bombshell on prosecutors during a pre-hearing interview when he revealed the existence of exculpatory evidence that appears to have been obtained by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and withheld from the prosecutors.

Read the rest at Media Lies

Contributed by antimedia on April 27, 2007 at 10:02 PM in Antimedia, US Marine Corps | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 15 April 2007
 

Military Order of the Purple Heart & Gathering of Eagles
Contributed by Bill Faith

The following article was written by Henry J. Cook III, Senior Vice Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. It was intended for use in their organizational publication. In light of certain parties claiming that they had convinced MOPH to drop their support, Mr. Cook asked that it be posted on the GOE blog as a reaffirmation of MOPH’s support for the Gathering of Eagles. Thank you William "1stCav" Page for bringing it to my attention.

The Military Order of the Purple Heart and the Gathering of Eagles
Henry J. Cook, III

More than one year ago the international A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition began planning two major anti-war rallies in Washington, D.C. The first was held in January of 2007. From their rally point the various anti-war, anti-American groups marched on our nation’s Capitol. Upon arrival at the Capitol they proceeded to spray paint their slogans and anti-American sentiments on the Capitol steps. Apparently the Capitol police felt it was better to allow them to do their mischief and clean it up later than confront them physically to stop their actions. Some of the groups went to the U. S. Navy memorial and desecrated the Lonely Sailor memorial.

Who were these people ? A.N.S.W.E.R. , purely an arm of the communist party of the United States , joined by Code Pink, the National Council of Arab Americans, the Muslim American Society, the 9-11 Truth Movement (They claim 9-11 was a hoax.) a number of Palestinian and Lebanese support groups, pro-Castro and Che Gueverra groups, the Viet Nam Veterans against the war, at least one Anarchist group and a number of hippie-throwbacks, all receiving encouragement by Hanoi Jane Fonda, Ramsey Clark, Sean Penn, Ed Asner with Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) and the newest anti-war poster child, Cindy Sheehan.

After their performance in January, A.N.S.W.E R. let it be know that their next rally and parade was to begin with a rally at the Viet Nam Wall on March 17, 2007 and would end at the Pentagon.  ...

Read the whole thing.

Contributed by Bill Faith on April 15, 2007 at 08:37 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Peacenik Stupidity, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, 31 March 2007
 

"Wounded Marine Needs This Email to Go Viral"
Contributed by Bill Faith

Email from Blackfive:

Dear Friends,

Please forgive the mass nature of this email, as I hope you understand, I rarely, if ever, reach out in this way.  Time is running out.

From my posts about Marine DJ Emery Jr.- http://www.blackfive.net/main/2007/02/spiritual_warfa.html.

Marine Corporal David Emery Jr. of the Battalion Landing Team of the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit was serving in Iraq.  David, aka "DJ", graduated high school in 2003.  He is married to the beautiful lass in the above photo, Leslie, and she is pregnant.  DJ's unit was extended past their rotation date of January 1st and he was hoping to make it home in time for his child's birth.

On February 7th, 2007, DJ was at a checkpoint near a crowded place when a terrorist walked up to the Marines.  DJ's Battalion Sergeant Major, Joseph Ellis (a recon Marine of 23 years), suspected that a bomber was approaching and put himself between the bomber and his Marines.

The bomber quickly detonated himself, instantly killing Sergeant Major Ellis.  The Sergeant Major's sacrifice absorbed enough of the blast to barely keep DJ from being killed.  DJ was hit hard in his abdomen - an artery was cut causing kidney failure - both legs and one arm were shattered, and, in fact, his wounds were so severe that doctors didn't think that he'd make it.

They had him on a respirator, fighting infection, fever, kidney failure and other problems for a time before he stabilized enough (just barely) to make the flight to Germany where his parents and wife met him.  While still unconscious, his family kept telling him to fight.  Then, on the 18th, DJ was strong enough to make the trip from Germany to the US (Bethesda).

His prognosis is hour to hour so prayers at anytime are needed.

As of today, both his legs have been amputated and are infected.  DJ's stomach wound is infected and can't be closed until the infection is gone.  And his kidneys are not working still...

DJ and Leslie will have a little girl soon.  I think I'll be able to get you Baby Shower information at a later time.

DJ's father, David, attended Sergeant Major Ellis' funeral at Arlington Cemetery on the 21st.

Sergeant Major Ellis' daughter Rachel said, "He just wanted to make a difference.  Anytime he was asked to go somewhere, even times when he didn't have to, he would. He wanted to be there for his troops."

Sergeant Major Ellis was 'Always Faithful' to DJ.

We should be the same.

Please pray for DJ.

Email this message to your friends and families.  Ask them to have their churches, synagogues, or mosques to offer prayers for DJ.  I will ask our minister in Ft. Myers to do this tomorrow.

At this point, DJ needs a miracle.

Thank you.

Matt
Blackfive

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 31, 2007 at 07:30 PM in Caring about our troops, The American Warrior, US Marine Corps | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Ripley At The Bridge
Contributed by Bill Faith

... By the Spring of 1972, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) had completed its buildup and was ready to mount a largescale attack on South Vietnam. As part of the assault, two infantry divisions, 30,000 soldiers with tanks and artillery support, began to cross the boundary between the two countries and attack south along Highway 1, the main north-south artery. They would first have to seize a highway bridge over the major water obstacle, the Cua Viet River just north of the town Dong Ha. Only the Third South Vietnamese Marine Battalion was in a position to block the critical avenue of attack and buy some valuable time. To the 700-man battalion was entrusted the awesome task of stopping, or at least hindering, 30,000 North Vietnamese. ...

Click here, follow the links.

Regular readers of this site may wish to note that Arch Arthur, William "1stCav" Page, and yours truly all have very intense personal memories of the '72 Easter Offensive. Lord, was that really 35 years ago? It seems like last week. Some days it feels like yesterday.

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 31, 2007 at 02:13 PM in The American Warrior, US Marine Corps, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 27 March 2007
 

A Young Man To Watch
Contributed by Bill Faith

72nd TCS reports:

Col. Harry Riley, co-director of Gathering of Eagles.org, alerted his mailing list to a report on the Gathering of March 17 in Washington, DC, written by a truly extraordinary youngster. His name is Justin Till, and he is an 18-year-old high school senior from Texas. I believe his work deserves to be disseminated widely, and intend to quote extensively from it in the sequel. He writes beautifully, displaying a keenness of observation that puts to shame the reports by “professionals” that we read in major newspapers such as The New York Times and the Washington Post. Early promise does not always pan out, but this youth is truly outstanding. Here he is, and please remember: You Read It Here First.

An Unrecognized Majority: ...

[Read the whole thing.]

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 27, 2007 at 05:07 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Patriotism, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, 26 March 2007
 

Poem: A Gathering of Eagles
Contributed by Bill Faith

Marsha Burks Megehee left this as a comment on Awesome Gathering of Eagles video but it deserves better than to languish there unread:

Dear Old War Dogs,
I wanted to share my special poem with you -
"A Gathering of Eagles."

It's my way of saying "WELL DONE!" Thank you all for protecting our national treasures, and speaking up for the millions of us who could not be with you.

God Bless You All!
& God Bless the USA!

A GATHERING OF EAGLES

A Gathering of Eagles, Old Glory flew,
POW Flags....thirty thousand of you!
A Band of Brothers gathered around,
Protecting truth and hallowed ground.

The pinko crowd across the way
Had come to town to have their say,
"The War on Terror's just like Nam,
Surrender! We can stop the bombs."

Their CRS prevents recall
Of seeing Southeast Asia's fall,
Of genocide, the Killing Fields!
"Cut and Run." Who's fate was sealed?

POWs, refugees,
Re-education, If you please!
The vocal crowd- the Great Unwashed,
Non-violent? Oh my gosh!

Millions lie in jungle shrowds,
Johnson bowed to the protest crowd.
Ask the Hmong, if they were saved?
By the anti-war crowd's rant and rave?

God Bless You Eagles! Thank you all
For guarding freedom and The Mall.
For standing tall and drowning out,
Three thousand retro-pinko shouts!

Marsha Burks Megehee
sarpoet@datastar.net

***

Update: Marsha has sent me several more poems, of which I'll plan on posting one every few days at http://www.oldwardogs.us/marsha_burks_megehee/index.html, and I'm impressed enough that I've offered to create a separate blog for her if she says she'd have time to post to it. More on that later if she accepts my offer.

***

Update 2: It turns out there's already a nice collection of Marsha's poetry at http://poetwarrior1.tripod.com/. I'll still plan on posting a lot of what she emailed me and also posting excerpts and links to that site as time goes on.

***

Update 3: Marsha has seen the light about the advantages of having both a blog and a static web site. I haven't made any promises about when I'll have it ready but I'm going to set up a blog for her under my TypePad account. Address and details to be announced later.

