Families United Join Walter Reed FReep 156 - April 11, 2008

Satin | 2 May 2008 | Satin_patriot

[satin_patriot]

This week, Families United was invited from across the country to join the Iraq Ambassador at Arlington National Cemetery for a special salute to the soldiers they lost in the liberation of Iraq. They were honored with a dinner and a memorial plaque. While they were in DC, these very special people decided to join us out on the corners of the main entrance of Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) to support the soldiers who willingly sacrifice themselves for their country.



You may not know about Families United, but it is an organization comprised of the families of members of the United States Military. This particular group consisted of some of the all stars of humanity. It was my pleasure to meet many of those who joined our ranks. Several of these were people whose names I knew by reputation, and many more were people whose actions are legendary. Each of them has a story that merits many pages.



Take, for instance, Debbie Lee, a Gold Star Mother. Her son was the first Navy Seal killed in Iraq. He was a member of the most highly decorated unit of the conflict.



Perhaps you’re familiar with the name of Gary Qualls. He was the first to stand up to Cindy Sheehan’s nonsense in Crawford, TX. Today, there is Fort Qualls in honor of his actions and his son’s heroism. It was an honor to stand with him and hear him speak. Here’s a portion of what he shared with me:

“No matter what, if you’re an American or want to be, you’ll always be in debt to all of our service members and their families from the beginning of this nation and into the future… The only way to keep what we have as Americans is to show them honor and respect. We honor our fallen.”

To spend time with a man who has been influential in motivating patriots to stand up in the honor and defense of our military was an amazing experience to me. Compound that with the fact that he has buried both a son and a nephew in this conflict, and you have, in my opinion, a hero in his own right.



Now, you may not have heard the names of Harry and Sharon Rideout, but you have probably heard of the reception that returning troops have when they come through the airport in Bangor, Maine. The Rideouts are the driving force behind that reception. They meet (and have met since 2002) every flight upon which troops return to the US. Sometimes they only have 15-20 minutes notice. They get calls at all hours of the day, and one way or another, they gather a welcoming committee, and they greet our returning heroes in the manner that homecoming heroes should be met. They welcome them with open arms, cheer them through the airport, and even shower them with gifts. These patriots have greeted over 500,000 troops in the nearly 6 years that they have been organizing this event. If you want more information on that, go to www.freedomteamsalute.com.



Another Gold Star Mother whose heart touched mine deeply was Zaida Walters. She’s the mother of PFC Leroy Sandoval, USMC, who was the first Marine from Texas to die in Fallujah. She said, “I believe in what my son did. This is the best thing I can do to honor my son.”



At one point, a wounded soldier came out to visit us. After talking for some time, it was discovered that he knew the son of a Gold Star family that was there that evening. Zaida said that he reminded her of her son, so he danced with her.



It was a wonderful night, all around, and very emotional for some of us. (At 7:20, there were 4 jerks down on the anti-US line.) The honor roll is as follows:

VA Flagwaver, Pleadeal, Kburi, Jimmy Valentine’s Brother, Elise (GMU, Chair College Republicans), Taxdeduction1-NE (GMU, Secretary College Republicans), Laura (GMU, College Republicans), Lurker Bill, Fraxinus, Mr. and Mrs. Trooprally, TaxRelief, Tom the Redhunter, Sensei Ern, VictoryNY, Harry & Sharon Rideout, Carol Nelson, Kathy Dunaway, Chere Pedersen, Cheryl Gardner, Zaida Walters*, Janice & Terry Hall, Alan Nelson*, Bob Derga*, Gary Qualls*, Ruth Russell, Carson & Penny George, Lin & David McGee, Tom Miller*, Dennis Ulmer, Merrilee Carlson*, Barb Dieruf*, Debbie Lee*.

* denotes Gold Star Families

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If you can't get to D.C. to join us but would like to do something for the wounded, you can find a wealth of ideas by FReepmailing Tom the Redhunter, Cindy-True-Supporter, VAFlagwaver, or PleaDeal.

Come join us every Friday night between the hours of 6:30pm and approx 9:30pm.

Directions to our Walter Reed FReep location from the Takoma metro station

BufordP's Walter Reed FReep archive

Tom the Redhunter's blog

PleaDeal's (GunnNutt) blog at Semper Gratus

[satin_patriot]

DC Chapter ping

[3D-JOY]

What a nice story to read. Thank you for preparing it.

AAR’s are very important to those of us who can not be there.

