A Day Late: 9 Years Ago – A Repost
A thing happened on this day 9 years ago. Any number of reference sources are available on-line if yer Google-Fu is good.
Some ‘Nam vets, and others, decided to stand up and be counted. ANSWER was gonna do some protesting at The Wall in DC. A coupla geezers decided to organize a counter effort. Captain Bailey and Colonel Riley managed to get the word out and The Gathering of Eagles was born.
I hope I can be forgiven for personalizing this post rather than dealing with the event in more generic terms. The latter has been done by many, and arguably better than I might offer.
The event marked my first trip to The Wall and my second trip to DC.
I, somehow, wound up being in charge of on-site communications. There were folks doing “security” that needed to be able to talk to each other and Captain Bailey made me his commo Petty Officer so I bought encrypted walkies-talkies and some (then) cheap cell phones as back-up. The day before the event we scouted the site and I picked the highest point for my headquarters. While technically the right thing to do, it had one significant downside. It snowed and the temps dropped. We were ready technically, but not so ready for the weather. We were “under’ a canopy on poles that both threatened to blow away AND periodically dumped snow on us.
Still… it was the first time I’d felt proud to be a ‘Nam Vet. I could see The Wall from my spot, and the thousands who had joined us. Needless to say… ANSWER didn’t get close to The Wall.
Category: Geezer Alert!
Category: Geezer Alert!
Does it make me a bad person that the first thing that comes to mind about March 17 is Gathering of Eagles? Of course, I’m not Irish, or even of Irish decent, so perhaps can be forgiven.
It WAS a great day even with the weather effects working against us.
I remembered yesterday, Z. I’ll remember it ’till I go to my Maker.
I’m all for rallying folks to petition their Congresscritters for “National Beat a Hippie Month” where any and every Vet can beat as many hippies as he or she pleases during said month but would be restricted to a maximum quota of 12 hippies per 24 hour period for the rest of the year.
that would be really hard here….there are just to many to count in the Portland, or area….and every Saturday in summer is just right out what with the farmer’s market (that really isn’t a farmer’s market anymore)
ZERO! JOB WELL DONE and THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE and AT THE WALL.
PROUD,
A friend I know was flower weaved long haired child of PEACE. She welcomed soldiers home with three kisses, cheeks and forehead. Prayed with soldiers and the same kisses to send them off. Not all hippies were drug addicted white trash. In fact, check which artists wrote the best songs for the boys in Vietnam ?
I allowed your comment out of limbo so I might reply. I got spit at and called a “baby killer” when I came back. There may well have been some few as you describe, but I never saw one until I took off my uniform and kinda hunkered down. Then I just enjoyed the nubile young wimin for what they were.
I was there nine years ago. I got my wheelchair stuck in the mud and some quick thinking people put down sheets of plywood for me to roll onto.
I met Michelle Malkin there, as well as several mil-bloggers. One in particular was the wife of a Marine (and she no longer blogs, as far as I know) and she brought me unit patches to trade with/for her husband.
One thing that will always stick in my mind about that day:
After everything was over the Gathering of Eagles held a police call and we left our assigned area cleaner than when we received it.
The opposing, ANSWER/Code Pink, et al, side was a trash pit. They just dropped their signs and banners and other loose trash on the ground and left it there. Their area looked like a garbage dump after they left.
I will never forget the people I met that day. Nor will I forget what I learned about the left’s “do as I say, but not as I do” idealism.
I wasn’t sure that CPT Larry Bailey would get to read this article , so I forwarded it to him by email .
T hanks, Lrrp2! I don’t know who wrote the piece. Do you? Can he/she identify himself/herself?
I stayed at your house with my wife.
The thing I remember about Michelle besides how nice she was is how small she is in person!
I’ll always regret I was unable to be there but I did contribute by writing the words to a song for the event which I later learned was dubbed The Kickass Song:
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2007/02/the_gathering_o.html
A country singer from Florida named Meeks recorded it and the lyrics were printed on T-Shirts for the event. Still have the one the manufacturer sent me.
Bless all of you who were able to physically be there. Thanks Zero for reminding us.
I was there, and I got to see the vets claim that monument as their own.
The design had been controversial, but it turned out to be powerful. I’d visited before because I had worked nearby, and of course I had brought my children when they got old enough. So many years later, you could go on any day and see a few flowers, maybe a note or two, and someone taking a rubbing of a name.
That day, the mall was full, of veterans who came to keep that space clean, and people like me, to say “thank you.”
I saw the puppets from a distance as they were leaving, and kept clear of them. By that time I had realized that the same people put on a show in public, over and over, issue after issue. They needed an event to fill in their calendar, so they had announced in advance that they would deface our monuments. This is how they socialize.
I was there, along with a busload of fellow veterans from Maine. We chartered a bus and drove all night to get there, arriving in time to score some coffee before things got underway.
It was a memorable time for so many reasons. We met so many other good people, and the leftists learned that there is only so far that they can go before folks start to push back.
As mentioned above, the Park Police commented about how well we all left the area afterwards. Vets pitched in and policed it,and the difference between or area and that of the ANSWER folks was stark. They were rude, inconsiderate, and left there area and trash pit,expecting others to clean up their mess. They did the same to the very street they marched down,just dropping water bottles, sandwich wrappers, empty bags of chips, etc right as they were marching. Just disgusting.
But a hearty BZ to all who were there, and to all who helped. It was a great day to be an American, and a veteran.
But don’t you see, AW1? In tge eyes of the ANSWER goons, you were taking away a job opportunity for some unemployed shmuck by cleaning up after yourselves while they were providing job opportunities by being slobs. You and all those other vets in attendance should be ashamed of yourselves! /sarc off
They did that everywhere we showed up. Maine, CT, West Point..no respect for others and none for themselves.
My now wife drove all night in a snowstorm from northern New England to be there. We ended up meeting because of it and organized counter protests up North and I set up and ran the GOE website for sometime. Felt good to be able to do something to counter protest the moonbats for a change.
Only protest I have ever been to. What happened to the organization “Gathering of Eagles”?
It was more of an event than an organization. The people involved got on with their lives after the event. Some continued counter protesting other lefty events. More than a few became activists in their communities. And a LOT of permanent friendships were forged.
Not a comprehensive answer, but nearly everyone there would have a different answer. It touched a lot of lives, brought a lot of folks together, and showed what veterans can do when they decide it is time to be heard.
I used to live in Madison WI. Of all the things I learned there the fact that libs are stupid, incredibly stupid they are also slobs in everything they do.
I cleaned up numerous messes just because I wanted to after their parties and had a lot of people helping too.
But, what can you expect from people that believe in the French manner of taking a bath about once a month…
Where’s the best place to hide a hippie’s welfare check?
Either under a pair of work boots or a job application.
Somehow I missed this story.
Zero…..great job all the way around and some great comments above. Wish I had the intestinal fortitude to attend.
Maybe next time.
Thanks ZERO AND ALL YOU OTHER PATRIOTS.
I remember it every year. Always a smile on St Par
Tricks day.