|
A Gathering Of Eagles
"Let us make it clear, we've all come here
To defend our long-dead brothers;
And understand you ain't layin' a hand
On our Wall you leftie mothers."
From now through 17 March I'll be routinely backdating Gathering Of Eagles posts to keep them near the top of the site for a while. Please scroll down to the current date for non-GOE content. Please click here to see the entire Old War Dogs Gathering Of Eagles series on one page. Sorry for the inconven-ience? Not really. Nam wasn't convenient either, especially not for the warriors listed on The Wall.
Leftist activists who march to the Pentagon next month will discover that their path won't be as clear as it has been in the past.
The group, led by Cindy Sheehan, Jane Fonda, Ramsey Clark and their ilk, plan to gather March 17 at the Vietnam Memorial Wall to begin a march to protest America's involvement in the Iraq war. The date marks the fourth anniversary of the war's beginning.
This time, however, protestors will see objectors if they spit on Iraqi veterans again, or throw paint on a war memorial. This time, they will encounter a buzz saw of Vietnam veterans and supporters who will gather to protect the Wall, and show their support for U.S. troops. The counter-protestors are calling themselves the Gathering of Eagles. ...
Read on here, then check out the new Gathering of Eagles blog here and the forums here and here. It's time to get involved, people. If you can't make it to Washington that day, won't you at least help spread the word? Hat tips: William Page, Viper Ash, others.
***
2007.02.23.19:16 -- Final Update
This post has gotten too large to be practical. From here out I'll handle anything that I might have previously added to this post as a separate post in the Old War Dogs Gathering Of Eagles category.
***
2007.02.16.20:59 Update:
Don't miss the new Gathering of Eagle forum here and don't miss these related posts:
End 2007.02.16.20:59 Update.
***
2007.02.14.13:24 Update:
Thank you Bob Krupienski for your post here.
***
I've received four copies of the following email so far from four separate sources. I'll take it as cause for cautious optimism but I'm still going to hope for a huge turnout on the 17th: Veterans, family and friends;
In response to the concerns expressed, I contacted Robin Owen (Person in charge of issuing event permits for the National Mall area) of the National park Service via telephone this morning and was very convincingly informed and assured of the following:
1.) There will be a 300 yard perimeter comprised of double snow fence barriers with an ample number mounted, foot police, riot reaction squad nearby, and intelligence personal on scene, to ensure that the conditions of the permit granted to the antiwar activists are not violated. E.G. the assembly point is in an appointed area on the eastern end of the grounds (Knoll) and they will not be allowed in the proximity of the wall. A Similar exclusion zone applies area and approaches from Constitution Ave. So net effect ... no protesters within 300 yd's.
2.) That ALL laws will be vigorously enforced and prosecuted in terms of any violence, vandalism, or, threat to public safety. This was stated emphatically.
3.) About an hour later, I received a phone call from Sgt, Booker of the Park Police saying he had been asked by Robin Owen to reiterate the policy and to reinforce her statements to me and answer any further questions I may have on the Park Police law enforcement polices.
Sgt. Booker stated even MORE emphatically that the Park Police consider the Wall as sacred ground, as we do, (As did Robin Owen) themselves, and that they WILL enforce any, and all laws, relevant to it's integrity. And, any concerns we may have stemming from the non-enforcement of the law by the Capitol Police last weekend are not relevant to his Dept. They WILL arrest and prosecuted anyone who breaks the law.
4.) The Wall will be open for visiting to the general public as usual ... if any of you care to do so on that day.
Vietnam veterans are asking veterans, their families and friends, active duty military personal, as well as the like-minded public, to join us in emailing, calling, and writing, the National Park Service robbin_owen@nps.gov (1-202 619-7225) and Vietnam Memorial Fund vvmf@vvmf.org (202) 393-0090 Fax: (202) 393-0029 asking them to take any and all legal action to prohibit the planned anti-war demonstration on March 17, 2007 at, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Further, to demand that the appropriate law enforcement agencies stringently enforce the law as it pertains to defacement of public edifices, monuments, and property.
We are very concerned, in light of recent events, there will be a repetition of the vandalism that occurred at last weekend's antiwar protest has a real potential to reoccur at the upcoming event, and that the police again will be prevented from enforcing the law by their superiors. We will not allow the Vietnam War Memorial be vandalized, spray painted, or in any way be defaced, as was the U.S. Congress during last weekend's antiwar protest when police were ordered to retreat in the face of leftist radicals who defiled our nation's seat of government. If the police are similarly prevented in doing their job as they were in the case of the U.S. Congress, we veterans are more than willing and able to form a "human honor guard" (peacefully) to prevent a similar sacrilege to the nation's property and to what we consider hollowed ground, and our war's collective tombstone.
We do not object to public protest. Many of us have fought, bled, and died, to provide (and protect) the citizenry the right to free assembly.
We do however, strongly object the use of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as a backdrop and stage for political gain. And, we take it as an affront to our fallen comrade-in-arms and to their honor that the antiwar movement's organizers and supporters would be so insensitive, inconsiderate, and boorish, as to even consider it as suitable location for political theater.