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 26, 2007 at 03:57 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Marsha Burks Megehee, Patriotism, Peacenik Stupidity, Poetry, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 25 March 2007
 

Awesome Gathering of Eagles video
Contributed by Bill Faith

Boomer emails:

** The Land of the free **

http://www.nautinurse.com/GOE_17-March-2007.html

Sound on, F-11 for full screen!

Read the whole Old War Dogs Gathering of Eagles collection in one place here, and don't forget about the Gathering of Eagles blog here.

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 25, 2007 at 12:33 AM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Patriotism, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Thursday, 22 March 2007
 

Despite my distrust of the media....
Contributed by antimedia

....there are a few that get it right.

......it turns out that the best reason to hit the pavement on Saturday was over in Washington, D.C.

You would have been hard-pressed to hear so in most media coverage, but Vietnam veterans and other concerned Americans showed up from as far away as Hawaii and Alaska - one unofficial estimate pegged their numbers at 30,000 - to ring and defend the war memorials in the nation's capital, easily outnumbering the ANSWER protesters who drew the bulk of the coverage.

Kristinn Taylor, D.C. coordinator and spokesman for Gathering of Eagles, said anti-war protesters tried to break through their lines and reach the memorials, but "they were not successful." Taylor said the Vietnam vets came together and took a stand for an important reason: "They do not want to see this generation of American servicemen and women be put through what they went through."

As a frequent protest crasher, I'm sorry I missed this sea change in the tired old script of Iraq demonstrations. It was even more uplifting to read messages left afterward on the Eagles' blog by participants.

"Forty years lost in the wilderness," wrote one. "Forty years in exile. Behind us now. Yesterday we took our country back. It's in the air. I can feel it. ... We have to care enough to save it. I have hope again."

The quote is from my good friend, Bill Faith. His expression reflects the feelings of many Vietnam vets. For most of their adult lives, they have quietly gone about their business, avoiding the limelight and staying far away from the turmoil of politics. Scarred by their experiences returning to a nation that rejected them and despised them, they wanted nothing more than to go home and be left alone.

Read the rest at Media Lies.

***

Bill Faith adds:

Thanks, Anti. Del emailed me a copy of that column and I decided to take a short nap before I posted about it. I'm glad I did. You handled it much better than I would have.

Contributed by antimedia on March 22, 2007 at 10:33 PM in Antimedia, Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Patriotism, Peacenik Stupidity, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Reflections on the Gathering of Eagles (Epilogue)
Contributed by Bill Faith

  Reflections on the Gathering of Eagles (Epilogue) 
March 21st, 2007 by CJ

I wanted to first bring something out I'm not sure many people caught. First, listen again to THIS audio of Brian Becker, member of International A.N.S.W.E.R.'s steering committee and a front group for the Communist Workers World Party (WWP). Pay attention to what he says in the middle of the clip.

"Let Bush and the Pentagon and their puppets (I'm a puppet) know that the people of this country are sick and tired of this [expletive deleted] war. LET'S BRING THE WAR HOME!!"

This is something I want everyone to understand. He doesn't say "let's bring the troops home." They don't support the troops. If they did, we wouldn't be seeing this in Portland:

[image]

He said this while he was trying to get everyone to move up to make their numbers look more bloated. They aren't interested in any victory. They want the terrorists here in this country. If he had his way, he'd pay for a state visit for Bin Laden. Those five little words say more than any speech ever could. Yet, even though every news outlet known to man was licking their shoes, this wasn't mentioned anywhere. ...

***

See also: Smash - The Infiltrator

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 22, 2007 at 01:06 AM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Peacenik Stupidity, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 20 March 2007
 

01.01.04 AE
Contributed by Bill Faith

1st year, 1st month, 4th day, Age of the Eagle. The tide has turned. I'm proud to be an American again.
(This post will remain at the top of the site all day. Original timestamp 2007.03.20.00:14) 

A Gathering of Eagles
Contributed by Russ Vaughn

The commies came, the commies saw,
The commies skulked away, ...
(Read the whole thing here.)

Click the image to see the entire Old War Dogs Gathering of Eagles series on one page.

"Let us make it clear, we've all come here
To defend our long-dead brothers;
And understand you ain't layin' a hand
On our Wall you leftie mothers."
(Click here to listen to the .mp3) 

***

Video: Michelle talks Gathering of Eagles on O’Reilly

***

Marching with Moonbats, Part I: The Radicals
Smash (H/T: Michelle)

Everything I really needed to know about radicalism, I learned from Monty Python.

SATURDAY, MARCH 17 2007 – The sun rises over the Nation’s Capital, reflecting off a light dusting of snow coating the National Mall. A cold rain had soaked the city the previous day, turning to sleet and then snow in the evening, before finally tapering off. Now the snow is rapidly disappearing under the bright morning sun, but a strong, steady breeze off the river is keeping the wind chill in the low 30s.

The weather may be cold, but things will definitely heat up in Washington before the day is done. Thousands of people from across the nation – some opposed to our military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, but many others supporting the troops – are converging on the National Mall. And hundreds of police officers from various jurisdictions will work overtime to keep them peacefully separated.

A few blocks to the north, I emerge from the underground Foggy Bottom Metro station, blinking against the bright sunlight. I’m dressed like a scruffy veteran, sporting a day-old beard, wrinkled clothing, a desert camouflage boonie hat, and a pair of cheap sunglasses.  ...

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Don't miss Antimedia's great related posts here and here.

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The Accidental Protest 
The Gray Dog

“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley.”   
“To a Mouse,” by Robert Burns

Yes, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.  The bumbling Becker Brothers, bodacious bemoaning and bellowing of bellicose bromides of betrayal, beseeching bedlam and bilious behavior by bountiful billions of boneheaded, boorish, bothersome and boastful Black Bloc braggarts was bested by barricades bonded by brazen bands of brothers borne of boldness and backbone, belying the bogus belief that America the beautiful, bountiful bastion of bravery was dead.

EAGLES 1
ANSWER 0

The Communist front organization, International ANSWER, has spent many months, countless dollars and wasted political capital promoting what became a most momentous flop called “March on the Pentagon.”  And for this day, and this day alone, the Gray Dog gloats.  Today, it is ANSWER that proved to be “pathetic.” ...

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Reflections on the Gathering of Eagles (Pt. III) 
March 20th, 2007 by CJ

In my third and final installment, I'll take you to the march itself and share a few more photos.

The march kicked off at least an hour late. The reason for this was obvious: there weren't enough people. The longer the waited, the more the socialists trickled in. As a matter of fact, if it weren't for the Socialist presence, the peace movement wouldn't have moved anywhere. Add in the global warming crowd and it probably would have been a solo event. I found it quite ironic that the people who care so much about the environment were the ones responsible for all the trash in the streets as people threw down their literature throughout the route. ...

I promised everyone some breaking news with this post. It's not so much breaking anymore because I actually broke it on the Mark Levin radio show last night. I got close a few time to take some pictures but was quickly ushered back to the curb. At one point I was on the bridge crossing over towards Arlington. As I turned around and started walking back towards the curb, I looked out over the river and noticed the police boats in the water. A passing Metro train on a separate bridge caught my attention. It was head east away from the Pentagon. This was about 35 minutes into the march - enough time for the lead elements of the march to reach the Pentagon. The train seemed unusually packed, but I didn't pay much attention. Another train heading west wasn't as full. I kept looking towards the water and about ten minutes later another train headed east. Again, the train was full. That seemed odd since the Pentagon was a minimal manning due to the march and it being a weekend, but I passed it off and didn't really think anything of it. After awhile, Kit and I remarked at how impressively long the line of marchers was. I quickly turned around and waited for another train to cross the river. Sure enough, it was full too. ANSWER was repopulating the march by using the Metro to make it appear as if there more people. The media never bothered to report that either. The whole time I was wondering where all these people were coming from since they weren't there at the start of the march. Their bullpen never filled to capacity and only about 1000 or so people stuck around at the Pentagon to hear the speeches at the end of the march. They either weren't that dedicated enough to stay or there weren't that many people to begin with. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 20, 2007 at 11:59 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

A Gathering of Eagles
Contributed by Russ Vaughn

The commies came, the commies saw,
The commies skulked away,
A Gathering of Eagles
Just spoiled their Big Red Day.
The ANSWER Coalition,
Led by Head Red Brian Becker,
Declined to find out if these birds,
Might have a bigger pecker.

Our eagles gathered by the Wall,
Their talons well extended,
Standing strong and standing tall,
Their war dead well defended.
With eagle eyes they watched
The rats swarm Sheehan’s feet,
Pink mice, their march so botched,
These pinkos squeaked defeat.

