FReep 53 at Walter Reed, April 21 (Heavy graphics, Join us April 28!)

DC Chapter ^ | April 28, 2006 | BillF with photos by PleaDeal and tgslTakoma

[BillF]

This FReep is a continuation of a struggle over more than one year with Code Pink at Walter Reed after a preliminary skirmish more than two years ago. The background is in the beginning of last week's report. Here is a listing of reports (the link itself may open a pop-up window) from all of the WR FReeps as compiled and updated by BufordP. (Unfortunately, I have yet to upload the photos from most of the earlier reports following relocation of my website to a different hosting company. Until I do, many of the earlier photos will be missing.)

Kudos to PleaDeal (aka, The Gunn Nut) who publicized the WR FReep to those attending a MilBlog conference in the DC area such that numerous of the bloggers attended the FReep in spite of terrible weather. The rain started early in the FReep, became very heavy, and occasionally was hard enough that we gave serious thought to collecting pairs of animals for a long boat ride. The FReep started with the temperature above 60 degrees, but dropped to mid-fifties as the rain continued.

We had a great turnout of dedicated FReepers from the DC Chapter and beyond as we FReeped on all four corners of the main gate at Walter Reed for the 14th week in a row.  (Our control of the four corners followed the Pinkos' retreat as explained in the thread relative to January 20: Code Pink Retreats from Walter Reed-Freepers Win! (Week 40 Report at #1352). )

The Pinkos continue to be relegated to an area about a block away such that the wounded and their relatives do NOT have to pass close by them to enter or leave Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Indeed, the Pinkos' presence is easy to overlook such that many troops and relatives may not even be aware of the Pinkos.  Since the Pinkos are completely gone from the gate, we usually have many wounded troops join us or stop by to thank us for being there.  Tonight, in spite of the rain, and probably because of the tremendous buzz generated by the MilBloggers, we had a large number of wounded troops join us.

We are winning our psych-op against the Pinkos and have almost demolished their heartless psych-op against our war-wounded troops, but we continue to need more FReepers and other patriots to attend. Please join us this Friday, April 28, at 6:30 pm per details below. Please also bump this thread to keep it on top. Stand up against the Pinkos who've endorsed "the Iraqi resistance" (as they call our enemy, see here and here), given money to the other side in Fallujah, and called our troops "killers."  Then, the Pinkos demonstrate at the hospital and pretend that they support our troops.

Lifting the spirits of our war-wounded heroes is what we aim to do. If you live in the area, please join us. If you really can't join us due to work, family, or medical reasons or you don't live in the area, you can help in other ways by contacting PleaDeal by FReepmail for ideas.

The honor roll of those in attendance (lurkers are marked with an asterisk*):

Adam*, Agnieszka*, Albion Wilde, Alex (from NJ, B), Bear (WR), Bill from MD*, BufordP, Carol (MB), Cindy-true-supporter, Dustin (WR), Fraxinus, Heidi (MB, Euphoric Reality), Jeff*, Jeremiah (WR), Jim and Carla (MB, Some Soldier s Mom), John (WR), JoyjoyfromNJ, Ken (WR), Laurie (MB, Soldiers Angels NY) and her Mother, MaryAnn (MB, Soldiers Angels Germany), Melanie (MB), PleaDeal, posterchild (from Massachusetts!), Rex (WR, Desert Storm, Iraq War), Rob (WR), Sandy (MB), Special Guest (whose identity is secret), Stacy (MB), tgslTakoma, Toni (MB, Bear Creek Ledger), trooprally (Mr. and Mrs.), Wendy (from Wisconsin, B), Wild Bill (WR, Vietnam, Grenada, Desert Storm, Iraq War), and BillF.  (Walter Reed patients marked with "WR," MilBloggers marked with "MB," other bloggers marked with "B," and lurkers marked with an asterisk. The links for some MilBloggers are to the person's MilBlog.)

The honor roll is incomplete. The rain was so hard that the ink was running on my paper as I tried to write down names. I switched to using a recorder to ask people to let me record their first names, but could not keep doing that, lest the recorder get damaged from the rain. There were probably another 8 to 10 people who joined us and have not been listed.

