Posted on 09/04/2007 7:18:57 PM PDT by mdittmar
Move America Forward brings its "Fight for Victory" tour to Yuma today to ask for support for U.S. military troops abroad and at home. The "pro-troop" rally begins at 1 p.m. at the front entrance of the Yuma County Fairgrounds, which is across from the Marine Corps Air Station on 32nd Street.
Organizers ask that attendees bring banners of support as well as cards of appreciation for wounded military personnel. They will be distributed to recovering troops at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where the caravan will finish its cross-country trek on Sept. 15. Move America Forward is a nonprofit organization that says it chronicles the good news on the war on terrorism that is not covered in the press and highlights actions against the U.S. and its military.
Yuma is the eighth stop on a 27-city tour. The event is Move America Forward's fourth tour. The first event, called "You Don't Speak for Me, Cindy" toured across the country in August 2005 and also included a stop in Yuma. Cindy Sheehan is an anti-war activist and the mother of Casey Sheehan, an American soldier killed in Iraq in 2004. The tour finale on Sept. 15 is scheduled to coincide with the highly anticipated report of Gen. David Petraeus (Commander of U.S. troops in Iraq), which will evaluate the progress of the U.S. troop surge that added tens of thousands military personnel in Iraq last spring.
Move America Forward's executive director, Robert Dixon, said Yuma was chosen because it is the home to a large contingent of military personnel and "thus Yuma is the perfect stop for our pro-troop caravan."
Sal Russo, Move America Forward chief strategist said the event will feature keynote speaker Debbie Lee, a "Gold Star mom," a group of mothers of military personnel killed in Iraq. Russo said he hoped to include local speakers too but so far Lee is the only one that has been confirmed. She is from Surprise.
Along with cards the event is putting together "warrior packages" for the wounded at the Walter Reed Medical Center. These are boxes containing candy, books and games. But the one thing they desperately need are phone cards so military personnel can stay in touch with family during the course of their service, Russo said. Russo asked that anyone interested in contributing to the packages go online to www.moveamericaforward.org.
One event at the rally attendees can participate in is the signing of "the sheet," which is a communal letter to the wounded veterans. People can write personal messages to express their appreciation for the troops. Russo said the simple message of the rally was to get Americans to pay attention to the release of the report by Petraeus.
"People lose site of the fact our military is succeeding," Russo said. "We're killing the terrorists in significant numbers. And we want our political leaders to listen to our military leaders when it comes to defeating the enemy."
Happy to bump! In San Diego right now, we have our rally in less than 8 hours and then we head to Arizona!
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