A thing we all must understand,
Even though they always lose,
The Reds among us in this land,
Are the darlings of the news.
Their claims to serve the masses,
May bring the media’s attraction,
But these pinkos lose their asses,
When it comes to real-life action.

Fly high you Eagles, soar, from your lofty, special station,
Know this is true forever more; you’ve the blessing of your nation.

Russ Vaughn
An Old War Dog who’s now an Old War Bird

Contributed by Russ Vaughn on March 20, 2007 at 10:58 AM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Peacenik Stupidity, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, 19 March 2007
 

The Day We Took Our Country Back -- Part 2
Contributed by Bill Faith

This Is The Dawning Of The Age Of The Eagle. Aquarius can kiss my ass.

(This post will remain at the top of the site all day. Original timestamp 2007.03.19.00:29)

Click the image to see the entire Old War Dogs Gathering of Eagles series on one page.

"Let us make it clear, we've all come here
To defend our long-dead brothers;
And understand you ain't layin' a hand
On our Wall you leftie mothers."
(Click here to listen to the .mp3) 

The Age Of The Eagle
By Kit Jarrell of Euphoric Reality

In every life there are moments that define us. They tell us in no uncertain terms who we are, what we believe in our souls, and what we are willing to die for.

For those of us who have worn the uniform of our great nation, these moments have stirred in our hearts before–often misunderstood by those who could never understand what it means to pledge your very life to protect another.

But even more rare is the moment that lets us define ourselves, that lets us show the world who we are, what we believe in our souls…and what we are still willing to die for.

March 17, 2007 will be remembered as one of those moments. ...

Do read the whole thing, won't you?

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Miracle in Washington

By Judi McLeod

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Canada Free Press

Yesterday, St. Patrick’s Day 2007, a group of ordinary patriots, known nobly as The Gathering of Eagles, achieved something no one else ever could.

Ragtag by nature, Gathering of Eagles’ membership includes the wounded, both walking and in wheelchairs, the gratefully and proudly ageing and the living-with-the-memory-of-lost-loved ones, brokenhearted. Some lie awake nights worrying about loved ones still in harm’s way, but the one human emotion missing from Gathering of Eagle members is disillusion. All because if there was any chance the touted anti-war protesters were going to desecrate war memorials, then The Gathering of Eagles members were going to be there–no matter from how far away they had to come, no matter in what shape March 17 was to find them in....

Mother Nature brought the dawning of a cold day with proof from the age-old adage that “March wind (is) colder than snow.”

Even though the counter protest was to be resoundingly successful, only snippets of what took place in Washington was to flicker briefly from yesterday’s suppertime news.

But ‘These Colors Don’t Run’, and this is what the troop-loving Move America Forward and the Gathering of Eagles accomplished against all odds.

The hundreds of thousands the anti-war movement promised did not descend on the nation’s capital to mark a 40th anniversary destined never be forgotten. They numbered only in the thousands–and part of those thousands included the less protest savvy Other Side! Indeed, Fox News reported that the crowd totaled several thousand with as many from The Gathering of Eagles as from the anti-war crowd.

Jane Fonda was a no show. Not being able to count on Al Gore’s global warming, perhaps she thought she’d get her tinted feathers wet.

Big-talking Hollywood celebrities left Cindy Sheehan out in the cold on her own.

Yesterday’s sea change was bound to usher in a new chapter in history. The anti-war protesters were in Washington trying to sustain a 40-year-old memory with tired, old chants like the standby “Impeach Bush” one.

The Gathering of Eagles was in Washington to protect war memorials erected to honor the fallen and in a symbolic show of love for all living troops in harm’s way....

When history is written, March 17th, 2007 will at long last eclipse March 17, 1967, as the day when soldiers in faraway Iraq and Afghanistan knew for certain, no matter what real time saw them doing, love and respect await their safe return. The day when it was proven to a watching world that Washington war memorials stand for what they always stood for, time immemorial, the day when the graves of fallen American soldiers the world were warmer.

Read the whole thing.

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Mainstream Media Misreporting on GOE

As those who were there know, the reporting by the mainstream media on the Gathering of Eagles has been mostly ficticious and at times downright laughable.

For the record, here are the leading print media outlets’ reporting on our numbers. ...

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What they didn't show you on TV
By Michelle Malkin

As promised, our full video report on The Gathering of Eagles:

Many highlights there, but take special note of the face-off at the 6:00 minute mark. As you can see, we spent most of the day covering the march on the Eagles' side of the fence. Why? Because almost all of the news camera crews we spotted--the ones that bothered to show up, that is--gathered around Cindy Sheehan and the anti-war freak show and then left. We didn't see any of them covering the long lines of Eagles waiting to get through security to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Didn't see them covering the speeches and performances by the vets and pro-military activists. Reporters mingled comfortably on the moonbat side, except to shoot drive-by photos casting pro-troops counterprotesters in a negative light. Bloggers continue to rip old media whitewashing of the historic event:

Newsbusters
GoE
HA thread
Cinnamon Stillwell:

This may mark the beginning of the end of mainstream America's complacency in the face of a vastly outnumbered but vocal (and overreported) antiwar movement whose platform spells disaster for the United States and Iraq.

Never again will America's brave warriors and their cause be abandoned and the people our country has pledged to liberate be left to perish at the hands of tyrants. Those days are most definitely over.

Bloggers also continue to report on the ugly behavior and background of the surrender lobbyists: ...

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Gathering of Eagles photo essay;
Update: Fox News interviews Kristinn Taylor about GoE
Bryan Preston

Michelle and I spent Saturday morning among patriots and moonbats. Here are a few of the things we saw. ...

There are lots more where that came from. Click here.

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Email from R J Del Vecchio:

Attached are some images you can use with my report [Defending The Wall -- BF], if you wish.

"provoking" is of one of the moonbats (with the yellow thing on his back) who came across the street to deliberately walk down the line of vets with his big sign, screaming at them and trying to get someone to hit him.  Everybody stayed in amazing control, and finally the cops made the jerk go back across the street.  After that they stopped looking at the vets, and in "watching" you see every single cop is looking only at the antiwar side.

More images in a bit...

Del

Provoking:     Watching:

Click the thumbnails, then click the image that comes up, to see them larger.

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In a separate mail Del writes:

A montage of the antiwar menagerie of signs, kind of lets you know who is involved.

   

   

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I just posted Old War Dog Arch Arthur's After Action Report here. You'll enjoy it.

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Michael in MI has a great "Go read these GoE posts" roundup here. Don't miss it.

The Big Dog's post here is also quite worth a visit.

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Max Friedman: Identifying the Anti-War Protesters

Email from R J Del Vecchio:

This is a letter to the editor of the Washington Post, with absolutely wonderful information on the leaders of the "antiwar" peaceniks. Everyone in the country should know who these people really are. Please read this over and pass it on.

Del

I emailed back and learned that Del got this straight from Max and has his permission to pass it along:

Continue reading "Max Friedman: Identifying the Anti-War Protesters"

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Arch Arthur: "Protesters, for, against war, face off"

Another letter to the editor about biased media coverage of the Gathering of Eagles, this one from our next-to-newest Old War Dog:

Continue reading "Arch Arthur: "Protesters, for, against war, face off""

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 19, 2007 at 11:59 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Arch Arthur: "Protesters, for, against war, face off"
Contributed by Bill Faith

Another letter to the editor about biased media coverage of the Gathering of Eagles, this one from our next-to-newest Old War Dog:

The piece you published in Sunday's Birmingham News (page 9a) was inaccurate.  I realize that this is an LA Times piece, but the Birmingham News printed it.

"The anti-war demonstrators amassed on the North side of the Lincoln Memorial chanting demands for peace now. The counter-protesters, fewer in number but no less vocal, gathered on the East side of the Vietnam Wall and shouted political taunts - many laced with obscenities."

Factual error #1:  The entire Lincoln Memorial was occupied by the Gathering of Eagles .  In addition to the Vietnam Wall, GoE held the mall from the Independence Ave on the South to Constitution Ave on the North and from Henry Bacon Drive on the West to 17th Street on the East.  GoE also protected the WWII and Korean War Memorials from anti-war protesters who threatened to deface again them as they had on 17 January 2007.  Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) was confined to a small area bounded by Henry Bacon Drive, 23rd Street, Constitution Ave and the Lincoln Circle. 

Factual error #2:  ANSWER began the political taunting using loudspeakers to blast their very offensive anti-American propaganda at the GoE.  They also flew two American flags upside down and carried red communist banners and Che posters.  ANSWER made the first use of profanity.  [Swear at a sailor do not be surprised if he swears back.]

