Posted on 05/27/2007 9:44:31 AM PDT by StarCMC
My AAR for Operation Simply Shred, Columbia, MO
May 26, 2007
I left my home at around 6:15 pm on Friday night to stay at the home of FReeper friends, Dogrobber and bluesagewoman in Columbia, MO. After lots of stop and go rush hour type traffic of the folks headed to the Lake of the Ozarks for the Memorial Day weekend, I made it to their home at around 8:45 or so. Rita showed me around their lovely home, and we sat up yapping until around 11, and then crashed.
The next morning we got up and got ourselves ready to head over to the airport at 9:00 am. Two more people joined us -- The Hat Lady, and her hubby Bill. We loaded up Dogrobber's minivan with all our gear. We each were wearing T-shirts with the above logo. I had forgotten my "butt pack" so Dogrobber made me "belt" our of some webbing strap and a clip (thanks Dogrobber!) and I was good to go. We arrived at the airport, got everything out of the van, and walked over just outside the main gate to set up. As we were getting the tent set up, the moonbats who were set up nearby, sent one of their most obnoxious over to ask why we were so threatened by their exercising their free speech about the war in Iraq. We assured (with smiles!) that we were not threatened at all by them, and that by providing a shredding service for the airshow attendees, we were allowing even MORE people to exercise their free speech rights... whereupon the moonbat was reduced to gibberish so Dogrobber produced his copy of the court findings and read the ruling to the moonbat. (The court ruled that OSS was a good thing - the best thing for free speech is MORE free speech, not less; therefore, Operation Simply Shred is permitted to continue activities!) At this point, the moonbat walked away shaking his head and muttering. We were also joined by another Shredder, Lee.
We finished setting up the tent, bluesagewoman and The Hat Lady had already headed across the tarmac for the other entrance with their recycle bags and shredders, and I followed suit. I stationed myself about 50 yards inside the second entrance with my straw hat, (feather in the cap - yes, you can call us macaroni!), recycle bag tied to my makeshift belt and shredder in hand. The moonbats were outside the gate, as was bluesagewoman. When the moonbats handed over their literature to the attendees, bluesagewoman would offer to shred. Many of them took her up on the offer, but some wanted to take a moment to figure out what they had been given. By the time they reached where I was standing, most realized that they were disgusted with the literature and were looking for a place to dispose of it. Either that or they were folding or wadding it up and looking for a pocket to stuff it in for later disposal. That's when I would offer to help them out. "If you want to get rid of any papers, I can help you out! We're shredding and recycling papers for donation to the local humane society. They use it for kitty litter." You can't imagine how many people laughed and said "well at least they are going for good use SOMEWHERE!"
Throughout the day we shifted around a bit. Around lunch time Bill walked from the second entrance back to the front entrance and brought me back a ham sandwich that bluesagewoman and I had prepared the evening before, some chips and a soda. I ate standing up and had to stop a couple times to shred papers. One of the gentlemen working the airshow came by on his four wheeler, opened up his cooler and gave me a bottle of ice cold water, and talked to me for a bit. He was a Vietnam vet. He thanked me profusely for what we were doing. He said "You know, when we came back from Vietnam, it wasn't like this. We were treated badly, and we didn't talk about it." I told him about my brother being an OIF vet, and that my reason for doing things like OSS was so that he and his buds would not be treated like the Vietnam vets were. I also thanked him and said I appreciated Vietnam vets speaking out now, further ensuring that our guys are treated right when they come back now.
One guy walked by giving me an evil look and as he was almost past me muttered "War is good, huh?" I said "No, but Freedom is better." He just shook his head. More about him later...
One other gentleman stopped to speak with me. He had tears in his eyes and his lip was quavering as he spoke. He shook my hand and told me that he had none of that paper to give me to shred. Then he told me the story of his dad, who was in WWII as an MP. He said everyone was sent to the front lines. His father went to the front lines with nothing but a nightstick so that (and I quote) "@$$#oles like that {pointing at the moonbats outside the gate} can stand out there and make a butt of themselves." I told him that I appreciated his and his dad's service and that I wish those guys {moonbats} would realize that the very reason they could hand out that literature was because of men and women who went to war and would sacrifice themselves for this country. It IS a shame that the moonbats will never understand that.