[Taxman]

Taxman Bravo Zulu!

[W04Man]

Bump!

[trooprally]

Links to more of the evening's pics.

Plea Deals Pics

[Mrs] T's Pics

[trooprally]

Lets try Plea Deal's link again.

Plea Deal's Link

[trooprally]

Lurker Bill set up a slide show presentation once dusk arrived. He even brought his own power source.

[trooprally]

Wounded Marine that came out this night. He eventually walked around to the other corners and Thanked everyone. He was our ROCK STAR. As he went crossed to the various corners, a bunch of patriotic "groupies" followed him.

From his size, he would have made a good tunnel rat. From his build, he would have won every time.

[WVNan]

I would like to second 3Ds sentiments. The AARs are a blessing to all of us who wish with all our hearts that we could be there with you. Thank you for a tear-bringing report. God bless all those families as well as those who stand for all of us every Friday. God bless all of our heros in the military.

[WVNan]

Oh my! His size reminds me of my hubby at that age. He is barely 5’3”, but they needed Marines in Korea, so they let him stand on tip-toe to qualify at 5’4”. Ever since then he has said that he is 5’4”. LOL. God bless the kids who become men before their time.

[WVNan]

I have an idea. Tell Lurker Bill (he’s so cute) to make a slide show of all the pictures from Iraq of our troops doing things for the kids. Those are the pictures that America never sees. It would be good for people passing by, as well as for the moonbats, to see. That would be like a “crawling” support sign.

[maica]

Beautiful photos and a beautiful report.

[weldgophardline]

Those red shirts look so good. They also fit well, We wear ours here in Colorado from the trip back in September.
It warms our hearts to see how you all make it to do the Walter Reed Freeps.
We will have to make it back there some time to do it in person being how the banner made it. We just was a day late in September to meet all of you.

[trooprally]

I'll second your sediment.

GOD BLESS ALL OUR TROOPS, past and present. But our present troops especially since there is such hatred of them by so many in the U.S.

[Mr] T

[trooprally]

Actually, it would be best at one of our big D.C. Support the Troop Rallies where we can set it up along the moonbat’s protest route. At WR, cars are traveling to fast to see it and realize what it is all about.

Of course we could set it up closer to the WR moonbats for them to see. Cars will still be going to fast but the moonbats will see it. And Lurker Bill has wireless remote speakers that he used that night. A FReeper could hold it close to the moonbats area.

And instead of a generator, StayTrue gave the D.C. Chapter a DC to AC cigarette lighter converter that might work.

Hmmm, you gave us something to think about.

[Mr] T

[trooprally]

We would be honored to have you stand with us. And bring your red shirt. After all, there is a Red Shirt Friday Support Our Troops promotion going around.

Families United out numbered us FReepers 3-1. And they brought their own pizza. As soon as they picked their signs out of the bags, they swarmed to all the corners.

They had, I think, a Veterans organization bus bring them and he was going to leave and come back. But once he say what we all were doing, he stayed around and helped out.

[Mr] T

[trooprally]

In case you haven’t seen this yet, it’s finally posted.

Thanks for bringing all the Families United members.

You are not on the D.C. Chapter Master Ping List. Do you want on it?

[Mr] T

[WVNan]

Seeing that screen there brought up the idea that it could be used for a lot of things. You guys should brain-storm about it. Happy Sunday.

[trooprally]

It takes a little time to set up so it's not really movable, but yea, we'll have to use it more often.

And a good lazy Sunday back at ya.

[Mr] T

[RockerMom2MyHero]

What a heartwarming FReep! Great report and wonderful pictures. Nice to see Families United standing with the finest of Patriots! God Bless you all and thank you so much for doing what you do. :) Our Troops ROCK and so do you!

[flib]

Yes, put me on the DC ping list, Mr T. God knows I try to get up there whenever I can. Glad to bring the gang out! They all were thrilled with the evening. Small correction for Satin patriot, Carson and Penny George are gold star parents. In fact Carson was in Iraq working as a contractor when he lost his son. He was able to acompany his son home from Iraq.
Go to www.familiesunitedmission.com for more information about the group. We also have “patriotic Americans” who are members. There certainly are quite a few of those on the corners outside WR every Friday. Love you guys!!

[trooprally]

Families United Link.

There, direct link for you. The 'html' code can be tricky.

It's great when you can make it up here. But you keep yourself busy in SC.

[Mr] T

[raygun]

Somebody is wearing shorts.

I don’t recall missing the head’s up.