Posted on 09/17/2004 12:29:07 AM PDT by kattracks
Sunday, Sept. 12, was a perfect day for a trip to Washington, D.C.The sort of day where rallies are perfect - no rain clouds in sight.
A nice day to head to D.C. for the "Kerry Lied ... While Good Men Died" protest against John Kerry.
After the two-hour ride on I-81 north and I-66 east toward Northern Virginia, we found it beneficial to do the park and ride with the Metro at the Vienna/Nutley Street station and take the orange line directly into D.C.
When we arrived at the station, we could tell right away that most of the people at the station were headed to the same protest. Most of the people there were adorned in Vietnam vet garb, which included unit ball caps, jackets, war memorabilia, cammies, tattoos and the old familiar green fatigue trousers and even combat boots worn by the veterans.
Some of them brought protest signs and banners. We instantly felt that we were amongst good friends, because my wife and I were once members of the U.S. Navy family. This group of men and their wives made us feel that we belonged, even though we didn't serve in Vietnam.
Although I am not a Vietnam vet, I am retired U.S. Navy. I had met several guys who served over in 'Nam during my tour, particularly during my tenure onboard the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal (CV-59) '81-'83. I remember hearing their stories about Vietnam during my career, and not one time did I ever hear about them cutting off the enemy's ears or killing babies.
The Vietnam vets onboard Forrestal were the older guys who trained us. Our mentors. These guys had seen it all. During my career, it would turn out that the finest leaders that I ever met during my naval career were the guys who did their time over in 'Nam.
And on this day, they were once again going to be heard.
This time, it wasn't a bunch of ragtag hippies pretending to be Vietnam veterans, with John Kerry as their leader, sporting the American flag being flown upside down.
This was the real thing.
This time, these Vietnam veterans were all gathering and coming against John Kerry, the man who betrayed them.
Today, the fallen comrades of these veterans, whose names adorn the memorial wall, are happy, because everyone who would come to this rally on this day were speaking up for them. They can now rest a bit easier.
The Vietnam vets are angry at John Kerry because of his actions after he left Vietnam - speaking with the enemy, railroading fellow Vietnam veterans by calling them baby murderers and calling them rapists of a land "much alike the hordes of Genghis Khan."
While Kerry testified in front of the Senate in 1971, his fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines, the ones who suffered in the POW camps, were beaten by their captors, telling them "Look, even one of your comrades is calling all of you war criminals." It is entirely possible that some of our troops died at the hands of the North Vietnamese simply because of the accusations brought forth by John Kerry, who only served four months over in Vietnam - and copped a free ride out because he earned three Purple Heart medals that were likely awarded to Kerry because of self-inflicted wounds.
The ride on the Metro only took us 33 minutes. When we arrived on scene at the Upper Senate Park, the west side of the Capitol Building, I estimated that there was perhaps between 3,000 to 5,000 people attending the rally. Guest speakers were talking on a large stage, while booths out in the listening area were there and maintained the groups who had sponsored the rally - Vietnam Veterans For The Truth, Swift Boat Veterans For Truth and Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry.
They had something to say.
The simple truth.
From the sounds of things, it appeared to me that all of the protesters like myself had a hard time telling who was worse - Jane Fonda or John Kerry. But the one thing I observed was that nearly everyone there was peaceful and calm. They came to hear the guest speakers talk about Kerry. Even before the protest, the organizers predetermined that they wanted this rally to be peaceful and polite. They didn't want this to become a pro-Bush rally, nor was there any indication that this would have anything to do with politics.
Everything was going great until a couple of anti-Bush speakers walked in and started a shouting match against the guest speakers. There was not one mention of Bush by the Vietnam vet protesters. The vets and protesters were calm, but those who are supposed to be tolerant and diverse were the ones who were making complete fools of themselves. We watched them being led away by the D.C. police, fighting, kicking and struggling. It was very entertaining to see how the left represented themselves in such a manner that is most expected of them.
Fighting.
Name-calling.
Angry, screaming retorts.
Gestures that are normally expected from children who throw temper tantrums.
Even Al Franken and Barbra Streisand might be embarrassed.