It is scared ground and should be considered as such.
This is a very emotional issue to many veterans and the potential for confrontation is very high. In the interest of the sensitivities of the veterans and that of public safety and good order, we ask the you to use your good offices and influence to convince antiwar movement's organizers to reconsider their choice of assembly point, and relocate it to a less emotionally charged area.
Semper Fi
Michael S. Golden
President/CEO
Veterans Construction Inc. (VCI)
318 Winona Street, Suite 204
Knoxville, TN. 37917
Office (865) 523 9144
Fax: (865) 523 9105
End 2007.02.14.13:24 Update.
***
2007.02.12.16:10 Update:
I'm glad to see Blackfive giving Rurik's post, and the Gathering of Eagles, a nice plug here.
End 2007.02.12.16:10 Update.
***
2007.02.12.03:44 Update: A Gathering of Eagles Against a Gathering of Vultures
Rurik
At the start of February, we were alerted by a few vets that the hard left, anti-American protesters organized around Cindy Sheehan, Jane Fonda, and their ilk planned to demonstrate in Washington on March 17, 2007, starting at the Vietnam War Memorial and marching on the Pentagon. Word spread via e-mail, and then by website.
Last time those barbarians marched not only did they protest, but they also vandalized the Capitol while the federal Park Police did virtually nothing. This time, they would do it to Our Wall. They will dishonor the memory of Our Fallen Brothers before beginning their trek to betray and dishonor Our Serving Sons. Forbid it Almighty God!! Even if no vandalism were to occur, to expropriate The Wall as a backdrop for such a protest would be a desecration. An obscenity. It would be like allowing the KKK to hold a national rally at the Lincoln Memorial – that would never be allowed to happen. And the aging hippies and traitors of the 1960s must not be allowed near The Wall memorializing those they betrayed. ...
End 2007.02.12.03:44 Update.
***
2007.02.11.18:59 Update: Saving America
Contributed by J D Pendry  Do you have a list? I keep a mental one. Everyday I add to it more names and groups of people that I’d hesitate to extinguish should I find them aflame. Metaphorically speaking, that is, because it goes against my nature otherwise. Heck, I’d probably put a snake out if it was on fire. It might stamp it out, but I’d get the fire out.
Read the rest
*** A Gathering of Eagles
Contributed by The Gray Dog
You may notice that for this particular post that there are a lot of 'categories' selected. The problem with BLOGs in general is there are often not enough categories. For this one, I need to click over 58,000 more.
By now, you have all heard about the veteran movement to defend the memorials in Washington D.C. on March 17, 2007. If you are still undecided about making the effort to go, please watch the following:
A Gathering of Eagles: We'll be There!
End 2007.02.11.18:59 Update.
***
2007.02.10.21:40 Update:
After you read the post the image links to check out and bookmark the new forum at http://usvetdsp.com/eagle/index.php and the new blog at http://gatheringofeagles.org/.
End 2007.02.10.21:40 Update. Everything from here down was posted before that time.
***
R J Del Vecchio emails: This is not a forwarded article, a quote from someone else, this is just me, Del, talking.
The plans for the antiwar protest on March 17th appear to be firmed up. Here's the intel I got from someone in MD. "The area where the "proposed" protesters' permit has them assemble is on the hill overlooking the Wall (about 50 yards East). Unfortunately the route to the Pentagon from their probable gathering area is between the Wall and the reflecting basin; past the Wall, past the Women in Vietnam Statue and past the Three Soldiers Statue."
This means as they walk by they can do whatever they can imagine, probably not spray paint, but maybe try to hang signs off the statues, paste mottos on The Wall, plant signs above or below it, etc. And make it part of their political activism.
The primary purpose of US servicemen and women as been to safeguard Freedom, including the freedom of these people to protest lawfully. But that does not mean they can drag the Memorial to our fallen into their political activism. The Memorial is like the symbolic gravestone of our comrades, big, black, somber.
It is NOT about politics, it is about honoring their sacrifice.
It is NOT about whether this nation should not have gone to Viet Nam, or should have stayed longer and done more.
It is NOT about the personalities and controversies of those days, or any other days.
Everyone should understand that the remembrance and honor we give to those who didn't come back is about THEM, and nothing else. If my brother or my son was in the antiwar movement, I would respect his convictions and support his right to protest, but I would tell him "Leave The Wall out of it. Don't go there, don't even think of going there." And if the same person was rabidly supportive of our actions in Iraq and Afghanistan and wanted to paste a poster across The Wall saying "Support The Troops", I would say the same thing. Leave The Wall out of it.
To that end, I hope that by twos and threes, by sixes and tens, vets will take the time, make the trip, and the trickle of men will swell gradually on the day before, to a slowly gathering host. And on that day there will be enough of us there to fill the space along The Wall shoulder to shoulder, six men deep, and around the statues too, so that we can stand there, quiet, peaceful, dignified, and totally determined that no one, NO ONE comes to touch The Wall with poster or paint or flag or emblem or anything else. The protesters will be able to walk past us, but not through us.
