Free Republic

On Mother’s Day, the DC Chapter of Free Republic wants to take a moment to recognize and thank all the active duty Mothers, and all mothers with sons or daughters serving in the military. This country owes a lot to your service and caring. Reporting on the 316th consecutive Friday night at Walter Reed, Mr and Mrs Trooprally sent the following summary for May 6, 2011. We arrived a little early and promptly started to unload our gear. As we were unloading we heard the blast of an ambulance siren. We paused to see if it was the Wounded Warrior...

Mr Trooprally sent the following report for this week’s after action report: First of all, last night was a lot better than last week NO RAIN ! It was a really good night. The buses did not come till 9:25PM. This Friday night’s Wounded Warrior dinner was held in downtown DC in a restaurant featuring a 10 course meal.(They deserve it). The three children in the pictures were from the surrounding area. They asked if they could have flags. And you will see the ones we gave them in the photo. We also shared some our snacks with them. The...

Last night was soggy with temperature in the high 40’s. The rain meant that the MOAB, Mother Of All Banners, and Flag Row were safe and dry in their holders until next Friday. However, Flag Row was covered by smaller flags all night. Easter weekend means that there was no dinner bus. It also means that many people in the DC area are out of town on Easter break. Traffic was considerably lighter and only a few cars were entering and leaving Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Because of the rain,our umbrellas were up. Jessica started with a pink...

On the 313th consecutive Friday night, it was a quiet and pleasant evening at the front gates of Walter Reed. We had a good group with a lot of waves and honks from the passing cars. It was a break from the hectic pace of the past several weeks. In the 6th anniversary after action report, we should have mentioned that the George Washington University Young Republicans, who were there, were following a tradition of joining us. Over the past 5 years, the GWU Young Republicans Club has joined the Friday night support the troops rally, either 1 or...

Tonight, the 6 year anniversary of supporting the wounded warriors at Walter Reed, was a special night. It was the 312th consecutive Friday night that Free Republic members, Protest Warriors, lurkers and visitors have stood at the front gates to counter the anti-war group down the street. Even though it was a chilly and rainy evening, spirits were high with some familiar faces and some new Freepers joining us. Mr and Mrs Trooprally coordinated two tents as shelter with plenty of BBQ, pizza, hot drinks and cookies to feed the crowd of 30 plus. With the corners fully manned...

Another damp evening made cold by the wind. Traffic was constant as were the honks and waves Speaking of waves one car slowed down and an older woman wagged her finger at Trooprally. Her car continued slowly south across the entrance to WR and stopped in front of RonGKirby. For a full ten seconds she gave the finger to RonG before remembering where she was and drove on. A throwback from the 60’s? Let’s see if she repeats that behavior next week. Ten Freepers were joined by two visitors from the Aleethia Foundation: Hal Koster, Founder and President, and...

Â…..of Two DC Chapter Members of Free Republic ! Shockingly, an agreement has been reached between the House and US Senate! This agreement allocates a portion of unused stimulus funds to erect two iconic statues honoring the six consecutive years during which the DC Chapter led Friday night troop support rallies outside the Walter Reed Army Medical Center gate. President B Hussein Obama refrained from commenting, but assured the American people he would give careful consideration on whether to sign the legislation after first conferring with his teleprompter and then deliberating over a few rounds of golf, vacationing in...

Winter won’t just go quietly and chilly weather returned. We had a solid group of ten with several visitors. One wounded warrior came up to Trooprally and thanked him and the DC Chapter for being here. He is leaving next week to go back to Germany and then on to his unit in Afghanistan. Traffic was lighter this week, but the normal honks and waves were robust. Towards the end of the evening, a car full of moonbats came by yelling anti- war vulgarities and giving us the finger. ANSWER and other wackos are in town for another White House...

Because of the Anti-war protest starting today at Walter Reed and ending Sunday at Quantico, we expected a number of anti-war protesters at Walter Reed Tonight. It didn’t happen. However, over 40 people including Freepers, Republic of Iraq representatives, Guardian Eagles, Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association, visitors and wounded warriors participated in tonight’s rally. The rally was lively and filled with a strong sense of camaraderie. The evening started with LTC Fred Peterson making comments about the importance of Supporting the Troops. He then introduced the Honorable Wrya Saeed Rwandzi, Senior Advisor to the President, Republic of Iraq. Mr. Rwandzi...

DC Chapter Master Ping List THIS IS A MUST SEE VIDEO by DCPW1776 as in DC Chapter of Protest Warriors. It may be long but it is absolutely well worth it. It brings back some most excellent memories that sent chills down my back and got me misty eyed, something I don't do often. Makes one proud to be patriot that supports our troops. See cameo pics of JimRob, Kristinn, Angelwood, tgslTakoma, Doctor Raoul, BillF, Spiff, and a host of others. Don't forget our 6 YEAR ANNIVERSARY on April 8.

