**Support The Troops Santa Rosa After Action Report by Syncro** (Pictures!)

Sorry about the quality of the pictures, my camera decided to stay on one (usually wrong) setting all the time.

I will have some video clips later on today but for now I'll post some pictures.

Three people from the Move America Forward Caravan to Crawford, Texas organized by MAF and Free Republic last year spoke at our rally Saturday.

They also were involved in the MAF Bus Tour that drove across country to Washington DC for a large rally organized by Free Republic and Move America Forward. These were both "You Don't Speak For Me, Cindy!" events to counter the anti-American anti-Troops rhetoric that was so prevalent then (and now) by Cindy Sheehan.

Joseph Williams, Melanie Morgan and Deborah Johns.

A bump and Ping to those who attended and that expressed interest in the Rally.

There is another thread up about an article in the local paper.

Take a look

Just a Somebody, I forgot to ping you...Or were you here hiding behind a sign??? LOL

Outstanding Syncro! Thanks for the pix and report. gonna check out your links.
See you in FResno in Sept?

You bet!

It's going to be the 10th Anniversary of Free Republic Picnic and BBQ...I'm hoping all 264,849 members show up!

LOL

Lori, here's your PING!

We had a great time, this strange group showed up...

Jim Robinson, Shelia Robinson, Chris Robinson and CounterCounterCoulter.

Or were you here hiding behind a sign???

I'll never tell, but thank you for the ping and a huge thanks to you all for standing up for our beloved heroes!

Looks and sounds like you had a fantastic turn out!

From the link .........

attracted about 300 people, the same as last year's rally.

But...but...I thought there was no support for the war anymore.

great report. thank you for posting. :)

yw

Thanks for the bump

BTW I am a Landry Fan fan!

Ping for BTTT

lol

bump!!

Lori, here's your PING!

Thank you! My own personal ping. I am honored. :-)

What a motley (but patriotic) crowd. LOL! (Just kidding) Haven't seen Chris or CCC for ages.

Keep on FReepin' on, FRiend. You guys have all the fun.

I didn't see you or I'd have come over and said hi. I was there with my two year old son.

Well I kind of blend into the crowd.

I'm not even sure I was there, I don't have any pictures of me at the rally! :<)

Yea, it would have been nice to meet you, I have seen you around the activizm for years.

That's great you brought your son.

Pinging my ping list to more pictures

This family brought a nice banner

Oops, sorry I took that picture with my glasses off!
I put them on and this one is much better...

Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003. Thanks you to the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines and all the other Service Personal for freeing 25 million people in Iraq! They are keeping our country safe.

Some pictures of the crowd

Nice job, guys! Sorry I missed it.

Thanks, STL.

I'm sorry too, it would have been nice to see you again at an event.

We socked it to the cartoon-o-facists and Cindy Sheehan in SF didn't we earlier this year? LOL

The Military Personnel (Retired and Active) did a fantastic job with the Presenting of the Colors. The Color Guard. (I think that is the proper nomenclature)

Thank you! Looks like the weather was great for the rally! :-)

Great FReep, report and photos. And you got a good story in the paper.

(FR could not find anyone named "CounterCounterCoulter.")

Thanks so much for doing this.

The weather was perfect!

It was supposed to be 92, but I am sure it never got that hot.

This guy was making a statement with his shirt.

As was this lady

It says Kick Their Ass And Take Their Gas
well I guess you can see that...

The Army had a table set up at the Rally

The Marines had a table there also, but I didn't get a picture.

They were actually represented by two table. The Recruiter was at one of them, and the other one of them was manned by 2 or three Marines. Maybe not active anymore.

WAY TO GO EVERYONE!!!
GREAT lookin' group of people I see there! :)

I agree, Gramma!

Thanks for letting me know about this awesome thread about a great lookin' group of people that I'm proud to know!

great lookin' group of people that I'm proud to know!

Me too, Fawnn!!!

Woo hoo! Grate pics! Grate thread! Grate time!

WOO-HOO! Great job with the pics! Thanks for the wonderful posting and "see you in September," next year!

Grate? LOL.

Grate minds love cheeze!

LOL

Rilly? LOL!

Hay thanks for dropping by!

This couple

Had their picture taken by their kids

So I got a couple too!

Young Supporters of America!

Have you seen my latest "coloring" efforts?

The full T-Shirts and Other Stuff Index

The Bumper Sticker

My other patriotic "coloring" efforts/designs are shown on this Fawnn.com page.

Speaking of Grate Pictures, here's Joseph Williams chatting with you and Chris.

More of the crowd

Here is a Movie Clip of Col. Peterka.

Caution it is 7 MB.

Colonel Louis "Pete" Peterka, Ret.

I'll have more pictures and movie clips tomorrow.

He meant "CounterCounterCulture"

We've been on Ann Coulter overload. :-)

Thanks for the ping, Grammie!! Nice Woohoo!!! :-)

Way to go CCC!

bttt

Great report and great pictures, Syncro, thanks!!

Thanks!

I shoulda ponged you...glad you found the thread.

Keep checking back, I will be adding to it for a couple of days.

BBL

ex-Californian ping

glad you keep adding to the report.
I love the pictures.

bump!

Afternoon Bump TTT

Thanks for checking back!

Out to the garden for a while.

Thanks for being there.