Let the cameras roll, let the TV screens in this country and best of all, in the camps of our soldiers across the world, show everyone that some things are indeed sacred, to be respected and guarded, and that the bond exists to bring old vets together to stand sentry once again over the place dedicated to their brothers.
R J Del Vecchio
1st MarDiv, 1968
I'll see you there
pls feel free to pass this on
***
I don't know what I was thinking when I sent all those emails last night. Retired SEAL Capt. Larry Bailey, one of the prime movers behind Gathering Of Eagles, is part of the Old War Dogs pack and I should have told people about my OWD post here instead of this one. Since I didn't, maybe you can check out the Old War Dogs site while you're in the neighborhood anyway.
Thanks, Curt, Terresa, Ron, Bob, Lucianne (You sure do know how to make an Old Dog feel noticed!), Bookworm, Anchoress, Steve, Bruce, Greg, Cookie, Jules
Don't miss Bob's post here for some great information about the "peace" crowd planning to descend on Washington on 3/17. Steve's MilBlogs post is also especially worthy.
***
William "1stCav" Page, who sent me the original mail about this, just sent me this partial list of others blogging on the subject (I've removed the ones I already knew about):
Euphoric Reality
http://euphoricreality.com/2007/02/08/to-protect-the-vietnam-wall/
The Captains America
http://thecaptainsamerica.blogspot.com/
Psycmeistr's Ice Palace
http://psycmeistr.blogspot.com/2007/02/not-so-fast-fonda.html#links
Grunt Forum
http://forum.gruntsmilitary.com/viewtopic.php?p=65529
Free Republic
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1777452/posts
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/1781564/posts
My Pet Jawa
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/186464.php
ex-Liberal in Hollywood
http://exlibhollywood.blogspot.com/2007/02/protect-vietnam-war-memorial.html
***
So what's my excuse for not planning to be in Washington that day? I wish I could be, but ... The day these pictures were taken I had to be relieved of my position in a Patriot Guard Riders flag line when I showed signs of being ready to pass out, then nearly didn't make it back to my car about a quarter mile away. I'd be a distraction, pure and simple. My heart will be there but my butt will be planted firmly in the same chair it is now.
***
J D Pendry just sent me this "This is what we're up against" link.
***
Del just forwarded the following email (I've removed some names): Thank you for your concern.
I have received several queries regarding this protest.
I tracked down the group that is organizing the demonstration to confirm that they holding this event. Richard Becker supplied me with the attached email re the demonstration. After receiving your email today, I called the ANSWER offices again to ask about Jane Fonda's participation. The person answering the phone said that he had no knowledge of Jane Fonda participating in this event but did confirm that she had participated in a January event.
I also called the National Park Service to see if the group has a permit. Robin Owen, at the NPS, confirmed that they have been issued a permit for this protest and that this is the same activity that was allowed in 2002. NPS is not in the position to withhold permits for First Amendment activities. Owens stated the demonstrators will not be allowed in the restricted area near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, that they are erecting snow fences and putting extra officers on duty. She stated that anyone who attempts acts of anarchy or attempts to desecrate the memorial grounds will be be arrested.
The contact for the demonstration: Richard Becker at ANSWER Coalition; 202-544-3389.
*****************************************************************************
However, if your blood pressure needs a boost, check out the site below, which is the ANSWER people's presentation of who they are and what they think they're doing.
http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2?abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=8273
That all sounds very encouraging, but I'd still much rather trust a wall of vets than a flimsy snow fence to protect the wall and the other Nam-related monuments near it.
***
Thank you Greyhawk, Rick, Pierre, Cao, .... (I still have room for more names. Who's next?)
*** We will be there, brothers.
OWB (Bobbie Craig)
Many of us are preparing for a trip to Washington, DC on March 17 to defend the VietNam Memorial Wall from those who have dishonored so many of us and support those who have and who would. At last count, that includes at least three of your writers here.
It has been a long time since I have seen so many Americans get excited about something. So many have waited so long to FINALLY express their outrage at the disgusting behavior of those loons who are meeting at the Wall on March 17 to stage some sort of demonstration against the Pentagon. ...
OK, children, the adults are coming. We will meet you at the Wall on March 17.
Read the whole thing, including the comments.
***
Joe Oliver emails: Unlike the 60's/70's when most nationally were isolated from Real News, only hearing what slanted views were offered by the press, the news has spread fast that Hanoi Jane rides again along with a lot of attention grabbers from the past who want to get their name (ego) back into the lime light. ( I will not give them the cybertype necessary to print their names.) What do they plan to do? Gather at The Wall and march on The Pentagon. The Hanoi Janes of the world want to use the fallen, those who paid the ultimate price for their freedom to be lunatics, and profess the same to the world under the banner of "Freedom of Movement & Travel and Freedom of Speech" by spiting on a generation one more time.
They must think all will be cowering, afraid of the spit..but the loony tunes never took into account the fact that some will "spit" back. Gathering at The Wall on March 17, 2007 to exercise their right to freedom of movement and if need be freedom of speech will be an array of In Service troops, Vets, Family & Friends from all era's. Even Free Republic has a permit to march "in Support" of our sons & daughters in harms way, a gathering that will augment "Protecting The Wall".