Factual error #3: The National Park Service had helicopters circling the area all day taking ariel photographs.  According to their preliminary estimates, GoE had 30,000 demonstrators while ANSWER fielded 5,000 to 10,000. "Fewer in number" is just wrong.  I know I was there at  the Lincoln Memorial and I have photographs and video.

As for the student who "got called a commie".  She should avoid marching under placards bearing this image.

17 March 2007 marked a sea change in political demonstrations.  The leftist have, for the past 40 years, used violent, destructive, street demonstrations to advance their political agenda.   Masked, rock throwing protesters faced little opposition -  usually  outnumbered riot police or National Guard troops with restrictive rules of engagement.  The radical left funds these protests, providing transportation, meals and lodging paid by groups such as George Soros' MoveOn.org.  Their political opponents have resisted manning the barricades.   

Saturday, all of that changed.  With only six weeks of preparation and zero funding, GoE asked for nonpartisan, ex-military volunteers to protect the Vietnam Wall.   The response was overwhelming.  Veterans' groups including Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Military Order of the Purple Heart and Rolling Thunder responded with boots on the ground.  The National Park Police granted GoE permits to assemble on the monuments, denying ANSWER the opportunity to vandalize.  The anti-war demonstrators were intimidated.  They faced men who went to Vietnam and fought honorably rather than running to Canada or Oxford to avoid serving their country.

GoE is a true grass roots movement.  30,000 people paid their own way to Washington DC from as far away as California.  For the first time, violent demonstrators met a trained, disciplined and determined force.  They will meet that force again and again.  I was proud to stand with this 30,000.

ANSWER will never again go unanswered.

Arch S. Arthur,
Major USAF (retired)
Maylene, AL

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 19, 2007 at 07:41 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Media Perfidy, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Max Friedman: Identifying the Anti-War Protesters
Contributed by Bill Faith

Email from R J Del Vecchio:

This is a letter to the editor of the Washington Post, with absolutely wonderful information on the leaders of the "antiwar" peaceniks. Everyone in the country should know who these people really are. Please read this over and pass it on.

Del

I emailed back and learned that Del got this straight from Max and has his permission to pass it along:

Dear Editor:

Your paper's coverage of the so-called "anti-Iraq protest movement" seriously failed to identify both the groups involved in leading the demonstration on March 17th, but also failed to identify its leaders whose names either appeared in the WP or on their press releases and websites.

Brian Becker, identified as "national coordinator for the Answer Coalition" is not identified as a longtime member and leader of the Stalinist "Workers World Party", perhaps the top communist party in the US today.  The same goes for other ANSWER spokespersons (over time) including Richard Becker, Steve Hackwell, Leslie Feinberg, Monica Moorehead, Sara Flounders, John Catalinotto, etc. Many of these individuals were identified as members of the WWP as far back at April 1974 in the report "The Workers World Party and Its Front Organizations", House Internal Security Committee (HISC) and in an earlier hearing, "Revolutionary Activities Directed Toward the Administration of Penal or Correctional Systems, Part 1", March/May, 1973. Thus WP writer Brigid Schulte's writing in "Veterans, Others Denounce Marchers", March 18th, got the chant "Workers World traitors must hang!" wrong. It was not "a reference to the Communist newspaper", i.e. "Workers World." It was a reference to the WWP as the sponsoring organization of the demonstration, along with a mixed Communist/Maoist coalition known as United for Peace & Justice, led by an old Communist Party USA-connect activist, Leslie Cagan, and Revolutionary Communist Party leader, the aging Carl Davidson.

ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) is the main "peace" front for the WWP, which also formed and controlled its predecessor, International Action Center (IAC), the All Peoples Congress, and the Peoples Anti-War Mobilization. Newer fronts include the  Peoples Video Fund, Troops Out Now, Party for Liberation and Socialism, and the various International Tribunals on Panama, Iraq, Haiti, etc.

Ramsay Clark was chosen as the front man either in late 1980 or early 1990, and this, in itself, would make a fascinating story to follow through on, though his support for various communist front groups goes back as far as the 1970's.

Significant information about the WWP and UPJ can be found at www.frontpagemagazine.com and its "DiscoveryTheNetwork" database, among other on-line sources.

Also, Schulte's attempt to characterize "The veterans for peace, including active duty men and women, and guys fresh from Iraq in desert camo ..." as  still having " the thousand-yard stare, and a battlefield hauntedness" was nothing more than pure hype, and garbage. While some may have seen heavy combat, it was of limited time of contact and of a limited in-country time of duration. The "stare" should belong to my father-in-law who fought his way across the Pacific in WW2 to a place called Iwo Jima,  or to the soldiers at the Chosin Reservoir, or to the Battle of Hue, Khe San, An Loc, etc.

This is not to take away from those Iraq veterans protestors who served honorably, but my son fought there and he doesn't have any "stare", only a healty respect for life and his fellow soldiers. Neither did the scores of Vietnam veterans I met with and talked to during the Protect the Wall rally. If anyone should have had the "thousand-yard stare," it was the guys I met from the Big Red One Division, the 3rd Marine Division, and the 82nd and 173rd Airborne Divisions, among other. Mike Benge, a former Marine and ex-civilian POW in Vietnam (5 years) and R J Del Vecchio, who was telling us about funny stories about how his wound was treated, didn't "stare"; they laughed, they shook hands and shared hugs of respect with fellow vets, and gave my daughter more history lessons on Vietnam in a few hours than you would find in many schools. They were the true "Band of Brothers."

Sincerely,

Max Friedman

(MF was a MACV-accredited correspondent in So. Vietnam, Fall 1970)

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 19, 2007 at 07:04 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, Media Perfidy, R J Del Vecchio, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Arch Arthur GoE After Action Report
Contributed by Bill Faith

Compiled from two back-to-back emails from Arch:

Saturday was a cold, clear, fine day without much wind.  I took the Metro to Foggy Bottom, just up the hill from where the protesters were gathering.  A female protester asked me where to get off for the rally.  I told her, "Reagan National".  These people were a mix of long haired white, black & Latino activists wearing berets and impeach Bush t-shirts.  A few were carrying homemade signs but most took up signs at the rally point.  They were unattractive and ill-informed, but not physically threatening.  I had a short haircut and dressed in black combat boots, black chinos, a black fleece jacket, black windbreaker and black gloves.  I wanted to make it obvious that I was not a protester.

The anti-war protest rally was sponsored by ANSWER - a communist & socialist group bent on humiliating America.  They are well funded by George Soros, who chartered busses, printed signs, and paid the hotel bills for their people.  Looking at their signs and listening to their speeches, they were a wide range of very radical groups - open borders, communist party, black panthers, greenpeace, recognize cuba.  You name the left wing group, they were there.

GoE was not well organized and had zero funding.   At first, I was a little worried about our chances if the numbers that were being advertised were accurate.  ANSWER was touting 100,000 protesters and GoE had only signed up 900.  I had no idea how many Rolling Thunder guys, VFW members, American Legionnaires,  of Purple Heart guys would actually show up.  Fortunately, all the estimates were wrong.  The Park Police had UH-60s overhead with cameras to document their estimate of 30,000 Pro American Demonstrators and 5,000 -10,000 ANSWER protesters.  Several times the speakers said that many of their folks were stuck in the snow storm in the North East.  We laughed at them. 

The ANSWER crowd was intimidated big time.  For the last 40 years the radical left has had the streets to themselves.  Their opposition was an undermanned police force or a few National Guardsmen with strict ROE.  They always had numerical superiority.  We in the military were prohibited, by law, from participating in a counter protest.  This demonstration was very different.

As I was walking down the hill from Foggy Bottom, a GoE guy ahead of me took a Stop The War sign tore it in half and threw it in the trash.  There were about 1,000 protesters watching him and one guy said, "hey, you can't do that!"   The GoE guy stopped and asked, "What are you going to do about it?"  The question was met with silence. 

In another incident, five of the unwashed made it around the Lincoln Memorial.  They were spotted almost immediately.  Three of these brave souls dropped their signs and ran away, but two continued.  The were rather quickly surrounded by big Rolling Thunder guys in their leathers.  The bikers stared at the remaining two, who quickly put down their signs, avoided making eye contact and left.  No one raised their voice or touched these young men.  The thing young men fear most is intimidation in front of their friends, especially girlfriends.  Intimidated they were.

On the ground, there was considerable Pro-American verbal push back.  The protesters had the amplified sound system, but GoE had the balls.  As the leftist speakers ranted, we cheered "USA, USA, USA..".  When they said something we disagreed with, we shouted them down.  It was good clean fun.

On the ground, it was obvious who had more people.  We occupied the wall, the north side of the Lincoln Memorial, the apron west side of the reflecting pond, and the Korean War Memorial.  They had a strip of land between 23rd and Constitution Ave.  The mounted police kept the groups apart.

