Since 03-24-07
Off The BeanVine March 23 07 Report - Mission Time on the Wall
Since 03-24-07
From:
Thebeanvine@aol.com [mailto:Thebeanvine@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 5:22 PM
To: Beansimple@aol.com; Thebeanvine@aol.com
Subject: Off The BeanVine March 23 07 Report: Mission Time on the Wall
03-23-07
Greetings
Been a while, I apologize. I was "otherwise motivated" as those of you who read my last issue will know. The Bean went to the Wall.
note the bronze medallion on vest, thats an Aussie badge I wore so my Australian brothers would be there with us
CALLING HER CHILDREN HOME
Years ago I made my first visit to the Wall. I had put off going for one reason or another and finally I felt this overpowering urgency to go. I was drawn to this Black Granite like a magnet, but that's another story. This time the call was more plaintive and powerful even than the first time it sent for me in 85.
This time the Wall called for all of her children to come home and more than thirty-thousand of us did so. I was one of those. I had weighed the trip for a day or two, and realized I was being called to the Wall again and I would not be going alone. Here follows my report back on this priceless weekend activity. Please feel free to pass it along. Some of you will receive this as a forward from the Beanvine name, fear not, I am still arm wrestling AOL for control of my mailboxes...working on it.
THE IMPERFECT STORM
Let me start by saying I'm no hero nor professional driver of any sort. I set out in my Ford Ranger (2WD) with my duffle and maps and a destination: my room in Frederick, Maryland about 35 miles north of DC. That was around 0800 hours out of Cincinnati heading for I-70 outside Columbus, Ohio. Ironically my wife called me on the cell phone around 1030 hours and I was happily boogying east out of Columbus in cloudy but dry weather. A few minutes after I rung off I was running in drizzle. I crossed into Zanesville and placed a call to my ride-buddy whom I was to pick up there but he declined to go saying he was too sick and weather looked poorly. I was in heavy flurries at this time and had a "fur piece" to go to hit West Virginia border and the mountains. I pressed on. Tom, you don't know what you missed brother.
Into West Virginia and then Pennsylvania where I nosed dived south along 79 to pick up 68 across Maryland. I ran in snow, mixed snow and freezing rain, did the last ten miles into Frederick at 20MPH behind a wall of snowplows and salt trucks on I-270. The roads were tricky but passable thanks to the road crews in the various states I went through.
Once in room I was able to order a pizza delivered which took hour and a half but being hungry made this acceptable. I laid out plan for the next morning while munching cold pizza and drinking green tea.
TV locals reporting the storm was raising pluperfect hell north of Frederick with roads and many airports and points north of us as being in "snow emergency" status. I was glad to have landed where I was. The drive had been a push and a task but my need to be there was stronger and I'd determined to keep moving until I could go no further, I was answering a call.
Later I would hear the lament from the poor moonbat clan that it was just unfair and this storm had closed down their departure points and therefore lessened their attendance at the Antiwar Rally.
Now how did I KNOW they were going to say that?
What I can say is roughly half of the Gathering of Eagles group ran the same mountains and roads I did and we made it. It's not my fault that the weather was too bad for the moonunit loons and I'd just like to note that any lack of attendance from north of DC would also mean the veterans of Gathering of Eagles couldn't depart either so the numbers cancel each other out, a moot point and lame excuse.
COME THE MORNING
I had a later than I had hoped start. Didn't leave Frederick until 0800 Saturday morning due to taking a fall buying a Croissantwich and coffee at Mickey D's, and went back to the room to assess damages done. Nothing harmed except my bruised rear and my crumpled pride.
I hit DC around 0900 and had to search out a parking area. Found one along Potomac River drive...1850+ paces from the Lincoln Memorial, translation? a long walk in the wind off the river. I passed hundreds of cars and trucks parked there before me, most bearing some reference to American pride or veteran status. Hundreds and more coming constantly. By the end of the day the entire road space for parking was filled all the way to the Potomac Bridge, I'm told with mostly GOE supporters vehicles...this from a Federal Marshal I stopped and asked for directions later that day to leave DC. He also asked how many of "us" were up there at the Wall, I told him my best guess was more than 25,000. I was close, I found out the "official count" was closer to 30,000. This particular lawman seemed genuinely interested in the Veteran attendance and I couldn't help but notice his vehicle bore a bumper decal of rank...Army Command Sergeant Major, guess he had a vested interest, huh?