I was looking at laws for the District of Columbia and noted that those protecting The Wall, The Three Man Statute, The Womens Monument - have to keep "moving" - can't just stand there thats obstruction - so as long as a 100 deep I hope or more walk arm in arm, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder & side by side, no one in front, no one behind and just keep the circle moving. you can exercise your right(s) "for as long as it takes". It is a "peaceful" gathering, non-confrontational, but you do have the right to defend yourself if attacked. Ya know those peace jokeys who proclaim they march for peace have historically been very NON-PEACEFUL. Thats a minority though. For the most part college kids and others out side their leftwing communist oriented circles are being used to foster an end. Your example that day will mean a lot to bringing these kids minds out of the clouds of deception.
A suggestion: When the protestors come ( save for those watching the wire ) turn your backs on them like you would Clinton.
For more information go here: http://www.usvetdsp.com/feb07/eagle.htm then join the forum at http://usvetdsp.com/eagle/index.php
Bookmark that forum and go back often. It's going to be an excellent source of information and a great way for those planning to show up on the 17th to stay in touch and coordinate their plans. From that same mail from Joe: 
MAJOR MARK A. SMITH
UNITED STATES ARMY (RETIRED)
SUBJECT: NEVER AGAIN!
I write this letter not with a heavy heart, but with outright indignation. The statements in it are directed to all segments of the American body politic, media and just uncaring and wavering citizens. You are held up to ridicule by much of the world and it has nothing to do with our Government and military not bowing to the United Nations or some ‘ World Court.’ It is because of our lack of unity and the perception the average American does not know a thing about the rest of the world. That is unfortunately true. You were led by the very same personalities and organizations down the road to your willing defeat in Southeast Asia. Not the defeat of our valiant military and those of our allies but, yours.
NEVER AGAIN!
How easy are you to lead down the road to defeat?
Please allow me to refresh your memories. Contrary to what the media and politicians put out today I and my brave fellow warriors were participating in the Vietnam War when it was popular. Did our battlefield defeats, like the French, lead to a demand for us to quit and pull out? Oh no, it was you on the home front who lost heart initially, listening to the very same voices you are listening to today. The claim was that American Soldiers and Marines could not find this elusive enemy and could not defeat him because this kind of war could not be won. We beat that five-foot tall, eighty five-pound sucker into dog dirt and our very own media called it a ‘defeat.’ Cronkite said it and you, not us but you, believed it then and too many of you darned fools believe it today. This time we will require truth and you will listen to us and not the mob.
NEVER AGAIN!
John Kerry is not your President today because of us, the real veterans of the Vietnam War. He was not ‘SWIFTBOATED’; he was knocked out by we who actually know what a low-life nobody of war he was in his few months in Vietnam. The ‘Swift Boats and POWs For Truth’ are not some right wing lobby, they are we and we are they. You want to use our dead, many of whom may be rightly laid at your and Cronkite’s feet? Not this time you uneducated in war fools. You want to make movies and then tell us you are experts on the real world? Sean Penn is a punk with no experience in the world, which allows him to sit in judgment on any real man. He is a pretender. That is his job! He, like Jane Fonda before him, has no special insight into politics or war. They are pretenders and it is their function to play real or imagined people and make themselves believable on the screen. But once again, they and you want to extend that to real life?
NEVER AGAIN!
You have the gall to allow Dan Rather to march out in front of you on the screen and proclaim himself a ‘former Marine’? He got the boot in boot camp and never made it to being a Marine. How dare you tarnish the image of a brave and legendary branch of service by allowing that quitter to claim he was one of them. You then want to hold up Murtha and Kerry as people to be listened to about the military and wars? They were the least of us and you want to shove them in our faces again and proclaim them ‘heroes’? Not this time boys and girls because we are not going to put up with it.
NEVER AGAIN!
You want to come to our wall and use it to make some political point and bring another generation to battlefield defeat? You are not going to shout us down this time. You come near that wall and it had better be with nothing but quiet respect. We do not ask this by appealing to you as fellow Americans. We know this does no good with your ilk. We require you to show respect to our fallen brethren, those still missing, and those serving today and to us. This is not a request, it is an order. An order from the only group with the authority to give it: US! We earned the right on terrible battlefields, for you to listen to us and not Fonda, Penn, Kerry or even a fallen honorable man’s mother. He is us and we are him and if he died, it was with us and not with you.
NEVER AGAIN!
In closing let me say that we by being who we really were on the battlefield, need not even raise our voices or fists to the mob. You shall by your very presence and bearing show you are greater men and women than any whom mount their podium. By merely looking them in the eye directly, you will say to those of ill intent on our sacred ground:
YOU SHALL NOT PASS, NEVER AGAIN!
God Bless you all, at home and on the battlefield and
God Bless America.