These were big guys, the ones who did not run to Canada or Oxford to avoid serving their country.  The elite leftists are not accustomed to real opposition.

When I left, I walked down the mall to the Washington Monument to the Smithsonian Museum and I could no longer hear the shrill loudspeakers of the ANSWER sound system, but I could clearly hear Gathering of Eagles' voices.

We must continue this real grass roots effort.  Wherever these idiots go, we must go.  ANSWER cannot go unanswered.

Arch

Click the images to enlarge them in a new window. Click the image on the page that takes you to to enlarge them to full size.

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 19, 2007 at 03:47 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 18 March 2007
 

The Day We Took Our Country Back
Contributed by Bill Faith

Forty years lost in the wilderness. Forty years in exile. Behind us now. Yesterday we took our country back. It's in the air. I can feel it. Can you?

This post will remain at the top of the site for the remainder of the day. Please scroll down for possible newer content. Actual timestamp 2007.03.18.01:35. Please consider this post an extension of my Eagles Up! post. Click the eagle to see the entire Old War Dogs Gathering of Eagles series on one page.

"Let us make it clear, we've all come here
To defend our long-dead brothers;
And understand you ain't layin' a hand
On our Wall you leftie mothers."
(Click here to listen to the .mp3) 

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Don't miss the great video Antimedia posted here.

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Gathering of Eagles 
Bryan Preston

Check out that eagle. He looks annoyed. I probably looked a lot like him today, watching thousands of Soros-funded astroturfed moonbats in their parade of scum and villainy across Washington.

But seeing thousands of patriots, some barely able to walk, many still scarred outside and inside from their heroic efforts to defend our country during conflicts past, took a little of the edge off. Those patriots found out about the Gathering of Eagles through emails, word of mouth, on Free Republic, on Move America Forward, here on Hot Air and michellemalkin.com, all over the place. There was no Soros Santa on our side marketing the march and bussing people in from all over the country. People drove through ice storms to get there, because they believed it was their duty to support the troops who are putting their lives on the line every single day to defend us. And they were noticed. If you were there, you were noticed. March 17, 2007 was a day that will go down as the first day that patriots decided to answer ANSWER man for man and woman for woman. Cindy Sheehan and Jane Fonda and the anti-America chorus didn’t monopolize the day. Veterans, bikers, and moms and dads and kids wouldn’t let them. Not anymore. It was a historic day. ...

We did it once and we can do it again. And again. It's time to decide we're mad as hell and we ain't gonna take it any more. If we don't this country's headed straight to Hell. We have to care enough to save it.

[Yes I realize I'm using "we" rather generously. I sat on my ass in front of a PC, waiting for my next Disability check, telling everyone else to "Be there!" Maybe the reader will grant a sick old vet credit for caring enough to do that. I'd have been there if I could have. I'd like to believe there was at least one person at the Gathering who wouldn't have been if not for my efforts. If there was it was worth every second I put into it.]

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Michelle's GoE blogburst post which I linked to last night, has been updated big time. (Thanks for the link, Michelle. Luv ya. Thanks for helping spread the word and for showing up yourself.) Check it out.

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Mission Accomplished
(Kit? Heidi? I can't tell.)

What an outstanding day! The Eagles soared!

You should be very proud of your fellow veterans, families, and supporters. There’s so much to tell, and we encourage you to post your experiences in the the comments.

In the meantime, two items of business: 1) we have a gallery open for you to upload your digital photos to the website. That way you can share your photos with others. See the tab in the top right corner of the site. 2) the National Parks Service called with their official estimate of the Eagle turn-out today…

30,000!

Fox News reported today that the anti-war protesters had significantly less than they expected. However, they are erroneously reporting that the Eagles were there in “equal numbers”. The truth is that we outnumbered them by at least three to one!

Consider…

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Reflections on the Gathering of Eagles (Pt. I) 
March 18th, 2007 by CJ

Well, I went to the Gathering of Eagles event, but only to cover it from a reporter's standpoint. I wanted to be there, take pictures, and observe and then compare my observations with how the event gets portrayed in the media. I came to some interesting, though not entirely surprising, conclusions. But, let me back up. ...

My first observation was that there were a LOT of flags over at the Gathering of Eagles "bullpen". There is a lot of love for those colors and this country. Patriotism oozed out of and spread throughout the mall. Everyone got out of the way and yelled to "make a hole" (move out of the way) whenever an injured vet was wheeled through. And the bullpen was FULL. It was difficult walking in there without stepping on someone's toes. The majority of the people there were Vietnam Vets and their reasons for being there were similar from person to person: "We're going to ensure that our troops are treated with the respect missing when we returned from Vietnam." They refuse to let it happen again. Everyone was united with one goal - Victory!

Skye and I decided to walk down to the "other side" to see what they were up to. The first thing that caught my was this: ...

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Gathering Of Eagles Round-Up 
Ed Morrissey

Michelle Malkin has a great round-up on the Gathering of Eagles counterprotest yesterday in Washington, DC:

[...]

The National Park Service estimates that 30,000 counterprotestors lined the streets of DC in response to the organized protests sponsored by International ANSWER and other groups. Janet from SCSU Scholars did a great phone-in interview with us on the NARN, which should be podcasted by tomorrow at Townhall. Be sure to read her reports on the GoE effort, too. And See Jane Mom revels in the retrosexuality on display by the GoE.

The Washington Post noted the strong turnout:

As war protesters marched toward Arlington Memorial Bridge en route to the Pentagon yesterday, they were flanked by long lines of military veterans and others who stood in solidarity with U.S. troops and the Bush administration's cause in Iraq. Many booed loudly as the protesters passed, turned their backs to them or yelled, "If you don't like America, get out!" ...

It seems the demise of support for the war in Iraq has been somewhat exaggerated. Be sure to read all of the links in Michelle's post.

***

Don't miss Smash's posts here and here. I'm sure he'll have more later.

***

Aside from their stupid choice of vet pictures al-WaPo's GoE coverage here ain't half bad. Check it out. (H/T: Jules)

***

I guess the weather was a little nicer in Tucson but the atmosphere was about the same. Don't miss this post at Speed of Thought.

***

Reflections on the Gathering of Eagles (Pt. II) 
March 18th, 2007 by CJ

When we were last reading, I was heading back over to the protester side to do a couple of interviews. Since this was supposedly an anti-war march, I decided that I would get some interviews with those who didn't quite seem realize that it was, in fact, an anti-war march. Some had other agendas.

I'll start with the interview that, unfortunately, I forgot to record.  ...

***

Protests and Counter-Protests 
John Hinderaker

There were antiwar demonstrations in a number of cities yesterday, with the largest one in Washington, D.C. There was also a sizable counter-protest in Washington, sponsored by Gathering of Eagles and other pro-military groups. Generally speaking, the news coverage of the demonstrations that I've seen hasn't been too bad.

Most newspaper readers will probably see this Associated Press account, which gives reasonable prominence to the pro-war counter-demonstrators:

[...]

Reading between the lines, you can deduce that the antiwar turnout was disappointing:

Police no longer give official estimates but said privately that perhaps 10,000 to 20,000 anti-war demonstrators marched, with a smaller but still sizable number of counterprotesters also out in force. An hour into the three-hour Pentagon rally, with the temperature near freezing, protesters had peeled away to a point where fewer than 1,000 were left.

Some participants dispute the claim that the antiwar protesters were more numerous; the Gathering of Eagles site estimates that there were 30,000 pro-military demonstrators in Washington.

This New York Times account is interesting, once you get past the clearly low-ball assertion that "several hundred" pro-war demonstrators turned out. The Times acknowledges with unusual frankness the far-left sponsorship of the antiwar rally:

Saturday’s march was organized by the Answer Coalition — named for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism — an organization that was initially associated with the Workers World Party and now affiliated with a breakaway faction of that party called the Party for Socialism and Liberation. ...

Socialism is dead, but a tiny remnant of holdouts didn't get the memo, and they are running the antiwar movement.

Michelle Malkin has a great roundup of the day's events. Like Michelle, Michael Fumento was at the D.C. rally and has posted his photos here.

Reuters put out some photos of the pro-war as well as the antiwar demonstrators; I liked this one: ...

***

Stand Up, Speak Up
Contributed by J D Pendry

“Say what you have to say. Not what you ought.” – Henry David Thoreau

... On March 17, 2001, according to National Park Service estimates 30,000 Americans, defenders of freedom past and present, decided it was time to break silence, stand up and speak up in defense of our troops and our country. What 30,000 Eagles proved is that when you stand up, the jihad sympathizers back down. Like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, this group consisting of many Vietnam veterans, outnumbered the anarchists 3 to 1. As always, throughout the history of our nation, men and women such as this step forward to lead when others are reluctant. They sent a strong message to the America haters and the political establishment in Washington. Emphatically they said no more!

