After Action Report From Crawford

basil ^ | 8/28/05 | basil

[basil]

Thanks for posting this for me, 2nd Amendment Mama. I wanted everyone to be able to see our "Texan for the Day"!

[JulieRNR21]

Have no worry about lack of media coverage. (Is anyone really surprised?). Many, many cameras got this rally memorialized on film, and that film will find it's way to Iraq and Afghanistan and our troops will know that there is huge support for them in the U S of A! That was the point--that was our message, and our Service Men and Women will know this!

Thanks for sharing that perspective. Many of us have been bombarding the media, especially FOX over the lack of adequate coverage.

Thanks for reminding us that the most important thing is that our brave men & women in Iraq know that we support them!

And I'm sure that the President was informed of the gathering of his supporters.

[lolhelp]

Thank you very much for all you did for all, freepers, troops, Bush, etc, etc. I was so glad to see Jim there, I know from personal expereince how hard it is to have to miss so much, when you can't travel.

[hsalaw]

"Many, many cameras got this rally memorialized on film, and that film will find it's way to Iraq and Afghanistan and our toops will know that there is huge support for them in the U S of A!"

Wonderful! Our prayers go with it.

[Rooivalk]

My Thanks for you guys standing up and representing us all. We'll pick it up for the next demonstration

Now take your much deserved rest

[bethtopaz]

Basil, I wish I could have been there! I was able to be present at the start of the Caravan -- in Vacaville and Sacramento.

But it warms my heart and puts a great big smile on my face to read about it. I AM SO PROUD OF Y'ALL!!!

Like you say, the MOST IMPORTANT thing is that our wonderful and brave troops can see the footage for themselves and know, without a doubt, they have the undying support of a majority of Americans -- who support them AND their mission.

[Albion Wilde]

Inimitable skill; tireless dedication. Thank you so much! Only wish you and the DC Chapter could have been in two places at once!

[CedarDave]

I came from SE NM and left after work Friday. Drove to Eastland Texas and spent the night. MapQuest picked a route to travel that I thought was not the easiest or fastest. So took Texas 6 most of the way. For you non-Texans, most two-lane state highways or FM roads are 70 mph so you can make good time without traveling Interstates.

Got to Crawford about 9:30 and recognized Kristin and Dr. Raoul immediately. It was already seriously hot and Kristin was sweating profusely. Introduced myself to Basil and grabbed a stapler to finish my sign (which is reproduced in my tagline below). A group from Ft. Benning, GA had the very large American flag with patches from various groups sewn on supporting our troops. Also, I think they were largely responsible for the large tent that made the early afternoon heat somewhat bearable. The firemen had their barbecue going but what they probably didn't need to turn up the heat very far as ol' sol provided a goodly amount of warmth. However water was everywhere in cattle drinking troughs filled to the brim with ice.

About 12:45 the caravan rolled in including Jim Rob. Though supposed to start 1:00 p.m., it was delayed 15 minutes because of the traffic jam. Once it got started, there was the Pledge of Allegiance, singing of the National Anthem and an invocation. Some of us brave souls ventured out into the area between the tent and the stage to wave our signs high. The sun was brutal and I had to retreat to the shade a couple of times. A number of people came up to me to thank me for my service and today's servicemen thanked me for my support -- Lots of thumbs up from folks. (A number of pictures of me and my sign were snapped but I've not seen any posted -- lots of pic on the main thread have X's through them).

I was asked by Dr. Rauol to ask anyone with derogatory signs about Cindy to put them down. I went up to one man who had a sign calling her a "ditch bitch" to take it down. He refused, got indignant, talked about free speech, etc., and asked if I was going to fight him to make him take it down, that the rally wasn't about Cindy but about our troops and their mission. About that time some of the press saw the sign and the confrontation and swarmed over like flies on honey. To avoid drawing any further attention, I let him be but later he worked his way up behind the podium so that the press couldn't help but see his sign in the background. He was publicly asked to put it down, but refused. At that point he was escorted out by the police, only to return after the rally for whatever reason I don't know. However, the police were called back, but he left before they arrived.

