Barry Sheffield of Collierville attends the Rally for America at Olive Branch.
Posted on 04/06/2003 4:53:47 AM PDT by GailA
Barry Sheffield of Collierville attends the Rally for America at Olive Branch.
Olive Branch rallies for the troops About 2,000 show for patriotic event
By Jennifer Biggs biggs@desotoappeal.com April 6, 2003
David Taylor showed up at Olive Branch City Park early Saturday and was rewarded for it.
"I was issued the first flag they gave out this morning," Taylor said.
Sporting a T-shirt that read "Proud to be an Air Force Dad" and a USAF cap with two flags sticking out the top, Taylor was just one of about 2,000 patriotically dressed folks at the Rally for America.
His son Joel Taylor is in the Mississippi Air National Guard, currently stationed in Cyprus.
The rally in support of America's armed forces brought Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and Rep. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) to town.
"This today is not about me, it's not about the speakers," Musgrove said to a round of applause. "It's about the people who are willing to lay down their lives."
The day held a welcome surprise for Mississippi Air National Guard Sgt. John Ramsey.
"A lot of times on the news you see these demonstrations that are negative, but you don't see much that's positive," he said. "To hear people just come up to you like they are today to thank you for what you're doing is great."
When organizer Robert Farrish called veterans to come to the stage to be recognized, about 100 men and a few women came forward.
One was Billie Blocker, who also spoke at the rally.
"War is not good," he said. "Nobody likes war, but sometimes it's the lesser of two evils."
He spoke from the heart.
When Blocker was a pilot in WWII, his plane was shot down over Austria and he remained a prisoner of war for almost a year.
"Sunday, April 29, 1945," he said. "That was the day we were freed."
Speeches were peppered with music that brought the crowd to its feet. Folks sang along, waved their flags and tapped their feet as Ashley Wieronski sang a patriotic medley that included You're a Grand Old Flag and The Battle Hymn of the Republic.
The McKinney Family and Friends gospel singers followed Wieronski.
"What we want to do is give homage to our veterans, to all our veterans from all our wars, for the freedom that they've provided for us," said McKinney singer Randly Woods.
People wore shirts adorned with flags, stars and stripes scarves around their heads and red, white and blue leis around their necks.
They toted handmade signs proclaiming support for the troops and freedom, and while they carried mostly American flags, there were a few state flags and at least one U.S. Marine Corps flag waving, too.
Wicker said he's been to several rallies and sendoffs across the state, but none like Saturday's. "This is probably the best outpouring of support our state has seen."
- Jennifer Biggs: (901) 333-2011
Ashley Wieronski is a 13 year old girl..watch for her..she's that good. In fact I thought she was the best singer there and all of them were good. We drove over from Millington, TN
Photos coming later.
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| GailA was there.
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| Olive Branch Mayor Sam Rikard and Guest Speaker Mike Fleming
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| Olive Branch Firefighters proudly fly Old Glory at every opportunity.
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| There were other flags as well.
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| There were some great signs.
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| There were some great people. |
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| There were veterans of all kinds.
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| The colors were presented by the Millington NAS Color Guard.
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| Musical entertainment was provided by 13 year old Ashley Wieronski. I expect you'll be hearing more from Ashley. She's a fantastic singer!
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| The McKinneys performed some first class gospel singing.
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| The Watchmen quartet would give the Statler Brothers and The Oak Ridge Boys a run for the money.
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| Billie Blocker spoke of his WWII POW experiences after the B24 he was piloting was shot down over Austria.
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| Mississippi Governor Ronnie Musgrove (D) changed his schedule to attend the rally. Here he's working the crowd.
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| Governor Musgrove delivered what can only be described as a fine speech.
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Comments supporting our troops by U.S. Rep. Roger Wicker (R) MS District 1 were inspiring.  |
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| When rally organiser Robert Farrish asked all the veterans present to step forward, Rep. Wicker was among them.
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| Natalie Wieronski with event organiser Robert Farrish. Robert did a wonderful job, and a splendid time was had by all.
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| Well, this is flyover country, after all. |
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