[CLICK ON A PHOTO TO OPEN A LARGER VERSION IN A NEW WINDOW if it has a border around it. If a photo doesn't have a border, it is not hyperlinked to a larger version.  Click on another hyperlinked photo and its larger version should open in the same window that the first enlarged photo did. Or you can simply close the window with the enlarged photo and click on another photo in the report to open a new window with an enlarged photo. Note that some of the wider photos may open in a window wider than your screen and you can use a horizontal scroll bar to see parts. I didn't take any photos because of the rain and I was spending my time trying to get the attendance. Photos taken by tgslTakoma and by PleaDeal will be interspersed in the report. You may see all of tgslTakoma's photos here and all of PleaDeal's photos here. This is tgslTakoma's blog and this is PleaDeal's blog and it included this report on the FReep.

You can see who took a hyperlinked photo (i.e., borders at edge) by running your mouse over it. On other photos, right click on the photo and click properties. The key is this: photos taken by tgslTakoma have a name beginning with "D-tgsl" and photos taken by PleaDeal have a name beginning with "D-pd."  I may have cropped some of the photos.]

Opposed to our at least 37 patriots, the Pinkos only had 7 America-hating traitors and their dupes when I counted, but they may have had a few others who left early. They were outnumbered, yet again, even in the liberal bastion of Washington, DC. Although we outnumbered the Pinkos, we had the bloggers and that helped us get the troops out to join us in large numbers. We need you there this Friday to continue outnumbering the Pinkos.

tgslTakoma's great new MOAB (Mother-Of-All-Banners) with BufordP at left and trooprally (Mr.) at right, early on as rain started.

A view of the MOAB, at it's usual Northeast corner location, when the rain became heavy. Notice splash from rain at right in street.

Five of the soldiers lined up in front of the MOAB. That's Ken at the right.

Adam holds his own great sign thanking our troops

Agnieszka is a hard core supporter of our troops, who came from Colorado.

Bill at right on the Southeast corner.

Rob and Carla, who wrote a great report about the FReep on her blog.

Carla and Stacy with one of the troops.

Seven soldiers with MaryAnn, Carla, and Stacy.

Heidi (Euphoric Reality), BillF, and MaryAnn (Soldiers Angels Germany).

PleaDeal at left talks with some of the bloggers.

JoyjoyfromNJ holding a sign and one end of the MOAB.

The troops, who joined us, were all veterans of Iraq and/or Afghanistan. Rex is a veteran of Desert Storm and the Iraq War. Wild Bill is a veteran of Vietnam, Grenada, Desert Storm, and two tours in the Iraq War.

It was great to have the wonderful bloggers out in force to join us, in addition to numerous of the heroes now being treated at Walter Reed. Many of the bloggers came from far away. Despite a busy conference schedule and the terrible weather, the bloggers still attended the FReep.

Among FReepers and lurkers, Agnieszka came from Colorado, Joyjoyfrom NJ came from New Jersey, and posterchild came from Massachusetts. How about you? Don't let these photos confuse you, this time of year usually provides good to great weather for FReeping.

If you're outside the DC area, we would gladly welcome you to FReep with us. Come to DC, which is now beautiful (most of the time) in spring, visit the tourist sites, and FReep with us on Friday night. Support our troops in person. Meet with some of them and you'll be moved. 

Smithsonian's vast array of Museums (Air and Space Museum is most popular and now has an extensive and amazing annex in nearby Virginia close to Dulles Airport), the Iwo Jima Memorial, Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln Monuments, the Vietnam and WWII Memorials, Arlington National Cemetery, and the International Spy Museum are among the more popular places to visit.  

Cindy-true-supporter with the MOAB in back.

The Southwest corner.

trooprally (Mrs. and Mr.) at the Northwest corner.

The bus returns wounded heroes from Fran O'Brien's Friday night free meal. April 28 will be the last night for this program at FOB, barring an unlikely miracle. FOB will try to find a new location as the free Friday meal program will probably be hosted elsewhere. See various FR threads about the matter.

We continue to send our best wishes for a number of FReepers, and their loved ones, who have medical problems.

Cindy-true-supporter told us that her son Gavin had been home from the hospital for over a week. He has had a near miraculous recovery, but still suffers from being hit by a hit-and-run underage drunk driver.