I found some paperwork from the rally. I am always bad with names, who did this, who did that...LOL

So I wish to acknowledge The American Legion Post 21 and thank them for doing the Presentation of the Colors

A great organization and at least one of the members was on the committee organizing the rally. Thanks again to Post 21 of the American Legion!

It's not easy being chopped liver...

http://maroonedinmarin.blogspot.com/2006/06/santa-rosa-says-thank-you-to-our.html

Stratman, thanks for your Report on the Rally.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Santa Rosa Says "Thank You" To Our Troops

My son and I went up to Santa Rosa on Saturday morning to join a couple hundred citizens and say "Thank You" to the men and women who are serving our nation in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as Vietnam and current active duty personnel were in attendance, as well as a cross section of North Bay citizens of all ages and backgrounds. In addition to showing support for our troops, they show that not everyone in the Bay Area agrees with the blame-America-first, cut and run mentality of politicians like Lynn Woolsey and Barbara Boxer.

There was a play area for children, as well as tables with greeting cards that attendees could write messages of support, as well as petitions, which would be given to those serving in the Middle East. Musicians performed patriotic songs.

Specialist Evan Kubota, who served with the 579th Engineering Battalion during Operation Iraqi Freedom told the crowd how much the support of Sonoma County residents meant to him and others deployed overseas.

Melanie Morgan of KSFO-AM's morning show and Move America Forward, was there. Joining her were Deborah Johns, spokeswoman for last year’s "You Don't Speak For Me, Cindy" tour and Gold Star Father Joseph Williams of Vacaville, CA.

Johns, whose son William has signed up for his third tour of duty in Iraq, said Saddam Hussein, his sons as well as al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, were weapons of mass destruction and have been removed. She also mentioned how components to assemble weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq but this information has not been mentioned by the mainstream media.

"It is a disservice to our troops," Johns said. She also noted how CNN, ABC and SeeBS refused to run an advertisement from Kurdistan that thanked our military for liberating Iraq and getting rid of Saddam Hussein.

It is noteworthy that, with the exception of what appeared to be a reporter from the Press Democrat, I did not see any other MSM outlets, including any Bay Area television stations, covering this event, yet these same media outlets do not hesitate to cover even the smallest of anti-war demonstrations.

The topic of Cindy Sheehan, the anti-American activist who has called those who killed her son Casey "freedom fighters," came up among the speakers. Johns mentioned how Sheehan has said America should "use words instead of bombs" to deal with people like Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden.

"These men (Hussein, bin Laden) are not wayward children who have gone astray, you cannot negotiate with them" she said.

Williams, whose son was killed in Iraq in March 2003 joined Move America Forward to counter Sheehan in Crawford Texas. In his speech, he noted many accomplishments in Iraq not mentioned by the MSM, that 47 nations have reestablished embassies in Iraq and 95 percent of Iraqi children under the age of 5 have received their first polio vaccine. Hospitals and schools have also been built throughout the nation.

Another speaker, Brigadier General Joseph Schroedel said when he was in Iraq, he heard from Iraqis that Saddam Hussein told them the Americans would "steal their lives and their money. But the only thing you stole was our hearts." He also told the story of how he saw a mud hut in Iraq with a satellite dish outside and television inside the hut. He also told of the number of Iraqis who are using cell phones. This did not happen while Hussein was in power.

Johns, Williams and Morgan said when they went to Crawford TX to counter Cindy Sheehan, they received 500-600 e-mails from parents who lost a loved one in Iraq to take down a cross bearing the name of their loved one that Sheehan and her crowd set up there. Sheehan has been asked to stop exploiting those killed in Iraq for her political purposed but she has refused. She refused to speak to Mr. Williams, saying he and other Gold Star Families who don't agree with her are "brainwashed."

Johns told of how, in February of this year, she confronted Sheehan for using the names of those killed in Iraq to further her agenda. Sheehan refused to answer Johns and the moderators abruptly ended the Q and A session.

Morgan told those in attendance that people like Sheehan, John Kerry and Jane Fonda didn't understand the values of the American people and vowed to do all she can "so that this country does not lose it's resolve" in fighting the War on Terror.

Thanks for the report, stratman1969.

Some things that grabbed my attention:

Brigadier General Joseph Schroedel said when he was in Iraq, he heard from Iraqis that Saddam Hussein told them the Americans would "steal their lives and their money. But the only thing you stole was our hearts."

It is noteworthy that, with the exception of what appeared to be a reporter from the Press Democrat, I did not see any other MSM outlets, including any Bay Area television stations, covering this event, yet these same media outlets do not hesitate to cover even the smallest of anti-war demonstrations.

Johns told of how, in February of this year, she confronted Sheehan for using the names of those killed in Iraq to further her agenda. Sheehan refused to answer Johns and the moderators abruptly ended the Q and A session.

There was a thread on FR about that confrontation. Sheehan like most liberals won't answer to facts.

Thanks again for the report.

It's not easy being chopped liver...

So sorry, please forgive... GREAT JOB SYNCROOOO!!!;-)

BTTT for some awesome patriots.

Well I was just funning you...nothing to forgive!

CCC kinda stands out and I know he is a friend of yours.

Thanks for the bump, I'm glad you came across the thread

bump for our troops and military families!

I've often been told "I'm outstanding in my field."

Though I usually am out literally standing in a field when that sentiment is spoken, so I'm not 100% sure of the intent.