Fayetteville, NC FReep: After-action thread II

Free Republic Network & others ^ | 03/21/2004 | Constitution Day

[Constitution Day]

Some random thoughts:

On Saturday, March 20th, 2004, the Old North State Chapter of the Free Republic Network was joined by FReepers & patriots from NC and other states.
We came from points far & wide to FReep International ANSWER when they descended upon Fayetteville in an angry, festering mob that had the sheer shamelessness to bring their anti-military vitriol to the home of Fort Bragg.

I arrived at our permitted location before 10 AM, and it wasn't long before people began to arrive and set up signs and flags.

One thing that was striking to me at this event was the amount of media present.
I was interviewed by at least two local TV stations, one local newspaper, and the New York Times.
kristinn has a full list of the media present at the event.

Before long, there were many veterans and a few active-duty soldiers with us, and I deeply appreciate their service and their time spent with us, advancing the cause of freedom.
As the beautiful morning progressed, many drivers passed by, honking their horns and giving us thumbs-up for being there.

Before noon, we began to notice the anti-war march making its way up the street.
You couldn't miss the ramshackle "peace truck" leading the way; this was the same truck that Freepers were falsely accused of vandalizing.

We yelled "WE GAVE PEACE A CHANCE, WE GOT 9/11" at them as they passed us, giving the middle finger and shouting who knows what kind of epithets at us.
After they had passed, we relocated to the hill across from the park where the anti-war rabble had arrived at.
The Rolling Thunder group was out in full force with their Harleys, signs and flags displayed prominently.
I listened in amazement as virtually every liberal cause celebre was trotted out for their audience.
This ran the gamut from pro-union diatribes to anti-police screeds, feminist dictums, Halliburton/Cheney conspiracies and the like.

The D.C. and S.C. Chapter members present were also a great help. I'm especially grateful for the emcee duties of kristinn and Doctor Raoul, who also led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and the singing of "God Bless America".

The officers from the Fayetteville Police Department were very professional and I personally would like to thank them for the hard work they did.

One thing that was striking was that the Airborne & Special Ops Museum and the war memorials across the street had to be cordoned off from the "pro-military" anti-war crowd.
I will post more later.

[Huber]

Here are some of my favorite blurry shots, (the drug store could stand to upgrade their digital imaging equipment just a bit!)


I liked the juxtaposition of the two sides of this photo!

Makes sense to me


A few FReepers

[Huber]

Once again, a FReeper scopes out the excellent comradely people's revolutionary automobile (seats 12 with livestock)

[Howlin]

Hey, it's late. They look fine to me!

[armymarinemom]

Thank you so much for being there!!!!!! Great work. Now if only some other folks would have showed up........

[Constitution Day]

Fred Mertz told me to tell you hello. So hello!

[Constitution Day]

NC ping!

3/20/2004 -- Protests in Fayetteville (photos by Fayetteville Observer

[mommybain]

That 'whiney-hiney' photo was in yesterday's Winston-Salem Journal too. It looked GREAT!

[Constitution Day]

I made that sign.
The guy who ended up carrying it was Airborne!

[FreedomPoster]

Consolidated 3/20/2004 Counter-Protest FReep Report Thread
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1102940/posts

You might ping your local participant ping list here.

[mommybain]

Good for you!

[Constitution Day]

Hey! Sorry I left your name off.

I am such a bonehead sometimes.

[AlwaysFree]

This poster is absolutely priceless. My only regret is that I didn't think of it first (My hat's off to the one who did!!).

It was a beautiful day in Fayetteville and I had a great time. Thanks to all the Freepers who attended.

FREEP ON!!!!!!!!!!!

[spacewarp]

This was a great post. Why (other than general curiousity) would you be even concerned about this one. YAY FREEPERS!! (BTW, NEXT time, count me in. I'm not going to be in Charlotte anymore!!!)

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Thank you for your courageous service, and your (also courageous!) willingness to speak up in the public square, IAMNotAnAnimal.

Constitution Day, thanks for the thread, pics, passion, inspiration!

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

    *** Thank you! ***

 

For the troops, bump!

 

 

[Ligeia]

Hey, no problem! It was fun. I'd forgotten how ignorant, deceived, and hateful the leftists are, though. Phew! Wouldn't it be miserable waking up everyday being a lefty??

Fayetteville is a very nice town and the police couldn't have been nicer or more professional. One officer gave me a chuckle when he said they'd been monitoring our threads and saw MOAB and thought we meant the bomb when it was actually the 'mother of all banners!'

The locals who responded to media coverage and came were great company. I especially enjoyed speaking Spanish with a young El Salvadorian couple who'd driven from Goldsboro to show support for the troops. They were concerned because their friends hadn't shown up and were feared lost. When they borrowed my cell phone they realized their friends had inadvertently joined LOS MALOS across the street!! They quickly joined the us, the good guys on the knoll.

Thanks again for organizing everything and I hope somehow the men and women overseas know the leftists and America haters were ANSWERed with truth.

[IAmNotAnAnimal]

Was this the hispanic couple with the ultra-cute kid who kept wandering off, keeping mom and dad busy?

[dixie sass]

I think I am back to normal now, whatever that is, lol. You for we had some up and coming Freepers with us - the next generation of conservatives.

It is good to see that our values are being carried forward into the next generation!

[dixie sass]

Goodness, please be careful UpChuck! South Carolina can't afford to loose you and our unofficial mascot Snoopy!

[dixie sass]

Great pictures, Constitution Day.

You and Tax Relief and the rest of the NC Chapter did a fantastic job!!!!!