I walked past the bus parking areas and noted a small group of younger kids playing "Wally-ball" while guarding a small pile of backpacks and such...the opposition's base camp thinks I. Across the street a van door opened and a vet climbed out, another got out the far side and put on their vests and headcovers, I hollered to them asked them where they were from and what units they were with, they came over and we walked up to the Wall together. One guy was 1st Infantry Div, other guy was air force served in Thailand. We compared drives up as they had run in from the Virginia (south) side.
As some of you know, the Bean is slow afoot and uses a cane, today the wind was coming in cold and sharp to our faces as we walked to the Wall. It was a nasty little walk of close to a mile and though I stopped as often as I needed to get my wind, these men, my brothers, stopped as well and waited till I went on again. Small demonstration of brotherhood and purpose there. I guess that's when I first felt the intense pride of our mission and my brothers, sisters and supporters being here in such numbers and with such a clear and vital purpose. I was not going to walk alone even if these men had to walk along with me at a much slower pace. We don't leave our brothers behind do we?
ON THE LINE
I had told a number of people that I had chosen my station-post and would be at the 3 Brothers (Soldiers) statue near the West wing of the Wall. My two companions split off at that point and went to the group that was ringing the street across from the village idiots area.
Here's the basics:
Roughly 5000 moonunit loons were gathered on the muddy baseball field to the North and west of the Lincoln memorial. Mostly a mix of college age and older hippies past their day and looking for one more big "love-in" and protest. They were sponsored and in the company of various mainstream communist backed groups like ANSWER and Code Pink...they had little skill with using their PA system..that's the only observation I have on their side of the rally line. Loud, Communist, and pissed off that we were there.
OUR LINE
There were a number distinct groups of vets and supporters, the main of which were the human line four to six deep across the street from the "antis" rally point, lined up facing them with DC cops between in huge numbers. Another of the huge vet groups were along Constitution Ave. with their backs to the Wall and facing the incoming moonbats "the Gauntlet." Gathering of Eagles Stage and rally site had another huge group and most of the vets and supporters made it over there at some point.
Distributed around and in close proximity to the memorials were groups of vets and supporters, the Korean, Nam Nurses, WW2, and Lincoln memorial were inside "our lines" and we staffed them with hard eyed vigilant men and women who came there to stop these vermin if they broke past the cops and came for our memorials. We came to stand together and fight if we needed to, go to jail if we needed to...this was unnecessary as it turned out.
I was with this group.
At any given time we had twenty to thirty guards around the 3 Brothers, ditto the nurses monument and the exit end of the Wall (east wing). This East end (exit side of the Wall) was probably one of the most heavily policed and vet guarded area that day reports from friends in that group indicated close to 100 vets there at all times and another perhaps 150 actually AT the Wall itself having gone through security and metal scanners, the end where I was on west side would be the second thickest concentration of vets and supporters. On my end of the Wall there were two lines (media reports one but there were two) one for each metal detector gate. A few "antis" tried to slip into the line and when they did vets fell in right behind them and before you knew it the "antis" decided this was hostile turf for them and went away. That may have been because the vets behind them described what would happen as soon as one of them acted up and reminded them they were in easy reach it they did. That's called active deterrence and area denial...if you're not military ask one what that means. The vets that do are probably chuckling already.
THOSE WHO I MET
To my left was a retired army DI who had served 30 years, the last ten training our soldiers at Ft Bragg. He was from Virginia and had had a short drive. To my right was a man from the 1st Cav/7th who had come from Arkansas. Both had retired as E-8s and were also here because the Wall called them. Oh yes, I asked them and heard it all day in one form or another..THE WALL SENT FOR ME...I KNEW I HAD TO BE HERE....I COULDN'T SAY NO WHEN SO MANY OF MY BROTHERS WERE GOING...
THE WALL NEEDED ME AND I AM HERE....all day.
I met a Lieutenant of Park Police who I thanked for his people's professionalism and courtesy. He thanked me for all the vets that were "backing his people" that's interesting that the Park Police saw us as back-ups.
I met and thanked a pair of Patriot Guard Riders from New Jersey who came in response to the Wall's calling. They are the group that shields our funerals from the Westboro Baptist clan. They said most of their folks were up on the Gauntlet or on the exit end of the Wall.
Five groups stood out and hung around most of the day at or near the 3 brothers or moved from the nurses memorial and the East wing of the Wall and back: Rolling Thunder, the Swiftys, and a big ole group of Marines a lot from 1st MarDiv and 3rd MarDiv and the Seabees. Minutes before I got on station some moonbat loonies brought a "US OUT OF IRAQ" sign to the Wall entrance and opened it up to display it. Major error. The Marines and Seabees relieved them of the sign, stomped it thoroughly into the mud and suggested that maybe the sign holders would be next!?....they left and their rumpled and muddied sign stayed leaned against the trash can. That's as violent as it got down in my neck of the woods.
