Gathering of Eagles 3/17/2007

When the day was over I left the city exhausted and immensley pleased with what this noble, rag-tag group of counter protesters had accomplished. Never again will we stand quietly in the background as the leftist, counter-culture marches and presumes to speak for all of us.
WE were the majority at THEIR rally. A sea of American flags obscured the DC skyline, from all angles.



These threats mobilized an army. Men and women who were no longer willing to stand quietly in the background. They showed up from all over the country, through snow storms and ice storms.
As I walked down the hill from the Foggy Bottom Metro station, the first thing visable was the ANSWER rally area. It was early, about 7:30am and the field was virtually empty. Passing by with a vet I had met up with on the walk, we approached the Eagles rally point. What a vast difference! Already there were droves of people, flags everywhere and in the air a feeling of pride and honor the other side will never know or understand.



I wandered the area, helping to put up even more flags, talking with various folks and just generally enjoying the chilly DC morning. After awhile, I decided to go visit the wall, I wanted to take some pictures for my father. Security was tight. The park service apparently decided the threats were real enough to warrant fencing off the area and requiring a security check including a metal detector. The line to get through was 3 hours! Not a "moonbat" to be seen in THAT line.

I then wandered up to the Lincoln Memorial and was amazed at the amount of people that were there. Eagles all....


From there I went back to see what was going on at the rally point. More people had arrived. Motorcycle clubs were there enmass. The Military MC, Rolling Thunder, Viet Nam Vets USA to name a few. Flag planting was still going on, and there were lots of folks milling around. Lots of hugs, lots of tears, lots of pride and honor.

I hung out here for awhile, watching, talking, walking around. Then I wandered up to the Lincoln Memorial again and then over to where a bunch of Eagles had gathered across the street from ANSWER's rally. It was obvious that we outnumbered them 3 to 1 at that point.

This area was alot of fun! When Cindy Sheehan was announced as a speaker....well let's just say that the booing out blasted their multi-thousand dollar PA system. When the chant arose from the other side "A people united, will never be defeated", the vets answered with "USA" We won...again.
I talked with a bunch of people here. Vets, civilians, supporters all. I watched as "make a hole" rang thru the crowd for a vet in a wheel chair and the people parted in respect for a disabled brother. I watched as grown men in leather openly hugged and wept with joy at what was going on and the companionship and support they were enjoying some 40 years later. Poignant, telling and endlessly beautiful.

As the protesters prepared to march, I headed over to the memorial bridge, as that's the location I chose to stand. On my walk over, I met a Military MC Vet from PA. He offered me a hand warmer which I gratefully accepted. We walked to the bridge and waited. Shortly before they came thru, the NPS asked us to move to the other side of the street as our permit was for the left side of the road, not the right. Some of us complied, most did not. We had them from both sides as they began across the bridge. One vet attempted to make a solitary stand in the middle of the road...NPS made him move.



And then they came. With all their hate and propaganda. And the vets were relentless. It was obvious these protesters had never faced a crowd of trained military men. They were fairly quiet, the few who did speak out were quickly put in their place with shouts of "shame on you", "your grandfather would be ashamed of you" (which had a noticable effect on several of the high school age kids there!) and "traitor".
I ran out of film just as the began to approach (next time bring a digital or many disposables)So I just watched. Amazed at the ignorance that was marching before my very eyes. If you've only seen these events on TV, you have no idea what feelings rage thru you. Anger, sadness, fear for our country and yes, pride for those standing shoulder to shoulder in defense of what is right. When the entire group I was with turned their backs, enmass, on one particularly rude individual, for a moment you could have heard a pin drop. AMAZING.

I'm glad that I went. Proud to have stood with all these beautiful men and women. And the protesters for ANSWER SHOULD be ashamed of themselves. They had the perfect opportunity to thank vets for their right to march. Instead of throwing insults, they should have crossed the lines, shook hands with each and every vet there and thanked them. Regardless of political beliefs, regardless of agenda's, THESE were the men and women who gave them the RIGHT to do exactly what they were doing. Talk about a wasted opportunity! SHAME ON YOU!