Mr. President, Americans hunger for the type of candid and courageous leadership shown to us this weekend by the Gathering of Eagles. They have now passed the baton to you, our leader. You have choices to make. You can either spend the next two years parrying nonsensical attacks from liberals while they decimate your administration or you can put your finger in the collective chest of America’s axis of idiots and call BS on them. ...

Read the rest.

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 18, 2007 at 11:59 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Saturday, 17 March 2007
 

EAGLES UP!
Contributed by Bill Faith

This post will remain at the top of the site for the remainder of the day. Please scroll down for possible newer content. Actual timestamp 2007.03.17.00:02. I know of at least three people who'll be at The Wall with my phone number programmed into their cell phones and they know I'll be anxious to know how things are going, so here's hoping. Click the Eagle to see the entire Old War Dogs Gathering Of Eagles series.

"Let us make it clear, we've all come here
To defend our long-dead brothers;
And understand you ain't layin' a hand
On our Wall you leftie mothers."
(Click here to listen to the .mp3) 

EAGLES UP!

*** 08:10

My feet hit the floor at the absolutely gawdawful (for me; I usually blog till all hours then sleep well into the day) hour of 07:45 CDT. The closest I can come so far to finding any GOE coverage of any sort, or any mention of the moonbat convergence that necessitated GOE, is this at Michelle's, written a couple of hours ago:

The silent guard of America's memorials 
Michelle Malkin

Bryan Preston and I are headed down to the Gathering of Eagles. Hope to see you there, too. I'll blog when my fingers and connection aren't frozen.

*** 09:37

Just got an email from J D Pendry. He says Fox & Friends did a segment on the moonbat convergence and The Gathering Of Eagles. Also says he got a call from one of his old troops who estimates there are about 5,000 vets gathered around the wall and says the moonbats are staying well clear of the area so far.

*** 10:35

FOX, at least, is giving fairly balanced coverage. I watch very little TV but my sister just had me come and look at what FOX had on.  If anything, the good guys may have gotten a little more screen time than the moonbats. Apparently things have been calm so far, with the moonbats scheduled to set out for the Pentagon in about an hour.

*** 10:42   

Just got a call from Bob K. (our newest Dog, btw; I just had the pleasure of welcoming him into the pack) who says things have been calm so far and that he thinks J D's 5,000 number is way out of date.

*** 12:32

Just heard from The Gray Dog a few minutes ago. He says if anything the good guys have the moonbats outnumbered. Says the estimates he's heard were around 10,000 on each side. No major incidents of any sort. Getting close to time for the moonbats to move out for their little protest at the Pentagon, well away from our Wall. He says he got to thank Michelle Malkin for showing up but didn't see her headed his way in time to get his camera out of his pocket. I'll be looking forward to her coverage of the event.

I was grabbing a short nap when The Gray Dog called and haven't checked the news sites or other blogs for a while but I'll do that now.

***

CNN: Crowds gather to denounce, support war

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hundreds of anti-war demonstrators and supporters of the U.S. policy in Iraq shouted at each other Saturday from opposite sides of a street bordering the National Mall as protesters formed a march to the Pentagon to denounce a war entering its fifth year.

The anti-war group carried signs saying "U.S. Out of Iraq Now," "Stop Iraq War, No Iran War, Impeach" and "Illegal Combat." The other side carried signs saying "Peace Through Strength," "al Qaeda Appeasers On Parade" and "We Are At War, Liberals Root For the Enemy."

Police on horseback and foot separated the demonstrators, who were on opposite sides of Constitution Avenue in view of the Lincoln Memorial. Barriers also kept them apart. ...

Police on horses ensured anti-war protesters and counterdemonstrators stayed apart at the staging area. Several thousand people, many of them service members, rallied in support of the war. They played "The Battle Hymn of the Republic;" the anti-war crowd danced to Stevie Wonder's "Superstition."

Veterans, some from the Rolling Thunder motorcycle group, lined up at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. ...   

Surprisingly balanced coverage for an AP piece, although it you read the whole thing some slant does come through.

*** 16:30

Don't know why FOX isn't giving this more coverage on their web site but they're doing a good job with it on air, including some good pics of the Gathering Of Eagles and Rolling Thunder crowd and the first on-air use I've heard of the words "Gathering Of Eagles." Sounds like the day ended with no violence beyond a couple of shoving matches. I shudder to think how things might have gone if the Eagles and RT hadn't been there in the numbers they were. Sounds like some anarchists got themselves arrested at the Pentagon but nothing major at all happened anywhere near The Wall. Color this Old Dog relieved and very, very grateful to the patriots who made the trip I wasn't up to, and especially to Bob K and The Gray Dog for taking time to call me in the midst of all that was going on.

***

From CNN.com, would you believe (click the pic to read the article):

***

R J Del Vecchio called a few minutes ago to let me know things went well. He thinks the patriotic counter-protests may become a regular thing. I hope he's right. He promised me an After Action Report by email by sometime tomorrow. Watch for it.  [Update: Click here.]

Don't miss Antimedia's reports here and here.

***

Blogburst: Gathering of Eagles
Michelle Malkin

It was a breath-taking, historic, and emotional day in Washington, D.C. You won't know it if you tune in to the usual MSM channels. But new media--bloggers, conservative documentarians, Internet activists, FReepers, citizen journalists, photojournalists, and talk radio hosts--turned out in full force to participate and cover the Gathering of Eagles counter-protest. Thousands upon thousands turned out despite freezing temperatures and hairy travel conditions. We met bikers who drove up all night from Huntsville, Alabama; a retired NYC firefighter who arrived here at 2am; college students who traveled from Massachusetts; a Vietnam veteran's wife who bought plane tickets at the last minute from San Francisco; and countless participants who arrived as part of Move America Forward's cross-country caravan.

A pure, grass-roots effort, the Gathering of Eagles' volunteers matched the massive Soros-funded anti-war machine sign for sign, chant for chant, and marcher for marcher. The contrast was most stark right before the entrance to the Memorial Bridge, where Eagles gathered with a field of American flags--while anti-Bush, 9/11 conspiracy nuts wrapped themselves in a figurative blanket of yellow "Out of Iraq" placards. Several of the vets shouted, "Yellow! How appropriate!" in between spirited chants of "U.S.A! U.S.A!" While the classless Cindy Sheehan ranted profanely, the Eagles raised their voices in polite, but roaring disapproval and raised their American flags in answer to the ANSWER socialists' Che banners and peace pennants.

Why did the Eagles come? One common refrain: Vietnam veterans, some fighting back tears, told us they came to show the kind of support for the troops that they did not receive when the surrender lobby marched on the Pentagon 40 years ago today.

Mission accomplished. ...

***

Bob Krupienski, our newest pack member, left this as a comment but I'll move it here so it doesn't get overlooked:

What an exciting day. Sorry I only called you once today Bill.

Today was a very emotional on for me. It was the first time that I had been to the Wall. There were many tears, including my own. There was a GoE determination that "We Are Back To Stay".

At the very least, we matched their numbers though I did hear a rumor that FoxNews said we had the punks by 3 to 1. It is really hard for me to say because we were spread out. We had folks at the GoE rally, we had long lines at the Wall, and we had folks along the punks parade route. My personal feeling is that we had them outnumbered.

I only saw one incident. One of the punks was dragging our flag on the ground. Of course, our side took exception to that and took the flag away from the punk. Just a little action but justified. The flag is in safe hands now.

Our non-Vet supporters get a big thanks. Behind us and our troops 100%. Our Milbloggers get a big thanks too. Without them, the word never would have gotten out. I mean, thousands of us got the word in a very short period of time. Oh, got to thank Michelle Malkin and Bryan for being there.

I spent the day with Kim from Rolling Thunder. RT had one heck of a turnout. They were everywhere. There is a rumor that I will be contacting my local RT chapter about joining. Patriots to the bone.

Got to close this for now. I have a wake-up call in 6-1/2 hours. Plan to drive back to Chicago in the morning.

I just took a few pictures and I will send them your way when I am home and rested. Kim, my RT buddy took a lot more and we will get his to you as well.

