I am happy to report that Protest Warrior's overpass rally in support of the elections in Iraq was a complete success on Friday afternoon during rush hour traffic. My heartfelt and enthusiastic thanks to BlueOneGolf and Kadnine. It would not have happened without them!
The three of us deployed to the I-64 overpass at Browns Lane in St. Matthews around 16:30 Friday. BlueOneGolf had acquired all of the military service flags and a flag with all the service emblems that stated "We support our troops." He quickly attached those along with Old Glory to his truck, which he conspicuously parked on the shoulder of the overpass with the hazard blinkers on. Kadnine and I unfurled my poorly-stenciled "God Bless the Free Iraq" banner and held tightly to the top of it as it draped in the wind over the overpass. We were short a pair of hands as one of our compatriots had to address the realities of life and couldn't make it at the last minute on Friday. However, we quickly regrouped and figured out how to unfurl and hold onto the second banner which (again, in my sub-standard stencil style) read "God Bless America."
The response was amazing! Not only did cars on Browns Lane (behind us) honk and wave, just about every 18-wheeler and many, many cars on the interstate sent us their support via some long, enthusiastic horn blasts and open-window waves. At one point, I heard a honk from behind me on Browns Lane... I turned around to see a St. Matthews police cruiser pulled over on the opposite shoulder of the overpass. Before I could even worry about being in trouble, the officer smiled, waved, and gave me a big thumbs up! He pulled off and left us grinning. Thank you, officer! I have yet to meet a police officer anywhere in Louisville who doesn't enjoy seeing us out there on the streets showing our support for all the great ideals for which our nation stands. God bless them all!
About fifteen minutes after our mission began, a WLKY-32 news truck pulled off the shoulder about 10 yards from where we stood. They videotaped something with a reporter but never talked to us (on camera or off). As far as I can tell there was no coverage on WLKY that evening so who knows what they were up to? It was odd in many ways... why shoot a reporter talking about something with the I-64 traffic in the background? Why choose the same overpass? Go figure.
Toward the end of our mission, I was determined to get a picture of the rally from the interstate level and left the fellas on the overpass to find my way down to the freeway. I hopped the guardrail, scrambled down into the brush, crawled under some barbed wire and emerged on the grass of the westbound side of I-64. Snapped a few pictures (the best of which I've posted here) and crawled back up. I felt like a commando. I suppose that's about as close as I'm going to get to commando status at my advanced age, eh? ;-) By the time I got back to the overpass, the news truck was gone and it was almost 6pm. It was time to draw the mission to a close.
Again, my deepest thanks to Kadnine and BlueOneGolf for their enthusiasm and dedication to the cause. I hope that Kadnine will share the pictures of our mission with his compatriots still in Iraq. We are so proud of them all and proud of the Iraqi people who are voting today!!
Letting our Free Flags Fly! The banner says "God Bless the Free Iraq"
The three of us deployed to the I-64 overpass at Browns Lane in St. Matthews around 16:30 Friday. BlueOneGolf had acquired all of the military service flags and a flag with all the service emblems that stated "We support our troops." He quickly attached those along with Old Glory to his truck, which he conspicuously parked on the shoulder of the overpass with the hazard blinkers on. Kadnine and I unfurled my poorly-stenciled "God Bless the Free Iraq" banner and held tightly to the top of it as it draped in the wind over the overpass. We were short a pair of hands as one of our compatriots had to address the realities of life and couldn't make it at the last minute on Friday. However, we quickly regrouped and figured out how to unfurl and hold onto the second banner which (again, in my sub-standard stencil style) read "God Bless America."
The response was amazing! Not only did cars on Browns Lane (behind us) honk and wave, just about every 18-wheeler and many, many cars on the interstate sent us their support via some long, enthusiastic horn blasts and open-window waves. At one point, I heard a honk from behind me on Browns Lane... I turned around to see a St. Matthews police cruiser pulled over on the opposite shoulder of the overpass. Before I could even worry about being in trouble, the officer smiled, waved, and gave me a big thumbs up! He pulled off and left us grinning. Thank you, officer! I have yet to meet a police officer anywhere in Louisville who doesn't enjoy seeing us out there on the streets showing our support for all the great ideals for which our nation stands. God bless them all!
About fifteen minutes after our mission began, a WLKY-32 news truck pulled off the shoulder about 10 yards from where we stood. They videotaped something with a reporter but never talked to us (on camera or off). As far as I can tell there was no coverage on WLKY that evening so who knows what they were up to? It was odd in many ways... why shoot a reporter talking about something with the I-64 traffic in the background? Why choose the same overpass? Go figure.
Toward the end of our mission, I was determined to get a picture of the rally from the interstate level and left the fellas on the overpass to find my way down to the freeway. I hopped the guardrail, scrambled down into the brush, crawled under some barbed wire and emerged on the grass of the westbound side of I-64. Snapped a few pictures (the best of which I've posted here) and crawled back up. I felt like a commando. I suppose that's about as close as I'm going to get to commando status at my advanced age, eh? ;-) By the time I got back to the overpass, the news truck was gone and it was almost 6pm. It was time to draw the mission to a close.
Again, my deepest thanks to Kadnine and BlueOneGolf for their enthusiasm and dedication to the cause. I hope that Kadnine will share the pictures of our mission with his compatriots still in Iraq. We are so proud of them all and proud of the Iraqi people who are voting today!!
Letting our Free Flags Fly! The banner says "God Bless the Free Iraq"
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