Among the speakers present at the rally was John O’Neill, co-author of Unfit for Command, Jug Burkett, author of Stolen Valor, Dexter Lehtinen, a Vietnam-wounded Miami attorney, and Laura Armstrong, the daughter of a helicopter pilot who was killed in Vietnam.
One special guest was Kathleen Rose, who was a nurse in one of the triages there. She had a powerful story to tell. One about a baby girl who took shrapnel in her chest and abdomen. The baby was dying in her arms.
Thanks to her training in pediatrics, Kathleen and some of the medics there pulled some miracles and managed to save the little girl's life. Kathleen's story gripped all of us when she told us that years later, she got a call from overseas.
It was the now young woman whose life she saved many years before. She had three children. And she named one of her children Kathleen Rose. I don't believe that there was a single dry eye at the protest after we all heard Kathleen's gripping story.
And yet the infamous traitor and confider with the enemy, John Kerry, labeled Kathleen Rose and all of the other Vietnam veterans baby killers.
At the end of the rally, John O'Neill stood at the podium and spoke for nearly 45 minutes.
Following John's speech, I was lucky enough to find two Swift Boat veterans, shake their hands and thank them for their service to their country, and asked them to sign my book. I wanted to get John O'Neill's signature, but was unable to do so since John was reported being very weak from donating one of his kidneys to his wife. It was a miracle that he was even able to attend the rally.
We bade all of our newly found Vietnam veteran buddies a farewell at the protest site and a few other veterans as we departed for Union Station on our first leg back to Virginia.
The following morning I was not surprised to discover that not one news station covered the rally, with the exception of C-SPAN. This is why I am reporting it here. After all, this event deserves some coverage, does it not?
Bump.
SEMPER FI
Thanks for the post. BTTT
Thanks for the post. I have sent this to my son who is Capt USAF to pass to all his buds.... USAFA Class of 2000... I also sent it over to Nash....
SSGT
Acft Mech
463 OMS
Clark AB PI
1968-70
Extra heavy sarcasm> Who forgot to send out the press releases and media invitations?
Surely, you can't be implying that our unbiased, fair media purposely ignored a news-worthy event and rally in our nations capital? </extra-heavy sarcasm
Thanks for posting this, both for its content, and because it is the only way anyone will get to see it.
thanks for this post.
BTTT
good article...thanks for posting.
BUMP
THANKS TONS.
THRILLED WITH YOUR SUPPORT TO OUR REPUBLIC, TO FR AND WITH YOUR REPORT OF THE EXCELLENT DEMONSTRATION.
GOD'S BEST TO YOU AND THOSE CLOSE TO YOU AND ALL YOUR RELATIONSHIPS.
Here's the thread where you can either watch with Real Player, or get a DVD/VHS copy.
GO SWIFTIES !!
John Rudolph wrote of special guest, Kathleen Rose. This is incorrect.
Kathleen Rose is the name of the Vietnamese infant girl whose life was saved by a team of Army medics as well as a brave "Dustoff" medivac pilot and crew.
The Army Nurse who told her story was Captain Donna Rowe. Captain Rowe's speech had tears rolling down the cheeks of many tough old battle hardened veterans in that crowd, myself included.
I give thanks to Donna Rowe for her heart warming story about GI's who SAVED babies, NOT killed them, as Kerry said 33 years ago.
Semper Fidelis
I was at Clark 77-80, but just as a dependant. Lots of fun at Baguio (Camp John Hay), Banaui, Pagsanjan Falls, etc. I went to Gus Grissom elementary. :)
USAFA '84 bump
Thanks Norb for posting my article and thanks for making that correction!
The Kerry Lied While People Died rally went over extremely well. Let's hope that this rally was the proverbial knife in Kerry's political back.
My car is now emblazoned with about seven anti-kerry bumper stickers. On my way home this evening from work, it was worthwhile to see a carload of people give me the thumbs up as they passed me by.
More of a pleasure was seeing that they had OHIO tags. Just think, a few weeks ago, OHIO was a Kerry state.
Let's hope there are more people like those kind folks in that OHIO tagged car!
John, I bet you've got some room on that vehicle for one of these Swiftee window stickers! You can show your public support for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, it even displays their website address!
Swiftee window sticker thread! If you would like details on how to get one, send me a private reply.
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