Posted on 06/07/2006 9:47:04 PM PDT by PleaDeal
Something special happens every Friday at the front gates of Walter Reed. It is sometimes really exciting, like throwing CodePink off its corners or watching "Squeegee" wet himself with fright at an approaching Rolling Thunder member. But more often than not it's simply being honored by a visit from one of the wounded warriors from inside the hospital. When one of these truely special people comes out to thank us for being there... it's just a humbling, happy experience. June 2nd was one of those quiet, satisfying FReeps.
The big surprise was the most welcome return of Landry Fan!
 |
Landry's been going stir crazy and needed to get back to what she does so well: Supporting the Troops! From her blog entry of the evening: "There were lots of honks of support and thumbs up from cars driving by. Some grateful soldiers stopped by to thank us for being there. One injured soldier, the father of two, said he would return to Iraq in a heartbeat." Welcome back, FRiend! We've missed you. |
We had more than twice as many patriotic supporters than the traitorous Pinkos managed to gather (23 to 10). The honor roll of attendance (lurkers marked with *):
AppyPappy (w/Mrs. and two kids), BillF, BufordP, Cindy-True-Supporter, Fraxinus, Gavin*, Jack Deth, Jimmy Valentine's Brother, Just A Nobody, Kristinn, Landry Fan, Lauren (PW), Mary*, PleaDeal, StayTrue, tgslTakoma, Son & Daughter-of-tgslTakoma, and Trooprally [Mr. and Mrs.].
Unless iMacMan or bmwcyle come back, Mrs. Trooprally has taken over the top spot for "Top Shot". Her new camera is so good (go ahead, say it - "How good is it?") it can gross you out with fine images of hippy hair on Pinko wymyn's manly legs. All of the pics here are Mrs T's with the exception of the few blue-bordered ones that were taken by my soon to be dumped camera. You can see all the photos here.
|
|
 Fraxinus contemplates Old Glory. |
Fraxinus, BillF, Lauren, Mrs. Trooprally and Staytrue on SE Corner.
 BufordP making a point? |
 |
 |
 |
The Pinkos managed a paltry turnout.
 Bruce's watch must be fast 'cause he showed up a full 10 minutes early. Maybe he knew the, er, "manly one" was going to be replaced by something not quite so hirsute? |
 |
 |
At least they're staying on message! |
 |
 |
Well, I really blew it. I didn't copy the pics from Trooprally's photobucket page, and now I appear to have exceeded the limit for views. I managed to catch a few of them, but not nearly enough.
Since I don't have BillF's or Albion Wilde's gift for prose, I'll just include this little rant aimed at those who have been maligning the USMC.
Come out this Friday and join us in celebrating our Troops.
For what it's worth, here it is.
To all the Vietnam Vets, and their families, I want to extend my heartfelt appreciation and thanks for taking your pain and turning it into support and true caring for our Soldiers. Thank you for all that you gave and continue to give. God Bless you all.
Thank you for the rant.
Your report is worth a great deal. Don't sell yourself short! Thank you for writing it this week.
DC Chapter ping!!!
Thank you for supporting his decision. I know it can be a difficult time with him gone. God bless you both.
You don't know how much I support his career and his decision to find a unit that was deploying. He wants to deploy again after he's been home awhile. He's a true soldier. I love and respect him, as do his troops.
God bless you all.
As we were winding the Freep down, I was on the NW corner and a soon-to-be-released soldier came up to thank us for being there. The men-folk got handshakes and the ladies got hugs and kisses. The soldier said he was from Philly but had a "Stillers" shirt on, so I asked him about that. He told me a story about the Steelers and the Eagles during WWII - one year they didn't have enough players for either team to be full strength so they combined what they had and were called the Steagles.
Anyway, we chatted and I told him my dad was from Philly. He asked where. I couldn't remember, dad's been gone for more than 15 years and his stories are fading... I did tell him that I remembered that dad talked of going to a Catholic grade school and the nuns being German. He said, "Our Lady Help of Christians? Port Richmond?" and I immediately remembered those names from dad's stories. Then I told him that Dad's family home (as well as his aunt and uncles' homes) was on Cedar Street, and he said, "Cuz!" and hugged me again!
Turns out that he's from my dad's old neighborhood. Small world.
I kind of hope that he didn't get his paperwork finished this week and we can chat some more on Friday.
BTTT
;*) So that's what all the comotion was about?! Thanks for sharing! He was a sweety!
It really made an impact on my kids to be there supporting the guys at Walter Reed. They already want to go back. Thanks for doing what you do.
Great Job!!!
We are so glad you are back with us.
You were missed.
[Mrs T]
It's worth a heck of a lot! You guys and gals rock!! Thank you for being there every Friday!!
Bump !! :>)
Thank you so much!! Your sacrifice is not forgotten either. And please pass along my appreciation to your husband.
God bless the DC FReepers. You guys are doing The Lord's work. WOO-HOO!
And God bless and protect our brave troops.
As bmwcyle says when this happens to me (and it does ALL the time), if you swing a dead cat, you'll hit someone you're connected to in some way. So, you must have been swinging a dead cat! Watch out!
:-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