MARK 'ZIPPO' SMITH
-----------------------------------
Zippo Smiths NVA Hunting Club
RVN - 1966 to 1973
C Co. 1/506th BN 101 ABN
03/70 to 10/70
WIA / POW
1972 / 1973
You can read more about Mark "Zippo" Smith here:
http://www.soft-vision.com/ranger/
After the intro - click on the link Maj. Smith
***
Viper Ash wants everyone to know about the new blog at http://gatheringofeagles.org/. Bookmark it, go back often. Leftist activists who march to the Pentagon next month will discover that their path won't be as clear as it has been in the past.
The group, led by Cindy Sheehan, Jane Fonda, Ramsey Clark and their ilk, plan to gather March 17 at the Vietnam Memorial Wall to begin a march to protest America's involvement in the Iraq war. The date marks the fourth anniversary of the war's beginning.
This time, however, protestors will see objectors if they spit on Iraqi veterans again, or throw paint on a war memorial. This time, they will encounter a buzz saw of Vietnam veterans and supporters who will gather to protect the Wall, and show their support for U.S. troops. The counter-protestors are calling themselves the Gathering of Eagles. ...
Click the image to learn more, then check out the new Gathering of Eagles blog here and the forum here. It's time to get involved, people. If you can't make it to Washington that day, won't you at least help spread the word? Hat tips: William Page, Viper Ash, others.
***
2007.02.23.19:16 -- Final Update
This post has gotten too large to be practical. From here out I'll handle anything that I might have previously added to this post as a separate post in the Old War Dogs Gathering Of Eagles category.
***
2007.02.16.20:59 Update:
Don't miss the new Gathering of Eagle forum here and don't miss these related posts:
End 2007.02.16.20:59 Update.
***
2007.02.14.13:24 Update:
Thank you Bob Krupienski for your post here.
***
I've received four copies of the following email so far from four separate sources. I'll take it as cause for cautious optimism but I'm still going to hope for a huge turnout on the 17th: Veterans, family and friends;
In response to the concerns expressed, I contacted Robin Owen (Person in charge of issuing event permits for the National Mall area) of the National park Service via telephone this morning and was very convincingly informed and assured of the following:
1.) There will be a 300 yard perimeter comprised of double snow fence barriers with an ample number mounted, foot police, riot reaction squad nearby, and intelligence personal on scene, to ensure that the conditions of the permit granted to the antiwar activists are not violated. E.G. the assembly point is in an appointed area on the eastern end of the grounds (Knoll) and they will not be allowed in the proximity of the wall. A Similar exclusion zone applies area and approaches from Constitution Ave. So net effect ... no protesters within 300 yd's.
2.) That ALL laws will be vigorously enforced and prosecuted in terms of any violence, vandalism, or, threat to public safety. This was stated emphatically.
3.) About an hour later, I received a phone call from Sgt, Booker of the Park Police saying he had been asked by Robin Owen to reiterate the policy and to reinforce her statements to me and answer any further questions I may have on the Park Police law enforcement polices.
Sgt. Booker stated even MORE emphatically that the Park Police consider the Wall as sacred ground, as we do, (As did Robin Owen) themselves, and that they WILL enforce any, and all laws, relevant to it's integrity. And, any concerns we may have stemming from the non-enforcement of the law by the Capitol Police last weekend are not relevant to his Dept. They WILL arrest and prosecuted anyone who breaks the law.
4.) The Wall will be open for visiting to the general public as usual ... if any of you care to do so on that day.
Vietnam veterans are asking veterans, their families and friends, active duty military personal, as well as the like-minded public, to join us in emailing, calling, and writing, the National Park Service robbin_owen@nps.gov (1-202 619-7225) and Vietnam Memorial Fund vvmf@vvmf.org (202) 393-0090 Fax: (202) 393-0029 asking them to take any and all legal action to prohibit the planned anti-war demonstration on March 17, 2007 at, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Further, to demand that the appropriate law enforcement agencies stringently enforce the law as it pertains to defacement of public edifices, monuments, and property.
We are very concerned, in light of recent events, there will be a repetition of the vandalism that occurred at last weekend's antiwar protest has a real potential to reoccur at the upcoming event, and that the police again will be prevented from enforcing the law by their superiors. We will not allow the Vietnam War Memorial be vandalized, spray painted, or in any way be defaced, as was the U.S. Congress during last weekend's antiwar protest when police were ordered to retreat in the face of leftist radicals who defiled our nation's seat of government. If the police are similarly prevented in doing their job as they were in the case of the U.S. Congress, we veterans are more than willing and able to form a "human honor guard" (peacefully) to prevent a similar sacrilege to the nation's property and to what we consider hollowed ground, and our war's collective tombstone.
We do not object to public protest. Many of us have fought, bled, and died, to provide (and protect) the citizenry the right to free assembly.
We do however, strongly object the use of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as a backdrop and stage for political gain. And, we take it as an affront to our fallen comrade-in-arms and to their honor that the antiwar movement's organizers and supporters would be so insensitive, inconsiderate, and boorish, as to even consider it as suitable location for political theater.
It is scared ground and should be considered as such.
This is a very emotional issue to many veterans and the potential for confrontation is very high. In the interest of the sensitivities of the veterans and that of public safety and good order, we ask the you to use your good offices and influence to convince antiwar movement's organizers to reconsider their choice of assembly point, and relocate it to a less emotionally charged area.