We had a few passing moonloons but they didn't stay long. One who I approached told me this was America when I suggested he move along, and he was "good to stand" right in front of the soldiers statue. I told him, smiling the whole time, if he marred or spit on MY Wall or MY STATUE I was going to show him how "good I was".....another moment and seeing a group of angry looking men building up behind me he movedalong.com in a rapid and disorganized manner.
Another "visionary pilgrim" showed up in digital camos with stage blood and carrying an impeach Bush sign, one of the attending Seabees suggested he could "make that REAL" for him easily and gleefully, he decided to leave instead. So much for the opposition's threats to defile or confront that "usual few veterans that show up" they had every opportunity in the world to do so and showed their heels to us, and so much for the bloodthirsty veterans who only came to start trouble...there it is!
OTHER CHARACTERS
Early on I saw a cameraman coming over from near the moonunit rally spot. I knew he was a cameraman because he had a high dollar pro camera and gear with him...under his arm being carried NOT FILMING. He stepped up in front of the Brothers Statue and stood looking, not filming still. He spoke to me and the man next to me asked us "what we made of the anti-rally across the way" and we told him they were foolish and un-American assholes. I asked him who he worked for as press, he quickly announced he was "with AP."
"When are you guys going to start telling the truth?" I asked him as a direct question. He grinned a bit and came back with what he probably thought was a good answer "Who?" asks he "The whole media or just me?"
To which I said "Why not start with YOU as a single man? It only takes one man to tell the truth, why don't YOU start?" he looked somewhat distressed at this but quickly patted the fake smile back on.
When he asked if we wanted to talk to him or be interviewed my Cav brother gave him an earful in spades about how this was all going on around him and here he was camera under his arm and NOT filming the thousands of us standing station around our sacred ground. Another grin but this time a bit of an irritated look too along with that "distressed look" I mentioned before.
He turned to me and I gave him this (don't expect to hear this on any news source): "Where I come from, I was taught that when you have a problem with John, you take it to John, you don't march around in front of David's house or tell the neighbors how rotten John is..you take it to the man himself...these misguided buttwipes (yes I cleaned it up here I used a bit more colorful language actually) have a problem with the War on Terror and President Bush? Well..Bush don't live here.... this is MY Wall has nothing to do with this war and we are here to make sure these people understand that by whatever means it takes...they want to protest? they need to be up at Congress then, nobody down here can change anything even if we wanted to, and we don't."
I don't think that went over real big with him so he wandered off with his "lost as a pubic hair on a Brillo Pad" look on his face toward the East wing of the wall still not filming take note.
I saw one of the Parade Marshals (Orange shirt) come to the foot of the 3 Brothers, kneel and say a silent prayer. When he finished and stood I thanked him for offering that prayer there that afternoon, his wasn't the only prayer raised either. I sent one up from the Wall for the sake of those who are now in the field keeping the wolves off our doorsteps. The majority of the people that went down to the Wall did their own prayers too. I'm sure this disturbed the anti-America and anti-God crowd immensely...good, it was a small sample of what is to come in the future.
I did see Michelle Malkin but didn't want to leave station to go see her closer, if you don't know who she is google the name and add Gathering of Eagles.
I was there at the Wall for four hours and a half hours then stopped at the Korean memorial and went to the Wall to pay my respects to the ones who we were standing for that day. All I saw around me were veterans and supporters very few of the antis. The ones that were around were being bird-dogged and followed by vets and counterprotestors and were kept to a few isolated intrusions which caused no damage or even inconveniences while unnerving them and throwing a challenge in their faces that they lacked the force and conviction to press their own issue...again...good!
But there was one really over the top moonbat..dressed in pleated skirt and Che T shirt he came traipsing across the lawn in front of the Lincoln memorial making noise with a banjo he was carrying..note I did NOT say he was playing it..that would denote some level of skill and knowledge of the instrument...instead he just loudly strummed all five strings with no chords and screeched something about freedom and racism as he skipped (think six year old girl skipping) away to the west. I figured he would be found dead later after having tried to walk across the Potomac River or skipping into traffic...he was so lost in his statement whatever that was that he was oblivious to all around him.
WHAT ELSE...
What I didn't see: film crews taking shots of the vets, any violence instigated on any member of the oppositions' persons, I did see a few signs that were casualties. A Marine on Constitution Avenue liberated an American flag from one of the moonunits who was flying it upside down and he got a round of applause and the admiration of the crowd, but no blows were struck. One Code Pinko moonunit tried to spit on one vet, she missed and drooled down her front instead. The vet grabbed her and offered to call a cop but she managed to squirm away and back into the crowd on the street. That was the high point of their parade, a failed driveby spitting and a quick dive into the crowd.