This incident was different than the one where the Protest Warriors were mistaken for anti-war protesters and set upon. This occurred even though they were identified as on our side. The emotion apparently overcame close reading of their signs and they too were escorted off the site.

The Gold Star families who opposed their son/daughters name on Camp Casey crosses were asked to meet in a tent by the podium to go over and remove them. Then an announcement came that said all crosses were removed so that the families couldn't have a press moment in all the Cindy coverage. However, I drove by both Camp Casey 1 and 2 at dusk and crosses were present at both locations. (BTW, CC2 has a huge very white tent, almost looks like a permanent structure, not canvas. It is located at the southwest end of Prairie Chapel road opposite that road's entrance to the Bush ranch.)

Two of families there lost sons from the same unit, but didn't know it until they met up in the tent. One of the two was the family from New Jersy sent down there by Hannity. Following the rally, I stayed to help break down and clean up. I started to assist but suddenly felt sick, weak and very hot. I had stopped sweating so I thought I was maybe experiencing the first stage of heat stroke. A couple of ladies got ice cold towels for my head and a cold water bottle for my neck and after a while I felt better and continued to assist Kristinn, who was not about to leave the site without it being pristine (I took about a dozen loads of trash in my pickup to the dumpster). We took chairs back into the community center where I encountered FFforFreedom suffering from severe heat cramps. His cell phone was dead so he took mine and called 911 for help. They came and gave him an IV solution which was administered by other EMT's in the center.

Following the cleanup, I drove over to Camp Casey 1 where I joined other in protesting until an evening dust and wind storm sent me back to my truck and I decided it was time to start back to NM.

[rawcatslyentist]

>"Will this be put onto a DVD? Can't DVDs be mass reproduced pretty cheaply?"

Yes dvds are cheap nowadays .25 per disc. However VCDs are even better. Easier to copy. Even cheaper medium CDRs.
Nero burns them quite well. They play in most dvd box players also.

Kill A Commie For Mommie
Seven Dead Monkeys Page O Tunes

[W04Man]

GREAT JOB!! BUMP!!

[bmwcyle]

Great work everyone. Sean "Hollywood" Hannity is too good to report about what you guys are doing.

[BufordP]

BIG BIG THANKS!

[Cathy]

You are the best!

I hope everyone is rested up for September 24! Hopefully it will not be so HOT!!

[maxwellp]

I turned off FoxNews because I was getting tired of looking at Cindy Sheehan. Now I come to FreeRepublic only. My sincere congratulations on a job well done! I'm sure our military folks will be extremely grateful.

[JarheadFromFlorida]

Outstanding work Basil! We are damn proud of you and all of the others that made it to Crawford to show the mondern day Jane Fonda that she does not speak for us.

Semper Fi'
Jarhead

[bray]

Thank you for your Support basil. We appreciate it.

Pray for W and New Orleans

[SeaBiscuit]

Thanks for the colorful report, God bless you and all who gave their time and money to support the Troops and our President.

ps. No ticket..but a warning to slow down..God is watching over you. ;-)

[basil]

CedarDave, your contributions to this event were many, and I'm so sorry I overlooked mentioning all the help you were. (I knew I'd forget someone),

CedarDave was everywhere helping out anyway he could. You always know who the toughest freepers are--they're usually the last to leave an event, and they don't leave until the staging site is cleaner that it was on our arrival.

CedarDave did so much to help us achieve that goal. He also helped with setting things up--and whenever he saw someone who needed a hand, he pitched right in.

It's folks like CedarDave who help to insure that whatever action freepers are doing, it will be a success. It was my pleasure to meet you, CD, and I hope we'll meet again someday, on another Freeper Field!

[maica]

(A number of pictures of me and my sign were snapped but I've not seen any posted -- lots of pic on the main thread have X's through them).

%%%%%


Somewhere on the live thread, your sign showed up. I'm sure I read it, and really appreciated the message.

Thanks for all your work, and for this report.