3D-Joy, who was severely injured in a car crash several weeks ago, has been staying with a relative in the DC area and still faces quite a long period of recovery. 

Although we've had no further updates for several weeks, last we heard, AirForceBrat23's grandfather is well on the road to recovery from a serious medical problem.

Landry Fan, who FReeped at Walter Reed countless times beginning last summer and was outstanding in arranging contributions for injured troops as well as helping them in other ways, remains sidelined with medical problems. We hope and pray that she will recover in the near future and would ask all to pray for her, the others mentioned above, and all of our troops.

Let's help our wounded heroes maintain a positive attitude.  We absolutely must keep the pressure on Code Pink and keep showing the wounded troops at Walter Reed that Code Pink doesn't speak for the nation. If you live in the DC area and haven't yet come out for one of these FReeps, please do so this next Friday. Injured Walter Reed patients, including amputees, and their families have repeatedly told us how important it is for us to be there to counter Code Pink and their ugly anti-troops agenda.

If we can sufficiently outnumber the leftists often enough, embarrassment may cause the leftists to stop these outrageous morale-damaging ("Maimed for a lie" was one of their commonly-used signs) demonstrations at the hospital. If some are immune to embarrassment, and, at the very least, we can hinder their psychological warfare operation against the wounded troops. What about you? Can you spare a few hours on a Friday night? 

Can you give up next Friday night at the movies to support troops who've given up limbs for your freedoms? Will you? If you missed all of the first year of these FReeps, please join us at least once in the near future. You'll be glad that you did.

This FReep is rewarding, fun, and important for our troops and our nation.

[SANYLaurie]

It was an *honor* to be there. I'm definitely glad that I went, even though it was rainy and miserable. Just wish I could have gotten there earlier and stayed later. Next time I'm in DC I will plan better.

[freema]

If folks can't give get to DC (that would be me : ( or give up a Friday night at the movies to support the wounded, then perhaps they can support the passengers and families of United 93

[Exit148]

Am I confused, or am I confused? Or is the post date scrimble/scrambled -- or is it me?

[\/\/ayne]

What a great turnout for Walter Reed in the rain! I knew some milbloggers would come through. We have rain here in Tucson, too...yes, it's true, I've seen it! Except it's hot rain, so in the summer you can have your eggs either fried or poached on the sidewalk.

I always bring water and sometimes trail mix to a protest, that way when someone brings out the cookies or whatever I can at least try to resist temptation. Once in Tucson while protesting the moonbats a truck with a man and his young son drove by about 4 times...then stopped with doughnuts to thank us for supporting the troops. Well, I had to be polite, of course!

[zoomie81]

All the DC FReepers and Soldiers...great Freep even in the rain. God Bless you all!

[Landry Fan]

bttt

[trooprally]

Real Nice Post - Loved it and the links!!! Thanks for your dedication.

Glad the rain held off long enough to get a good pic of Takoma's new MOAB. Two weeks old and MOAB-II became a 3Fer this weekend, being displayed at WR, Bethesda Naval Medical Center and Olney. At least this weekend's FReeps had nice weather.

[Mr] T

[Ponar]

I'm not a "lurker" :-) I signed 2 months ago...
Agnieszka=ponar

[posterchild]

Thanks for organizing this week after week! I was surprized by how many people honked, waved, and supported us while driving by. It was my first real live FReep event where I got to see that there are indeed live humans behind the keyboards:)

[posterchild]

Correction - I was surprized how many people driving by were supportive, of 'us' yes, but most importantly of our message. Great to see such patriotism and support of our troops!

[PleaDeal]

I didn't know that was you!?! Why are you so shy about this stuff?

[BillF]

Belatedly replying, I didn't know that you had signed up for FR. Thanks for doing so.

It was great that you made it to the FReep. Wish that I had talked to you some. I didn't see you, probably because of the rain that night.

I do remember having the pleasure of meeting you when you came to Walter Reed quite a while back.

Please let me know, via FReepmail, if you want to be added to the DC Chapter ping list. That way you can read what we've up to, even if you can't make it. You don't have to be in the DC area to be on the list.

Thanks for going the extra mile for our troops. Hope to see you again at a FReep!