MARCH 18,2011 WALTER REED WHERE: Main gates of Walter Reed, Georgia Avenue and Elder Street, NW. Plenty of street parking and also park in the lot. Entrance off Elder Street. WHEN: Friday, 6:45 PM to around 9:30PM when we cheer a bus load of Wounded Warriors and their families coming back from their weekly dinner. The dinner is sponsored by The Aleethia Foundation, founded by a wounded Vietnam Vet. They could also use some donations. The DC Chapter of FReeRepublic will have flags, banners, posters, snacks and drinks. MARCH 19,2011 FREEDOM PLAZA ANSWER, Code Pink, IVAW, and others of their...

The Storm: Next Friday night, a group calling themselves Iraq Veterans Against the War, have announced they will join the moonbats in front of Walter Reed. They are part of the Veterans For Peace Rally and Action at the White House on March 19. We are asking all Support the Troops patriots to join the DC Chapter of Free Republic next Friday, March 18, between 6:45 pm until shortly after 9:15 pm. Mrs Trooprally sent the following after action report: Walter Reed was certainly busy last night with cars arriving and leaving all night with lots of honks and...

WHY? Because March 18-20–Friday through Sunday–will be protest days in Washington D.C. These anti-war, anti-soldier, anti-American protesters are organized by the ANSWER Coalition, Veterans for Peace, World Can’t Wait, and other groups such as Code Pink and Iraq Veterans Against the War. March 19 is the 8th anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war, known as Operation Iraqi Freedom. On Friday, March 18, from 7 to 9pm, a group known as Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) will join the moonbats down the street and hold what they call a “Walter Reed Vigil”. The DC Chapter of Free...

….A pleasant mild night at last, with a good amount of foot traffic coming and going from Walter Reed. That’s good because it gives us a chance to talk with the solders. One wounded warrior spent more than a few minutes with us and it was a worthwhile visit. Aaron, a USAF Staff Sergeant, 6th SF, with multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, survived 8 IEDs. He said the last two were the reason he is at Walter Reed in the Special Care Unit. BufordP, a USAF veteran, came across the street to talk with Aaron. We, as a...

….Came a loudspeaker-sounding voice from the large ambulance as it turned the corner into WRAMC, after roaring down Georgia Ave with its sirens wailing. When ambulances arrive, often carrying wounded warriors direct from Germany, we normally stand quietly with our signs pointed towards the ambulance. Hearing acknowledgement of our presence was unexpected and gave us pause. Our reason for being here every Friday is to show support for the soldiers and their families. “Thank You For Your Support” came from the ambulance as it turned Into Walter Reed Lurker Bill’s comment two weeks ago, that we only had 6...

This Friday is the four year anniversary of Week 96 – The Bus Stops here. That night, the bus returning from the Aleethia Foundation’s Friday night dinner unexpectedly stopped before entering Walter Reed, and invited us onto the bus! Our practice is to stay at the front gates from 6:30 to whenever the bus returns. Often after 9pm. While we wave and cheer and they wave back, we had never been face to face with them. Until that memorable night, four years ago! Following is an excerpt from Week 96’s After Action Report, The Bus Stops Here, written four...

Mr Trooprally submitted the following After Action Report. CPAC invaded our Support the Troops Rally at Walter Reed this night. They represented several east coast states. And they all came well dressed for the chilly temps. We enjoyed the “warm” temps, upper 30s and no wind, except when large trucks and buses came zipping past our positions. Visitors tonight were FReeper SeektheTruth, James (FL), Ross of Anystreet.org, (N.C.), Chris of Modern Conservative.com, (N.Y.) and Frances, Liberatchik.com, (GA.). Frances, whose art is displayed in Atlanta galleries, prepared a special red, white and blue sign with the words “ThankYou” on it...

Tonight was a rather mild night which was the likely reason that the front gates were so active. Cars and soldiers were going into and out of Walter Reed all night. At times the honks and waves were continuous. Lurker Bill’s music, mostly patriotic, but tempered occasionally with some Benny Goodman big band and a little jazz, brought a little sunlight to our portion of Georgia Ave. One dinner bus tonight filled with soldiers, returned a little before 9pm. Announcement:All of you who are coming to DC to attend CPAC, please make plans to visit us on Friday night....

A quiet night punctuated by honks and waves. The cold kept foot traffic down, but VictoryNY kept the volume up. Two buses filled with troops and families waving at us, returned from dinner at a downtown restaurant. Tonight they returned together. Most often they arrive at different times. Lurker Bill figures there are only six weeks of potential bad weather left for us to confront. We will start checking them off beginning the 4th of February. Big John who has been in and out of hospitals over the past year dropped by to stand for awhile. Earlier he had dropped...

January 21, 2011 Notes Tonight, January 21, 2011 was bitterly cold due mainly to the wind. Cold weather gear was the uniform of the day. The full moon was beautiful and the cold kept the crazies away. Soldiers were paying attention to us. At one point, when the 82nd Airborne flag was prominently displayed, a soldier pulled over and yelled “where’s the 101st Airborne flag?” Ok, we will add the 101st Airborne flag to Flag Row. The bus returned late as there was a program in addition to their dinner for the wounded warriors. Below are excerpts from two AAR’s...