In truth we had the moonunits surrounded in such a way that any attempt to film their protest from the ground inadvertently included OUR signs and OUR Flags and OUR people. What a shame for CNN and AP. The news crews that were there did very little filming on the ground, they didn't want our stuff to show in THEIR film...and this includes FOX News who likewise did not film our magnificent crowd. That "fair and balanced news" didn't happen this time.
I didn't see Jane Fonda, Sean Penn, or any of the other Hoolywad crowd, they were obviously delayed at some obscure airport dealing with the Imperfect Storm I mentioned before...or maybe Jane and company were told that it was hazardous to their personal health to show up in front of so many angry veterans, families, and supporters?
I didn't see these powerful "black-blocs" who had threatened our Wall. They seemed quite content to keep serious distance away from us and our Wall, they stayed so far away in fact they were not a factor at all, not once...no paint, no violence no spitting on wheelchair bounds vets, a wise decision I might add.
Every person who lined up next to me at the 3 Brothers said the same thing "we hope it doesn't some to blows but we will stop them if they charge us and they ARE going down..." Guess the moonunits didn't feel inspired to try their hand? I assure you that would have been the first suicide-painter incident in history had they tried it. Going to jail was part of the risk we took and were prepared to go if we were to be arrested, but mostly we figured that if it came to that we would give them a good reason to take us in and do as much damage to the loons as we could...we called that a "hazard of the occupation."
I didn't see any of the DC Police and Park Services Officers push, mistreat, or in any way harm the opposition or the veterans opposing them. They were very professional and polite but firm in their instruction to keep them at bay and away from us...of note here...in ALL cases where the cops stood between the two groups, they faced the protesters. I want to say that these cops were very professional and very clearly tired of having to give ground to these morons. The ones that spoke to us were actually glad we were there to "show the flag" so to speak.
What I did see: tens of thousands of my brothers and sisters in service, their families and friends, embracing and welcoming each other home.
I saw men and women with high moral purpose and grim determination stand together to protect our sacred ground, men and women who up till that morning had never met yet were family.
I saw strangers walking with a crippled brother to make sure he didn't fall or didn't walk alone, that would be me. Thank you men wherever you are tonight. You filled my heart with fire and pride.
I saw WW2 veterans in wheelchairs in line to pay respects at the Wall and then Gather near their own monument some of them seeing it for the first time and in tears. I saw the same thing at the Korean memorial and the Nurses Statue where a group of nurses and families had gathered holding THEIR station around their sacred ground. I saw people that drove twenty hours to be there, I saw people who had spent big $$$ on plane tickets and bus tickets to be there out of their own pockets.
I saw a day that was supposed to glorify withdrawal and American retreat turn into a celebration of our nation and our soldiers and the War on Terror right in front of our eyes.
And I saw a different future than the media and surrendercrats wanted me to see, I saw the awakening of a mighty force of Americans who said "NO! NOT THIS TIME AND NOT TO THESE TROOPS! TAKE HEED AND KNOW THAT WE ARE HERE NOW AND WILL NOT BACK OFF OR LET THESE LIES STAND"
I was proud to stand with my brothers and sisters, I was proud to defend our memorials and our sacred ground and firmly believe that every veteran that left the Wall that day was inspired and proud of our soldiers overseas and the job they do on our behalf.
The moonunit loons however left disappointed in themselves, enraged at us for spoiling their party and march...this time. There WILL be more confrontations between us trust me on that one. They kicked a box of rattlesnakes once too often and this time they got bit...and now that we are awakened they will have to deal with us everytime they shoot off their foul mouths or spew their lies.
Those who have loved ones or neighbors overseas right now copy this and mail it to them and tell them this: "The Eagles, your older combat brothers, are here now and we stand at home covering your six...no more one-sided demonstrations without someone on hand that loves and supports you.
As Churchill once said in WW2 when the nazis were defeated in North Africa
"...it is not the beginning of the end...but it IS the end of the beginning.."
Moonunit loonies...be advised you have only just seen the beginning...get used to being countered by Americans and in particular Gathering of Eagles...and remember this...YOU brought this to pass and we are in for the duration...get used to us.
Oh..and a short message for Cindy Sheehan...Casey's spirit and soul was there Saturday, he was with US in front of the Wall and he cries for your actions and the dance you do on his casket...whatta ya think about them apples "peace mom?"
beansimple said it
and above all...
think for yourself
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