Semper Fi
Michael S. Golden
President/CEO
Veterans Construction Inc. (VCI)
318 Winona Street, Suite 204
Knoxville, TN. 37917
Office (865) 523 9144
Fax: (865) 523 9105
End 2007.02.14.13:24 Update.
***
2007.02.12.16:10 Update:
I'm glad to see Blackfive giving Rurik's post, and the Gathering of Eagles, a nice plug here.
End 2007.02.12.16:10 Update.
***
2007.02.12.03:44 Update: A Gathering of Eagles Against a Gathering of Vultures
Rurik
At the start of February, we were alerted by a few vets that the hard left, anti-American protesters organized around Cindy Sheehan, Jane Fonda, and their ilk planned to demonstrate in Washington on March 17, 2007, starting at the Vietnam War Memorial and marching on the Pentagon. Word spread via e-mail, and then by website.
Last time those barbarians marched not only did they protest, but they also vandalized the Capitol while the federal Park Police did virtually nothing. This time, they would do it to Our Wall. They will dishonor the memory of Our Fallen Brothers before beginning their trek to betray and dishonor Our Serving Sons. Forbid it Almighty God!! Even if no vandalism were to occur, to expropriate The Wall as a backdrop for such a protest would be a desecration. An obscenity. It would be like allowing the KKK to hold a national rally at the Lincoln Memorial – that would never be allowed to happen. And the aging hippies and traitors of the 1960s must not be allowed near The Wall memorializing those they betrayed. ...
End 2007.02.12.03:44 Update.
***
2007.02.11.18:59 Update: Saving America
Contributed by J D Pendry Do you have a list? I keep a mental one. Everyday I add to it more names and groups of people that I’d hesitate to extinguish should I find them aflame. Metaphorically speaking, that is, because it goes against my nature otherwise. Heck, I’d probably put a snake out if it was on fire. It might stamp it out, but I’d get the fire out.
Read the rest
*** A Gathering of Eagles
Contributed by The Gray Dog
You may notice that for this particular post that there are a lot of 'categories' selected. The problem with BLOGs in general is there are often not enough categories. For this one, I need to click over 58,000 more.
By now, you have all heard about the veteran movement to defend the memorials in Washington D.C. on March 17, 2007. If you are still undecided about making the effort to go, please watch the following:
A Gathering of Eagles: We'll be There!
End 2007.02.11.18:59 Update.
***
2007.02.10.21:40 Update:
After you read the post the image links to check out and bookmark the new forum at http://usvetdsp.com/eagle/index.php and the new blog at http://gatheringofeagles.org/.
End 2007.02.10.21:40 Update. Everything from here down was posted before that time.
***
R J Del Vecchio emails: This is not a forwarded article, a quote from someone else, this is just me, Del, talking.
The plans for the antiwar protest on March 17th appear to be firmed up. Here's the intel I got from someone in MD. "The area where the "proposed" protesters' permit has them assemble is on the hill overlooking the Wall (about 50 yards East). Unfortunately the route to the Pentagon from their probable gathering area is between the Wall and the reflecting basin; past the Wall, past the Women in Vietnam Statue and past the Three Soldiers Statue."
This means as they walk by they can do whatever they can imagine, probably not spray paint, but maybe try to hang signs off the statues, paste mottos on The Wall, plant signs above or below it, etc. And make it part of their political activism.
The primary purpose of US servicemen and women as been to safeguard Freedom, including the freedom of these people to protest lawfully. But that does not mean they can drag the Memorial to our fallen into their political activism. The Memorial is like the symbolic gravestone of our comrades, big, black, somber.
It is NOT about politics, it is about honoring their sacrifice.
It is NOT about whether this nation should not have gone to Viet Nam, or should have stayed longer and done more.
It is NOT about the personalities and controversies of those days, or any other days.
Everyone should understand that the remembrance and honor we give to those who didn't come back is about THEM, and nothing else. If my brother or my son was in the antiwar movement, I would respect his convictions and support his right to protest, but I would tell him "Leave The Wall out of it. Don't go there, don't even think of going there." And if the same person was rabidly supportive of our actions in Iraq and Afghanistan and wanted to paste a poster across The Wall saying "Support The Troops", I would say the same thing. Leave The Wall out of it.
To that end, I hope that by twos and threes, by sixes and tens, vets will take the time, make the trip, and the trickle of men will swell gradually on the day before, to a slowly gathering host. And on that day there will be enough of us there to fill the space along The Wall shoulder to shoulder, six men deep, and around the statues too, so that we can stand there, quiet, peaceful, dignified, and totally determined that no one, NO ONE comes to touch The Wall with poster or paint or flag or emblem or anything else. The protesters will be able to walk past us, but not through us.
Let the cameras roll, let the TV screens in this country and best of all, in the camps of our soldiers across the world, show everyone that some things are indeed sacred, to be respected and guarded, and that the bond exists to bring old vets together to stand sentry once again over the place dedicated to their brothers.
