Part 1: The Rally
With enthusiam in our hearts and coffee in our veins, Mark (my "partner in crime") and I left La Grange, KY for Washington D.C. on Friday. We drove for over 10 hours that afternoon, taking the northern route up through Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and into DC. Unfortunately, we hadn't anticipated that nasty little snow storm -- we weren't alone there, were we? -- and got bogged down in Maryland for a while.
We ran into some of the Rolling Thunder guys on our way into the hotel near the Iwo Jima memorial. This was indeed welcome confirmation that we had finally made it to our destination! I had quit smoking the day before we went on this roadtrip so we avoided the bar at the hotel... in retrospect, I wish I had spent some time there or anywhere we might have gotten to know our fellow Eagles a bit better. All weekend long, everyone we ran into at the hotel, at the Metro, and at the National Mall was genuinely nice. Camaraderie was in the air all over D.C. this weekend -- there were smiles on the faces of those of us with flags and armbands. It was hard to miss.
Saturday morning came very early for those of us who were delayed by the snow on Friday evening. However, we pulled ourselves together and joined muster in the cold and biting wind for The Gathering of Eagles rally on Saturday morning.
The first thing we noticed when we arrived was all of the American flags flying -- my God! I don't imagine the National Mall has EVER seen so many American flags in all the years of its existence. It made our hearts swell with pride! We had our Old Glory and a "We Support Our Troops" flag with us but we really hadn't anticipated that so many others would bring Old Glory with them too. I guess we should have known, eh? After all, we were among true patriots -- men and women who served (and are serving) this country. Who best to fly Old Glory?
Where would a ConservaChick be without her flag and armband?
Mark (ConservaChick's partner in crime) flying Old Glory
The opening rally for The Gathering of Eagles included an awesome variety of speakers and song: a rousing rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" in which everyone sang along, a very assertive Pledge of Allegiance, a prayer that said everything we all needed to hear on its way to God's ears, an original song called "So Brave" (by Angela Lashley), and original songs by Lloyd Marcus. We heard from the founders of The Gathering of Eagles, from a California congressman, from a Gold Star Mom and a Gold Star Dad, from a Green Beret, from a Purple Heart recipient, from the President of Rolling Thunder, and from other veterans and organizers. I wish my hands hadn't been too numb from the cold to record the names of each of the speakers. I apologize for being less than specific here. Each person who spoke at this rally certainly deserves to have his/her words recorded online as they were all very moving.
The Rally stage and the entire area were covered with over 1,000 American flags -- that's not even counting the flags that the attendees carried with them throughout the day!
Prayers were in order -- from our hearts to God's ear.
George Washington would have been proud.
It's clear that a contingent from Oklahoma was present and accounted for on Saturday!
Not only were there American flags everywhere, there were well-made homemade signs everywhere as well. I took pictures of as many as possible just to share with you all the sentiment that ran through the crowd. You'll notice in later pictures that the signs carried by the anti-war protesters were all mass produced by ANSWER. These signs came from the heart. We were all there to support our troops, to protect our monuments, and to ensure that those watching knew that there was another point of view that was worth supporting. The signs said as much.
Yes, indeed.
While we were certainly the minority among the Eagles on Saturday,
we women made ourselves seen and heard!
In addition, The Gathering of Eagles was an awesome showing for "payback" -- Vietnam veterans who had been silent all these years were finally making their voices heard. It was a moment in history that will be replayed over and over and over again in my heart and my mind. I know it's probably politically incorrect for me to call it "payback," but that's what I felt during the day. I even felt as though I were paying back the idiot hippies of yesteryear for the way they mistreated my father and his brothers in arms when they returned from Vietnam.
I couldn't help but enjoy watching this vet. He had no problem expressing himself.
Give 'em hell, brother Eagle!
These men and women, Vietnam veterans, who had been so badly betrayed by our government, our people, and some of their fellow warriors during the Vietnam War, were finally able to unleash all of the resentment that they'd held inside for so long on a whole new misled generation of idiots. I hope this generation of idiots was paying attention. They need not be so naive and so hateful as those who came before them; they need not inflict emotional and mental wounds on a whole new generation of patriots the way their parents did.
I'd like to sincerely thank Carla and John Fleming for the thoughtful gift that Carla handed me to give to my Dad. Carla was asking everyone in the crowd if he/she was a veteran. When she asked me, I told her that I was not but that my Dad was a Vietnam vet. She handed me a nicely presented gift and told me to get it to my Dad for her. I will be giving it to him tomorrow evening. I know he will be touched to have been remembered in such a lovely way by folks he's never even met. God bless you both, Carla and John. You've touched more people than you know.
In part two of this recap, I'll tell you more about our crowd, the protesters who had to "run the gauntlet," and the bridge crossing. Stay tuned!
Comments
(Lloyd Marcus sings a few bars at the end of this MM clip. Nice voice.)
I look forward to reading your report about the gauntlet.
I was there with a group that drove down from New York. Having taken part in smaller gatherings against the New York Times and such in New York it was refreshing for us to be at a venue where we outnumbered the moonbats!
http://theredhunter.com/IM000039.JPG
Keep up the good work, don't let trolls like Anonymous deter you, and thank your dad for his service from a bunch of New Yorkers.
DanNY
Your comment is nothing but a "blathering" nonsense. Why even put forth the effort to type that out? Dunce.
It was a real treat being the majority that day, wasn't it? I've done some Protest Warrior counter-protests in Louisville and we were always the minority against the local moonbats. I can only IMAGINE how outnumbered you all might be in NY state!
Keep up the fine work in NY and I sure hope to see you all again at the next mass rally!!
All the best,
Dawn
And as for the trolls, will everyone just ignore them???? Hell, we learned that, way back 'at the beginning of time.'
Trolls are like a wee bit of fire. Pay no attention to them. It's like cutting off a fire's oxygen. The trolls will sputter a bit. And then... just flicker out. >,-)
Every time you see a troll comment, think of that!!!! Wee little flame. We will pay no attention to you. And you will sputter and die out, in our blogging midst.
Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
'Sweety'
Most excellent after action report.
OOO RAAAHHHHHH!!!!!
Plus -- yep, I can admit it -- trolls give me the few opportunities I get in life to use the word "dunce!" hehehe
Reminds me of the old Foghorn Leghorn cartoons with the little Chickenhawk that was able to drag old Foghorn Leghorn around by the tail feathers. I guess that would be us, eh? We are awfully strong, aren't we?!
Great point!
Chickenhawk1 over and out.