Toward the end of the day, Bill and I were standing at the second entrance, when a man and his family walked out on their way to leave. He stopped to tell us thank you, and to let us know that he had reenlisted just that afternoon. We thanked him and talked to him for a while. One of his daughters asked why "those guys" (moonbats) were talking to her and her mom said it was because they didn't understand what it took to keep our country safe and free.
At about 3 o'clock, Bill and I headed back over to the main entrance as the airshow was shutting down. Remember the guy who muttered to me about war being good? Well, Dogrobber told us that the same guy had told him - and I quote - "You are despicable! I'm sure you're a nice guy, but what you're doing is despicable!" (Cue Daffy Duck! LOL!) We told him that should be worn as a badge of honor! We stayed at our tent as people were leaving the show and offered to shred more. (You know, it just drove those moonbats NUTS listening to those shredders grind up their precious vitriol laden paper! LOL) As the heroes in the military who had been working in the show left thru the main gate in their vehicles, they would roll down their windows and thank us for being there -- and of course we thanked them right back for what they do for us. The funny thing is, they would roll UP their windows before they got to the location where the moonbats were. I saw one of the jerks try to hand a piece of his propaganda to a gentleman in full BDU's. All I could think is what a JERK he was to do that. We received many, many, thumbs up and thank yous from the good guys. I overheard many conversations of vets and active duty folks saying how great it was that we were there. We got thumbs up and kudos from people all over the place. A bunch of young Marines told us we were great and thanked us as we walked by the place they were working.
When things died down, we loaded up Dogrobber's van with all our stuff (plus shreds!) and headed back to Dogrobber and bluesagewoman's house where we all went out separate ways. All in all, it was a wonderful experience with some great people. The best part of the day for me was showing the military folks that have to put up with the propagandists that there are people who will stand up for them. Annoying the moonbats was a bonus.
Thank you Dogrobber and bluesagewoman for the hospitality. I'm hooked!! I hope to make it back next year!
Pinging a few friends to my AAR....
Ping.
HUGE HUGS for all of you.
Look what Star did. She’s giving ulcers to MOONBATS again.
BTTT
BTTT
What an incredibly clever idea!
Who’d a thunk it? Shredders! Perfect!
Can’t wait to see the pics.
From the Columbia Missourian -- the excerpt about this year's activities...
While most of the crowd enjoyed the sights inside the air show, protesters were outside the gates.
Jared Hoft, from Mid-Missouri Peaceworks, handed out neon green leaflets seeking a more solemn observance of Memorial Day. *cough* I saved one -- I'll try to type excerpts of their BS later, if you can stomach it.
“You can shred it later if you want,” Hoft joked, as an air show attendee took a leaflet.
Ten feet ahead, Rita Preckshot and Bill Vaughn of a counterprotest group, Operation Simply Shred, held battery-operated shredders and trash bags, offering to shred those leaflets.
Members of Peaceworks have protested the show for more than 10 years. The shredders have been at the air show since 2005 with “Support the Troops” signs.
Both sides were a small presence Saturday. Operation Simply Shred had seven shredders, and Peaceworks had about 12 people handing out leaflets.
While both sides said there had been confrontations in the past, Capt. Mike Martin of the Columbia Police Department said there were no issues with either group Saturday.
Excellent!
Looking forward to the pix. Please ping me.
Where did you find battery operated shredders?
I'm not sure -- I assume at the local Office supply store.
Some more pics?
Where are the ones you've posted?
I'll be brief. I thought this was a dumb idea by people with way too much time on their hands when I opened this thread; but as I read it I found myself smiling a lot and now all I've got to say is...
Where do I sign up?
I can imagaine Haim was being a rabid dog and saying silly stuff to Dog, lol! I heard he said you all were "Nazi's" like he said last year. I got into his face when he said that to me and Prov's husband last year. Man, I was about to explode, but I didn't. Haha.
That is perhaps the main reason I didn't go to the Air show this year and help out. I am not able to deal with silly moonbats who have no clue on what freedom is and what it takes to stay free in this ever-increasing crazy world.
Star* ~ good on you and the rest of the OSS Gang!!
Good job!!
Bravo Zulu!!
Very good work, Star 
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