R J Del Vecchio
1st MarDiv, 1968
I'll see you there
pls feel free to pass this on
***
I don't know what I was thinking when I sent all those emails last night. Retired SEAL Capt. Larry Bailey, one of the prime movers behind Gathering Of Eagles, is part of the Old War Dogs pack and I should have told people about my OWD post here instead of this one. Since I didn't, maybe you can check out the Old War Dogs site while you're in the neighborhood anyway.
Thanks, Curt, Terresa, Ron, Bob, Lucianne (You sure do know how to make an Old Dog feel noticed!), Bookworm, Anchoress, Steve, Bruce, Greg, Cookie, Jules
Don't miss Bob's post here for some great information about the "peace" crowd planning to descend on Washington on 3/17. Steve's MilBlogs post is also especially worthy.
***
William "1stCav" Page, who sent me the original mail about this, just sent me this partial list of others blogging on the subject (I've removed the ones I already knew about):
Euphoric Reality
http://euphoricreality.com/2007/02/08/to-protect-the-vietnam-wall/
The Captains America
http://thecaptainsamerica.blogspot.com/
Psycmeistr's Ice Palace
http://psycmeistr.blogspot.com/2007/02/not-so-fast-fonda.html#links
Grunt Forum
http://forum.gruntsmilitary.com/viewtopic.php?p=65529
Free Republic
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1777452/posts
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/1781564/posts
My Pet Jawa
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/186464.php
ex-Liberal in Hollywood
http://exlibhollywood.blogspot.com/2007/02/protect-vietnam-war-memorial.html
***
So what's my excuse for not planning to be in Washington that day? I wish I could be, but ... The day these pictures were taken I had to be relieved of my position in a Patriot Guard Riders flag line when I showed signs of being ready to pass out, then nearly didn't make it back to my car about a quarter mile away. I'd be a distraction, pure and simple. My heart will be there but my butt will be planted firmly in the same chair it is now.
***
J D Pendry just sent me this "This is what we're up against" link.
***
Del just forwarded the following email (I've removed some names): Thank you for your concern.
I have received several queries regarding this protest.
I tracked down the group that is organizing the demonstration to confirm that they holding this event. Richard Becker supplied me with the attached email re the demonstration. After receiving your email today, I called the ANSWER offices again to ask about Jane Fonda's participation. The person answering the phone said that he had no knowledge of Jane Fonda participating in this event but did confirm that she had participated in a January event.
I also called the National Park Service to see if the group has a permit. Robin Owen, at the NPS, confirmed that they have been issued a permit for this protest and that this is the same activity that was allowed in 2002. NPS is not in the position to withhold permits for First Amendment activities. Owens stated the demonstrators will not be allowed in the restricted area near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, that they are erecting snow fences and putting extra officers on duty. She stated that anyone who attempts acts of anarchy or attempts to desecrate the memorial grounds will be be arrested.
The contact for the demonstration: Richard Becker at ANSWER Coalition; 202-544-3389.
*****************************************************************************
However, if your blood pressure needs a boost, check out the site below, which is the ANSWER people's presentation of who they are and what they think they're doing.
http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2?abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=8273
That all sounds very encouraging, but I'd still much rather trust a wall of vets than a flimsy snow fence to protect the wall and the other Nam-related monuments near it.
***
Thank you Greyhawk, Rick, Pierre, Cao, .... (I still have room for more names. Who's next?)
*** We will be there, brothers.
OWB (Bobbie Craig)
Many of us are preparing for a trip to Washington, DC on March 17 to defend the VietNam Memorial Wall from those who have dishonored so many of us and support those who have and who would. At last count, that includes at least three of your writers here.
It has been a long time since I have seen so many Americans get excited about something. So many have waited so long to FINALLY express their outrage at the disgusting behavior of those loons who are meeting at the Wall on March 17 to stage some sort of demonstration against the Pentagon. ...
OK, children, the adults are coming. We will meet you at the Wall on March 17.
Read the whole thing, including the comments.
***
Joe Oliver emails: Unlike the 60's/70's when most nationally were isolated from Real News, only hearing what slanted views were offered by the press, the news has spread fast that Hanoi Jane rides again along with a lot of attention grabbers from the past who want to get their name (ego) back into the lime light. ( I will not give them the cybertype necessary to print their names.) What do they plan to do? Gather at The Wall and march on The Pentagon. The Hanoi Janes of the world want to use the fallen, those who paid the ultimate price for their freedom to be lunatics, and profess the same to the world under the banner of "Freedom of Movement & Travel and Freedom of Speech" by spiting on a generation one more time.
They must think all will be cowering, afraid of the spit..but the loony tunes never took into account the fact that some will "spit" back. Gathering at The Wall on March 17, 2007 to exercise their right to freedom of movement and if need be freedom of speech will be an array of In Service troops, Vets, Family & Friends from all era's. Even Free Republic has a permit to march "in Support" of our sons & daughters in harms way, a gathering that will augment "Protecting The Wall".
