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.

[dixie sass]

Bunnygutz thank you and your husband for coming to the Rally and welcome to FR.

I throughly enjoyed your beautiful town and the gracious people that made us so welcome.

Thank you.

[dixie sass]

I hope your father-in-law is doing okay and I know the birthday party was fun!

[Howlin]

Thanks for the good wishes; he is not doing well at all; this is his last hope -- and he's already saying he doesn't want to live like this. :-(

[Tax-chick]

Howlin, you have our prayers and sympathy. I hope the surgery is successful and he regains hope.

[Howlin]

Thanks. I hope he gets it soon; unless they can work him in, it's going to be a while. I never knew you had to wait so long for back surgery!

[dstarr]

I'm glad to see there was another local Freeper. My husband and I were out there also.

[IAmNotAnAnimal]

When I deployed last year, I explained to my six year old son that I was going to fight the bad guys, and we'd talked about it before. He loves to be on base and watch all the guys doing their "stuff".

He looked up at me and said "daddy?"

I said "what is it, big guy?"

He answered, and I quote "Are you sure you're going to be okay there without me to watch your back?" (he's heard me say over and over I've got your back.)

So, this is the answer to how to make a Ranger cry, and also reaffirms why I do what I do.

Thanks for everybody that showed up, it was a great time.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

All of the media there interviewed plenty of veterans on our side, but I don't think we were quoted much, or at all, in the final articles.

It was sure great to meet everyone.

For those who weren't there, the commies had a "peace truck" in front of the rally (post #5, 7th picture down ). Out of all media coverage, I didn't see it anywhere. The truck was an embarrassment to them. It had "President Bush" painted on the side ( I said it looked more like Paul Newman ) doing something or other with oil and Osama somehow in league with him.

[dixie sass]

Offering prayers Howlin.

[dixie sass]

No, they most probably didn't quote us very much but the ones that were quoted like Tax-Relief and Kristenn had zingers for them.

We weren't sensational enough for them. We are just nice, decent folks who care...

I saw the truck. I had been in town all of Friday and that was the first time that I had seen it. Ugly thing, wan't it!

[armymarinemom]

He answered, and I quote "Are you sure you're going to be okay there without me to watch your back?" (he's heard me say over and over I've got your back.)

Awwww, that makes me cry. Military children handle things much better than a lot of adults.

[tgslTakoma]

You guys (and everyone else in NC behind-the-scenes) did a fantastic job with this rally/counterprotest! I was so happy how well things worked out, including the fantastic weather you guys arranged for us; and I have to thank everyone for their hospitality throughout the weekend. You all were most gracious hosts and hostesses, but that's how things are done in the south.

We left yesterday and decided that we couldn't hang around for the museum and still have time to stop in Rocky Mount and let daughterofTGSL see her birthplace. CD, I was saddened even more this trip to see the changes in RM post-Floyd - blocks of houses just gone. When last we passed through RM, it was 8 or 9 months post-Floyd and we saw the damaged houses; but I guess I hadn't realized that the FedGov would probably buy them out and tear them down. What a shock to see the changes, with new houses built further out of town, etc.

Anyway, I'm wandering...

I have over 600 digital photos to sort through, so I won't be able to do much FReeping until I get that number whittled-down to a more reasonable amount to upload to Webshots.

Again, thanks to all for making this such a successful Tarheel FReep. It was great fun to make so many new friends and meet all my old friends, too!

[Ligeia]

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

Yes! They must have been a nervous wreck on that busy road. El Salvador is a member of the Coalition of the Willing and I am thrilled they came.

[Doctor Raoul]

The guy who ended up carrying it was Airborne!

The guy was big enough to eat hay too. They must have to let him use a cargo parachute.

[Ligeia]

It was so good to see you again! Wish that y'all could have stayed longer

Same! Next time we'll have to plan to stretch out the fun. When is next time, anyway . . . .

[IAmNotAnAnimal]

Looking forward to it...I really want a picture of the "belly dancer" with red and black hair dancing to the homemeade spam container drums, just dying for a new screensaver. If you don;t have one, then maybe someone from Protest Warriors could post a pic of Bellygirl.

[tgslTakoma]

Checking in for a bit... I have a lot of pictures to sort through, but not as many as I first said. I forgot I had photos from the Blue Star Mothers rally, our Walter Reed FReep of the "peace" protesters and the Media Research Center dinner on the same media card. I am looking at only (only?!) 300 pix from Saturday. So far, it looks like I have a bunch of good ones, but I haven't found any of the "belly dancer" that I can tell. I do have the "musicians"...

But darn! I have to stop working on the pictures for now... on call tonight and pager just went off...

Back later, most likely tomorrow night. Sigh.

P.S. It was very nice to meet you Saturday. And thank you for your service to our country.

[Dr. Zoo]

Chin up, Howlin and dittos to what Dixie said...

Dixie, thanks for the ping to your report, good job.

:>)

[Howlin]

Thanks, DZ!

[dixie sass]

Oh, IANAA, that brings tears to my eyes... Give the little guy a hug for me...