***

Spongebob Sheehan & the Eagles 

Sorry brothers, that I wasn’t with you defending the Wall today. Bit far from sunny, warm Encinitas (beach town between San Diego and Camp Pendleton). Took my almost 7-year old son Jason for a walk on the beach to collect sea shells, then went for pizza. The usual crowd of young, beach-going tatooed’s and a few comparative geezers like me scattered in. Watched TV in the pizza parlor, and someone turned to CSPAN. Cindy Sheehan came on ranting, as pizza eaters cracked up when one beach youth just up from surfing said Cindy looked worse than Spongebob Squarepants after a bad day. A grayed pony-tail geezer nearby commented that without sex, drugs and rock-‘n-roll during the ‘60’s to blur the senses these protestors looked truly bored at the rants, and that if he wanted to be yelled at that’s what he had a wife for. Probably why the shivering small crowd in D.C. looked like the fuzz-faced who didn’t yet know better about getting ranted at and angry grandma’s who miss having husbands to rant at. Vietnam vet, who runs the Army surplus store, came in for a slice, asked why the Gathering of Eagles wasn’t being shown, instead of the Cackling, and returned to work. Jason and I went back to the beach. Made a game of looking for our friend, the funny Spongebob. Had enough of the scary one. ...

***

I just posted R J Del Vecchio's After Action Report as a separate post: Defending The Wall.

***

Once-a-Marine-always-a-Marine Curt has some great pics and quotes here. Fine pup, that one. If he was older I'd try to recruit him as an Old War Dog.

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 17, 2007 at 11:59 PM in Bob Krupienski, Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Peacenik Stupidity, R J Del Vecchio, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack

R J Del Vecchio: Defending The Wall
Contributed by Bill Faith

Please consider this part of my Eagles Up! post. It's long enough that I'm going to post it separately then link from that post. Del emails:

Defending The Wall

Well, it’s over now, the assembly areas for the Gathering of Eagles is an empty hillside of churned mud, the antiwar protest field is less muddy but just as empty.  It was a long day, but a good one.

It started for me last night, when I went to visit one of the principal motels for the GOE movement, a Holiday Inn in Ballston, just outside DC.  A friend and I walked in the door and were struck immediately with the sight of a couple dozen men in various kinds of clothing and insignia that marked them as Viet Nam veterans.  I saw the name badge of one, a name given to me by a vet who runs a great blog, said hi, and was greeted warmly as a brother.  The next few hours we spent meeting more vets, from Florida to California and every place in between, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, some older, some younger, some in good health, some in bad, but all rejoicing to be there, and determined to keep the memorials safe and show support for the troops.  We were again, a band of brothers.  That feeling alone was worth the trip.

The first major meeting was a discussion held by a vet who is also a retired cop, with crowd control experience, and who had been in liaison with the Park Police.  He explained how carefully they were preparing to keep things safe, that they were our best friends, and that we needed to cooperate with them to the max.  And that above all, we were not to let ourselves be goaded into any sort of violence, even if seriously provoked, since that was exactly what the radicals would like.  People were to be designated as marshals, with special identifying shirts, and it would be their job to buffer the rest of us from attacks, and to demonstrate the discipline we have as lawful counter-demonstrators.  He reminded everyone that there would be both very sincere and nonviolent demonstrators whom we should not confront, and even regular tourists to whom we should be as courteous and helpful as possible.

The message came through loud and clear, and was accepted fairly well by everyone.  (Even those angrier among us who would have welcomed a chance to let an abusive radical find out firsthand what the consequences can be of provoking those who have served the country they love.)  It was said again and again by people that after all, we fought for their right to free speech and political expression, whether we like what they say or not.  After all, it is who we are.

The next morning we got on the DC Metro at one of the outlying stations, on the first train of the day, and no sooner did we enter the car than we saw half the people on it were veterans.  The sharing in conversation was great, and we were all building enthusiasm for the day to come.

When we got off the Metro, we were several blocks from the Memorial, and as we exited the station, there was another group of vets assembling on the corner.  We started together down to the assembly point, and on the way, joined with three other groups of vets and supporters.  This was before 8AM, and it was quite chilly, with a nice breeze to help suck the heat from your body.

At the assembly point they were already building a large garden of US flags, and hundreds of people were already there.  I got registered with the coordinators to take photos, and was paired with a vet who was to use a video camera to record things while I took regular pictures.

By then the police presence was obvious, numerous officers standing around, motorcycles and police cars parked nearby, and booths had been set up at one end of The Wall for metal detectors, and one-way traffic past The Wall was required so everyone had to get checked before getting near it.  There were also officers at a couple of places along the walk, and many vets making their way along as well, so I felt reassured that the chances of any vandalism had become vanishingly small.

My partner and I then made our first pass through moonbat territory, but hardly anyone was there.  They were setting up enormous 12 foot speakers , and various displays of different protest groups, but clearly the main mass of their people had not begun to arrive.  We did note large stockpiles of very nicely preprinted signs, condemning the war and call for impeachment of the President, ready to be handed out.  Clearly these people are well funded and very well organized.

We roamed some more, to the Lincoln Monument, always impressive, and the sizeable group of vets there.  Many wore the colors of various groups such as Rolling Thunder, US War Vets, Patriot Guard, Nam Knights, Legion Riders, and dozens of others.  Others were, like myself and my partner, just wearing fairly normal clothing with just a badge or two identifying us in some way or another as Vietvets, our brand of service or particular unit, and/or some motto relating to the war or our time there.  There was also a smattering of Gulf War and Iraqi vets in the crowd.  There were vets in good health, and others looking older, many with canes now, and some in wheelchairs.   A lot of graying and grizzled men, clasping hands and sometimes embracing when they met others, often shivering in the crisp cold air, but shaking it off and smiling to see each other.

In the following hours the crowds grew, and eventually the main line between the protestors and the vets was drawn, right at a point on one side of the Lincoln Memorial, where a street divides the memorial area from the field where the antiwar people had set up the HQ (loudspeakers and all).  Vets lined up on the memorial side, displaying many American flags, POW/MIA flags, and some banners as well.   On the other side were many of the printed antiwar signs, but also a mixture of many others, some homemade, some also nicely printed, like the several I saw of Che Guevara,  There was a PLO flag, a few “Truth for 9/11” signs (you know, the CIA/Mossad/Martians flew the planes into the towers), a poster calling for Christians to be Christian and renounce war, and some really nice vintage signs, like that oldie-but-goodie “Make Love, Not War”.

The yelling across the street (police were on the median telling people to on their own sides, the vet side had marshals in orange shirts as well) got loud and nasty, and some of the protestors would come across the street to provoke the vets.  I watched and photographed one guy deliberately carry his large homemade protest sign in a walk across the entire length of the vet side, inches away from them, taunting them, clearly looking to have someone throw a punch or grab his sign, but the marshals were telling everyone to stay cool, and the protestor finally reached the end of the line and had to cross back over to his side.  Several more protestors moved over towards the vet side, yelling and screaming, only a few vets moved into the street to yell back, and finally the police pushed the protestors back to their side and told them to stay there.  I never saw any of the vets give any trouble at all to the police, and it became clear later that this was noticed.

Eventually the police called in reinforcements, eleven mounted officers formed a line at the end of the corridor between the two groups, and riot police put barriers all the way down the whole front of the antiwar side.  But the barriers were shorter on the vet side, and every officer on the ground between the two curbs was facing the antiwar side, It was not hard to see who they thought were the real troublemakers.

The chants of USA-USA-USA at times could be heard from the vets, but much of the time the giant speakers on the other side drowned out everything.  I was occasionally walking through that side (had a pullover windbreaker on over my jacket so they didn’t see my VN ribbon or USMC emblem), and it actually hurt my ears to walk past those speakers.  People wanted to give me the Socialist newspaper ($1 donation), and other antigovernment publications, but I stayed busy taking pictures of the lifesize red doll of a devil with Bush’s head on the shoulders, and the assorted radical cause banners displayed in several places.  There were Quakers there, Moslem activists, old VVAW guys, a motley collection of people and causes only united by their being in opposition to our government.  Some of them reasonably sincere and courteous, but many harshly aggressive.

Meanwhile, there was more sense of having gone through a time machine back to 1970, as the loudspeakers played the old songs, like “War- - What Is It Good For”, and people actually had “Hell No, I Won’t Go” buttons on.  Original issue buttons, not reproductions, on people who must have dusted them off from their souvenir drawer to wear them again.

At one point a VVAW guy came up to me and wanted to talk, he recognized me as a vet and wanted to see where I was coming from.  We had barely started to speak when a TV crew came over to drag him off for an interview.  When he came back I asked him how they came to him rather than anyone else, and he mentioned they had interviewed him at other protests and knew him.  He also said they were foreign press, so I asked from where.  Germany.

Hmm, I decided to try something, so I ran after them found them and said to the lady interviewer “Sind Sie Deutsch?”  She, surprised, said yes.  So I said “Moechten Sie mit einander altem Soldat sprechen?”  (Would you like to speak with another old soldier?)  I figured, how could she say no, how often would she ever get a chance to interview an American vet who would speak German to her?  They’d love that in Germany.