I was looking at laws for the District of Columbia and noted that those protecting The Wall, The Three Man Statute, The Womens Monument - have to keep "moving" - can't just stand there thats obstruction - so as long as a 100 deep I hope or more walk arm in arm, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder & side by side, no one in front, no one behind and just keep the circle moving. you can exercise your right(s) "for as long as it takes". It is a "peaceful" gathering, non-confrontational, but you do have the right to defend yourself if attacked. Ya know those peace jokeys who proclaim they march for peace have historically been very NON-PEACEFUL. Thats a minority though. For the most part college kids and others out side their leftwing communist oriented circles are being used to foster an end. Your example that day will mean a lot to bringing these kids minds out of the clouds of deception.
A suggestion: When the protestors come ( save for those watching the wire ) turn your backs on them like you would Clinton.
For more information go here: http://www.usvetdsp.com/feb07/eagle.htm then join the forum at http://usvetdsp.com/eagle/index.php
Bookmark that forum and go back often. It's going to be an excellent source of information and a great way for those planning to show up on the 17th to stay in touch and coordinate their plans. From that same mail from Joe:
MAJOR MARK A. SMITH
UNITED STATES ARMY (RETIRED)
SUBJECT: NEVER AGAIN!
I write this letter not with a heavy heart, but with outright indignation. The statements in it are directed to all segments of the American body politic, media and just uncaring and wavering citizens. You are held up to ridicule by much of the world and it has nothing to do with our Government and military not bowing to the United Nations or some ‘ World Court.’ It is because of our lack of unity and the perception the average American does not know a thing about the rest of the world. That is unfortunately true. You were led by the very same personalities and organizations down the road to your willing defeat in Southeast Asia. Not the defeat of our valiant military and those of our allies but, yours.
NEVER AGAIN!
How easy are you to lead down the road to defeat?
Please allow me to refresh your memories. Contrary to what the media and politicians put out today I and my brave fellow warriors were participating in the Vietnam War when it was popular. Did our battlefield defeats, like the French, lead to a demand for us to quit and pull out? Oh no, it was you on the home front who lost heart initially, listening to the very same voices you are listening to today. The claim was that American Soldiers and Marines could not find this elusive enemy and could not defeat him because this kind of war could not be won. We beat that five-foot tall, eighty five-pound sucker into dog dirt and our very own media called it a ‘defeat.’ Cronkite said it and you, not us but you, believed it then and too many of you darned fools believe it today. This time we will require truth and you will listen to us and not the mob.
NEVER AGAIN!
John Kerry is not your President today because of us, the real veterans of the Vietnam War. He was not ‘SWIFTBOATED’; he was knocked out by we who actually know what a low-life nobody of war he was in his few months in Vietnam. The ‘Swift Boats and POWs For Truth’ are not some right wing lobby, they are we and we are they. You want to use our dead, many of whom may be rightly laid at your and Cronkite’s feet? Not this time you uneducated in war fools. You want to make movies and then tell us you are experts on the real world? Sean Penn is a punk with no experience in the world, which allows him to sit in judgment on any real man. He is a pretender. That is his job! He, like Jane Fonda before him, has no special insight into politics or war. They are pretenders and it is their function to play real or imagined people and make themselves believable on the screen. But once again, they and you want to extend that to real life?
NEVER AGAIN!
You have the gall to allow Dan Rather to march out in front of you on the screen and proclaim himself a ‘former Marine’? He got the boot in boot camp and never made it to being a Marine. How dare you tarnish the image of a brave and legendary branch of service by allowing that quitter to claim he was one of them. You then want to hold up Murtha and Kerry as people to be listened to about the military and wars? They were the least of us and you want to shove them in our faces again and proclaim them ‘heroes’? Not this time boys and girls because we are not going to put up with it.
NEVER AGAIN!
You want to come to our wall and use it to make some political point and bring another generation to battlefield defeat? You are not going to shout us down this time. You come near that wall and it had better be with nothing but quiet respect. We do not ask this by appealing to you as fellow Americans. We know this does no good with your ilk. We require you to show respect to our fallen brethren, those still missing, and those serving today and to us. This is not a request, it is an order. An order from the only group with the authority to give it: US! We earned the right on terrible battlefields, for you to listen to us and not Fonda, Penn, Kerry or even a fallen honorable man’s mother. He is us and we are him and if he died, it was with us and not with you.
NEVER AGAIN!
In closing let me say that we by being who we really were on the battlefield, need not even raise our voices or fists to the mob. You shall by your very presence and bearing show you are greater men and women than any whom mount their podium. By merely looking them in the eye directly, you will say to those of ill intent on our sacred ground:
YOU SHALL NOT PASS, NEVER AGAIN!
God Bless you all, at home and on the battlefield and
God Bless America.
MARK 'ZIPPO' SMITH
-----------------------------------
Zippo Smiths NVA Hunting Club
RVN - 1966 to 1973
C Co. 1/506th BN 101 ABN
03/70 to 10/70
WIA / POW
1972 / 1973
You can read more about Mark "Zippo" Smith here:
http://www.soft-vision.com/ranger/
After the intro - click on the link Maj. Smith
***
Viper Ash wants everyone to know about the new blog at http://gatheringofeagles.org/. Bookmark it, go back often.
[Original timestamp 2007.02.08.18:45]
|
