Posted on 04/05/2003 2:08:47 PM PST by calvin sun
I arrived at the Stop and Shop Plaza on route 35 in Keyport NJ at about 3:10 pm. Keyport is in Monmouth County, about half an hour or so from NYC. The guest speaker (and organizer) was to be Guardian Angels founder and WABC 770 AM radio personality Curtis Sliwa.
Curtis was late, as he was coming from a previous rally in Fieldsboro (?sp?) NJ, the mayor of which gained notoriety for banning public displays of flags or yellow ribbons on public property.
While waiting with the crowd (about 200 and still growing), I was able to reach the Mark Simone show on WABC. I was on hold for only a few minutes, when Mr. Simone put me on the air. I told him where I was, and that the crowd wanted to say hi. I then held up the phone to everyone and they cheered.
Curtis arrived about fifteen minutes later, and spoke to the crowd about how frustrated he had been with unbalanced coverage of war protests. Those who support the war effort, he said, simply have too little time because of their need to work in order to provide for their families. He also commended Keyport for reinstating its Memorial Day parade. He ended by saying that if enemies of the US are praying five times a day for death to Americans, he wants our fighting forces to send them on the "paradise express."
At that point, I had to leave to pick up my wife, brother-in-law, daughters and niece, who had been shopping nearby. After picking them up, I "accidentally" made a wrong turn and ended up going by the plaza a second time. My younger daughter got all excited and insisted we stop to try to get autographs. So my two daughters, niece and I approached the crowd, where Curtis was still patiently signing autographs and posing for pictures. After waiting for several minutes, I was able to persuade him to take us, saying that we were from Pennsylvania and that we needed to be on our way.
Curtis graciously signed "We support our troops" placards for my daughters and my niece. While he was doing so, I told him that I was the one who had spoken to Mark Simone on WABC, and he thanked me for doing so.
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