But she said that they ‘d just talked to one of us, and I said, yeah, but I am from a different point of view.  She then quickly said “Oh, we have all the interviews we need, I must hurry now”, and she turned and walked away fast.

I say again… what media bias?  In my trips through protest areas, I saw at least 6-8 interviewers with TV cameras talking to people.  I was told only two made it to the GOE area, Fox being one of them.  Perhaps there’s some meaning there.

The late morning went on, the crowds got thicker, the GOE hillside filled up and the many feet turned the soft ground into a monster mud pit in places.  There were some good presentations, good music, and that feeling of unity and warmth that made up for the cold breeze.  (Well, almost!)

Guard groups of vets formed at the two entrances to the GOE site, and no one with an antiwar banner was allowed in.  There were minor scuffles when some protest types tried to push in, usually their signs were trashed and they found themselves facing a solid wall of bodies that would not let them pass.  And they went away, yelling nasty things.  I saw one young woman slide past the first rank of guards, then start screaming at everyone, get barred from further travel inward by a line of men, and when she kept up her yelling, the police came in, she abused them, and wound up on the ground outside the gate.  (A lot of smiling and chuckling at that point.)  But no vet touched her.

When parade time approached, a procession of protestors came by the GOE area, between ranks of vets on either side, and it was again flashback time,  Yes, I kid you not, they sang “Give Peace A Chance”.  A bunch of them were the Code Pink ladies, in seriously ridiculous pink outfits, and old enough that I realized they were probably singing that song because they’d sung it before, back about 1970 or so, and were reliving the glory days of the old protests.

In the end, their parade went off towards the Pentagon, and most vets relaxed and the day wore down, and by 2 PM people were heading for the Metro or their cars.

My best guess was that there were roughly equal numbers on both sides, maybe 4-5000 each.  No one came near a monument with a spray can, no vet was ever rebuked by the police, and the antiwar people were clearly taken back to find themselves for once not in command of the situation, not able to dominate the whole event, and with a strong and unyielding presence of people who disagree with them while not trying to prevent them from exercising their rights.  This was not a win for them, though they will certainly try to claim it as one.

This was a win for all of us who honor the Memorial, who don’t’ agree that antiwar extremism should prevail, who do believe in giving as much support as possible to our people in harm’s way on our behalf.  I am enormously grateful to all those who worked hard to set this up, and get it organized and coordinated.  I am so damn happy and proud to have stood again in the ranks of those who love and defend this country that it’s hard to express it properly.  It was a great, great day.

To all those who participated in any way, I can only say I was honored to be there with you, thanks a thousand times, and Welcome Home, Brother.  Now and always.

*** 2007.03.19 addendum:

Email from Del:

Attached are some images you can use with my report if you wish.

"provoking" is of one of the moonbats (with the yellow thing on his back) who came across the street to deliberately walk down the line of vets with his big sign, screaming at them and trying to get someone to hit him.  Everybody stayed in amazing control, and finally the cops made the jerk go back across the street.  After that they stopped looking at the vets, and in "watching" you see every single cop is looking only at the antiwar side.

More images in a bit...

Del

Provoking:     Watching:

Click the thumbnails, then click the image that comes up, to see them larger.

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 17, 2007 at 09:18 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, 16 March 2007
 

"You Ain't Gonna Touch This Wall" -- The MP3
Contributed by Bill Faith

You read it here, listen to it here, or to the slightly tamer "radio version" here. Buy a copy at The Gathering of Eagles Store.

[Original timestamp 2007.03.16.01:41]

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 16, 2007 at 11:52 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Music, Russ Vaughn, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Time to raise some Hell!
Contributed by Bill Faith

I'm swiping a whole post off Michelle's site for a good cause. Maybe no one will get too upset.

Re: Gathering of Eagles
By Smash   

An alert reader has informed me that C-SPAN plans to cover tomorrow's defeatist ANSWER rally, but not the pro-victory Gathering of Eagles event.

How does C-SPAN determine its schedule? The C-SPAN networks are committed to televising the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate when they are in session. In addition, C-SPAN covers congressional hearings, White House press briefings, speeches, and other important public affairs events.

If you disagree with this decision, let them know.

See also: Doubleplusungood!

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 16, 2007 at 02:09 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Remembering An-Nasiriyah
Contributed by Bill Faith

Inside OIF's Bloodiest Battle
By John Noonan 

Next week is the 4 year anniversary of the Battle of An-Nasiriyah.

The post below is a shortened version of thousands upon thousands of hours of research, which culminated in one of my all-time favorite historical non-fictions: Marines in the Garden of Eden by Richard S. Lowry.

Together, Richard and I gathered a collection of the choice copy, photos, and quotes from his research, and condensed them into this blog post.... a post dedicated the Marines of Task Force Tarawa, the combat they saw, and the brothers they lost. ...

Prior to OIF, An-Nasiriyah served as a major hub of the Iraqi Army, home to three full Iraqi divisions, with a strategic location on the Euphrates River. Coalition forces were going to have to take An-Nasiriyah eventually, however after one particular Army supply convoy carrying one particular soldier named Jessica Lynch was ambushed north of the Coalition advance, the Marines decided to move in early. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 16, 2007 at 03:50 AM in Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, The American Warrior, US Army, US Marine Corps | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Will you be there for them?
Contributed by Bill Faith

Saw this at Wild Thing's place and decided it was too pretty not to pass on.

Be there, people. Be there! EAGLES UP!

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 16, 2007 at 02:43 AM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 14 March 2007
 

Gathering Storm
Contributed by Bill Faith

March At The Wall
Vietnam Vets & The New Protestors
By Thomas P. Evans. (Helmet tip: Smash)

March 13, 2007 -- MENTION Jane Fonda to any 10 Vietnam veterans, and at least seven of them will have some sort of conniption right on the spot. Spread the rumor that Hanoi Jane will be leading the anti-war protest march from the Vietnam Memorial Wall to the Pentagon on Saturday, and a battalion of 60-year-old Vietnam veterans is ready to do battle again.

Rumors are flying over the Internet.

The Vietnam Wall is sacred ground, how dare they stage their march in front of it? Didn't anti-war protestors recently spray-paint graffiti on the Capitol steps? We'll form a human wall in front of the Wall to protect it.

Cops should body-search every protestor, looking for spray-paint cans and chisels. Have the bail bondsmen ready.

We might be white-heads and chrome domes with bellies bigger than B-52 thousand pound bombs, but we know how to deal with people who protest policies set forth by our duly elected government officials.

And who's going to guard the Korean War and World War II Memorials? Our brothers from those wars are too old to do it. We have to organize like this is a military operation.

And on and on, the e-mails go.

St. Patrick's Day marks the fourth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War, and the 40th anniversary of the massive Vietnam era anti-war march on the Pentagon. Where were we on March 17, 1967?  ...

We tend to remember only dates that were significant to us - the battles, the first impressions, the funny moments. All the other dates blend together. So it's hard to say exactly where we were or what my platoon was doing on March 17, 1967. Perhaps we were out on patrol in a rice paddy or a jungle - "beating the bush," as we called it. Perhaps we were on one of the firebases near the DMZ, a respite from the constant patrols - cleaning gear, getting a hot meal or a haircut or writing a letter home.

Not many Vietnam veterans were around for that march on the Pentagon 40 years ago. We were in a different world, a world few anti-war protesters could even imagine. Maybe because we missed all that four decades ago, we want to be there this time. ...

EAGLES UP!

Click here to see the entire Old War Dogs Gathering Of Eagles series in one place.

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Re: Gathering Storm
By Greyhawk  

Smash, that quote from the Vietnam vets preparing to make a stand reminds me of Philip Caputo's account of an Iwo Jima veteran's "visit" to Northwestern University in the wake of the Kent State shootings:

The scene could have been lifted from a Delacroix painting of the French revolution. A young man stood atop a barricade of furniture and cars and saw-horses, his long hair tousled by the Lake Michigan wind, one hand grasping a pole flying a red flag and an upside-down American flag (a distress signal) as he exhorted some twenty-five hundred students massed behind him to "Strike! Strike!"

Suddenly, he was interrupted by a burly, black-haired, middle-age man dressed in a workingman's khaki trousers and a flannel shirt. Mounting the barricade, he tried to wrest the flag pole from the student. "That's my flag!" he yelled. "I fought for it. You have no right to it." ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 14, 2007 at 09:40 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, Peacenik Stupidity, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Where my heart will spend Saturday
Contributed by Bill Faith

Sorta slick what you can find on this new internet thingy these days. Sometimes I just can't resist playing with it a little. This is where I'll be Saturday, if only in spirit:

Looking from a little higher up:

I'd love to be there if I thought there was any way this tired old body could handle it. Will you be there for me?

EAGLES UP!

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 14, 2007 at 04:57 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack