Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Fran O'Brien's and the Soldiers (Walter Reed)
JINSA ^ | August 26, 2005

Posted on 08/26/2005 9:58:39 PM PDT by Ooh-Ah

JINSA Report #512

Readers know JINSA has been supporting dinners at Fran O'Brien's Steakhouse for soldiers recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (JINSA Report #448:  Veterans Day & Fran O'Brien's Steakhouse). In fact, you raised several thousand dollars for the effort - thank you.

So we are disgusted by news that anti-war protesters have been congregating at Walter Reed and heckling the buses that leave to take the soldiers to the restaurant on Friday nights. Protesters hold signs reading "Maimed for Lies" and "Enlist here and die for Halliburton." Among the props are mock caskets.

These people claim to be "against the war, but support the troops," an ugly lie if ever there was one. If you support the troops, you support those who have made a personal sacrifice to do what their country asked of them. You help them heal. You protect them from those who would use their injuries to score political points. Or you just leave them alone to be helped by those who love them. These protesters are the antithesis of support for the troops. They are a blot on America.

Marc Moreno of CNS reports, "Anti-war activists were unapologetic when asked whether they considered such signs as 'Maimed for Lies' offensive to wounded war veterans and their families. 'I am more offended by the fact that many were maimed for life,' said (one). (But) Kevin Pannell, who was recently treated at Walter Reed and had both legs amputated after an ambush grenade attack near Baghdad in 2004, considers the presence of the anti-war protesters in front of the hospital 'distasteful.'" Mr. Pannell is kind.

People who truly support the troops, regardless of their feelings about the policies that led to the injuries being treated at Walter Reed, can express their support once again through JINSA. Send a fully tax-deductible check to JINSA and put Fran O'Brien’s in the memo. Your entire gift will go to the soldiers. You will be aiding directly in the rehabilitation of young men and women who have laid it all on the line for us. We remind of what Col. Jaffin, then-Commander of the Medical Corps at Walter Reed, wrote to us:

If you doubt the impact of your magnanimity, from my perspective, the benefit on these soldiers and their families is incalculable... While the steak dinner is in itself a treat for those who have been eating in a dining facility... the meal is so much more than a dinner: it is a night out, a chance to get away from the hospital environment for a few hours, an evening to do something as normal as going to a restaurant for dinner. Even more, it is a tangible demonstration of the support, respect, and even love that Americans feel for our troops. I have heard from many, many of the grateful participants who were, without exception, touched and deeply appreciative. They may not know who supports the costs but I now do and must tell you how much it has meant.

The soldiers we have met at Fran O'Brien's are proud of their service and determined to overcome their adverse circumstances. They are grateful to the restaurant for hosting them, and overwhelmingly grateful for the understanding that Americans stand behind them and care about them.
Help us help them, please.

Comments? Send e-mail to info@jinsa.org


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: antiwar; cindysheehan; codepink; franobriens; military; protests; sheehan; soldiers; supportourtroops; walterreed; wia

1 posted on 08/26/2005 9:58:42 PM PDT by Ooh-Ah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Ooh-Ah

Have you noticed all this lib anti-war crap erupted as soon as the 9-11GATE happened! The Clintonistas are in FULL PROTECT MODE with their playbook smokescreens.


2 posted on 08/26/2005 10:02:42 PM PDT by Uncle George
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ooh-Ah
I want to see a Justice Department investigation of Code Pink and who supports them. I truly believe they are a Terrorist organization and should have all of their asset's frozen and the officers of this group be brought up on Treason charges
3 posted on 08/26/2005 10:06:35 PM PDT by MJY1288 (Whenever a Liberal is Speaking on the Senate Floor, Al-Jazeera Breaks in and Covers it LIVE)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ooh-Ah

Hubby and I just made a donation.


4 posted on 08/26/2005 10:27:59 PM PDT by Thumbellina (As I recall, Kerry referred to terrorism as "overrated".)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Thumbellina

Thanks. Fran O'Brien's deserves our support. I have seen how wonderful this night out is for the families. Tonight I saw their bus returning to Walter Reed greeted by cheering Freepers and friends. After hearing what has been going on there every Friday night, it was good to be there for them.


5 posted on 08/26/2005 10:45:47 PM PDT by Ooh-Ah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Thumbellina

I saw an earlier post about these wonderful Friday night events sponsored by Fran O'Brien's, and went directly to the Fran O'Brien's site and donated. With tears of gratitude.


6 posted on 08/26/2005 11:23:41 PM PDT by hsalaw
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Ooh-Ah
Fran O'Brien's
7 posted on 08/27/2005 6:05:26 AM PDT by Coop (www.heroesandtraitors.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ooh-Ah
Gallantry & Valor: Picking up where the heroes of 9/11 left off

By Anne Morse

"If there must be trouble," said American patriot Thomas Paine, "let it be in my day, so that my children may have peace."

The third anniversary of the September 11 attacks is a grim reminder that we do not have peace in our day ­ nor will we for many days to come. But recent, horrific events in Russia ­ the slaughter of innocent children ­ remind us of something we should take note of today: Since September 11, 2001, there have been no attacks on American soil. This can be attributed to many factors, but much credit must be given to one salient fact: Our fighting men have enticed terrorists away from our cities and towns, away from our families and neighbors, and onto the terrorists' own turf: Afghanistan and Iraq. Terrorists continue to slither into these lands to fight our soldiers there, instead of attacking our children here.

For our soldiers' willingness to subject themselves to this I am daily and eternally grateful. But the cost to them, and to their families, is high: A thousand soldiers have died combating terror; thousands more have been wounded. This weekend we remember the bravery of those New York firefighters and cops, and those businessmen on a doomed plane, who ran into danger, giving their lives so that strangers might live. But we should remember, as well, the sacrifice of those to whom these brave men passed the torch: the soldiers who have spent the last three years on the front lines of the war on terror. Just as we learned the stories of those we lost on the first day of that war, we should learn the stories behind the Purple Hearts and Silver Stars and Soldier's Medals our troops are earning now.

I had the opportunity to speak with half a dozen soldiers and Marines who have recently returned to the United States after duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Among them is Marine Cpl. Charles Bigham, 27, of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, who was awarded the Purple Heart for his actions on March 30, 2004. That day, Bigham was with the 2nd Military Police Battalion, 2nd Force Service Support Group, providing security for a convoy outside of Fallujah, when three militants suddenly opened fire on them. Bigham's Humvee chased them into the desert, where two escaped by car. The third, whom the Marines shot and wounded, disappeared down a hole. "When we got close he jumped up and started shooting at us with an AK-47," Bigham recalls. "We shot back and he ducked down into his hole, and we threw grenades down the hole. The grenade blew up and we heard the guy scream, so we started back toward the hole. He jumped back up and started shooting at us again, so we took cover. I pulled my grenade out and as I was throwing it into the hole, he was throwing his grenade out. It landed about ten feet to my left side," and a piece of shrapnel from it "tore a hole in the left side of my nose about the size of a dime, hit the bone of my nose, wrapped around behind my eye and lodged in the left orbital socket. One of my buddies stood up and shot the guy and killed him."

Bigham lost 60 percent of the vision in his wounded eye and underwent reconstructive surgery on his face. Now back at Camp Lejeune, Bigham has lost none of his enthusiasm for the Marines. "I would love to stay in the Marine Corps, but I'm pending a medical separation," he says regretfully.

Purple Heart recipient Jim Mosner, a 36-year-old husband and father of two, is a platoon sergeant in a Bradley (tank) platoon. On December 16, 2003, "We were at Fallujah, watching Highway 10 for insurgents." Mosner's driver had dropped down the ramp of the Bradley and gone to the back of the vehicle to secure the equipment. Without warning, the wall of the cinderblock house they were backed up against "exploded into the Bradley. It blew me over the seats and when I got hit I didn't feel it. I got up, I got hit, and went into the house. My gunner came up behind me and grabbed me and asked me what I was doing. And I said, 'We have to get the guys out of the house.' And he said, 'You're hit!' The blast had blown off the top part of my head, the left side of my face, and my left ear. I received shrapnel in the chest, and broke both my legs. I was in a coma for a week." Four surgeries later, Mosner is "doing fine" ­ and plans on staying in the Army.

Purple Heart recipient Army Maj. John Silverstein, 36, of the 541st Corps Maintenance Battalion, was eating dinner at a logistical base near the Baghdad airport when, on January 7, "We were attacked just after sunset by a 160 millimeter mortar crew," he says. "A mortar round hit high on the building next to the mess hall, and the shrapnel went through the mess hall and caught me in the left shoulder. We sustained about 30 wounded that night and one KIA. It was a pretty long night."

Now back at Ft. Riley, Kansas, Silverstein says the war in Iraq is "absolutely" worth the losses America is sustaining. "Is it a hard thing? Sure. But there's no doubt in my mind we're doing the right thing."

Purple Heart recipient Army Capt. Sean McWilliams, 32, was helping prepare for a local election on October 16, 2003, when an improvised explosive device went off. "I ended up with a golf ball-sized hole in my side and shrapnel all over the right side of my body and my lower legs. One of the Iraqis who was a doctor came up to treat us," McWilliams says.

Heliported to the 28th Combat Hospital in Baghdad, McWilliams underwent surgery to "get the metal and rocks out." More surgery followed in Germany before he was sent to Ft. Riley. He is now preparing to return to Iraq for the third time, eager to assist Iraqis who are "very dedicated to freedom and the principles of democracy."

Three years ago, the actions of those New York firefighters brought words back into our vocabulary that we had almost forgotten: Words like gallantry and valor. Today our fighting men are burnishing these words in Iraq.

Like the firefighters, many will die in the effort to rescue others. Among them is Sgt. Andrew Baddick of the 82nd Airborne Division, who, on September 29, 2003, threw himself into treacherous waters near Abu Ghraib to rescue a drowning soldier. After pulling him to safety, Baddick again jumped in the water to save a second soldier but, unable to overcome the force of the current, Baddick was swept away.

The willingness to sacrifice one's life for another in wartime is why, in the Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas placed his discussion of just war in his chapter on charity and love of God. John Calvin called the soldier an "agent of God's love" and soldiering justly a "God-like act." Far from viewing war as a "necessary evil," Calvin considered that "restraining evil out of love for neighbor" imitates God's restraining evil out of love for humanity.

A world in which soldiers refused to do this would be a world overrun by those who do not hesitate to murder innocents on planes, in skyscrapers, and in grade schools to get what they want.

On the anniversary of the September 11th attacks, we should remember with gratitude the sacrifices of those who refuse to allow this to happen: valiant men and women willing to lay down their lives to protect their neighbors.


8 posted on 08/27/2005 9:36:11 AM PDT by Alia
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: hsalaw
Thank you for donating to this wonderful program.

I'm curious though, I checked at the Fran O'Brien site and could not find a place to donate. Can you send me the link? I just want to make sure your money is going to the right place.
9 posted on 08/27/2005 9:36:55 AM PDT by Ooh-Ah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Ooh-Ah

I sent a check to their mailing address, which is on the site, because I don't like donating online, but I think they also had a link for donations. Or they had a link to a military support site which had a place for donations for the Friday night dinners. I suggest you might try their site again, and look for related links if you want to donate online. It's a wonderful program and I'm pleased to contribute to it.


10 posted on 08/27/2005 10:40:13 AM PDT by hsalaw
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Ooh-Ah

I just checked the article again: go to the JINSA link cited in the first part of this article. It has a site for online donations for the program.


11 posted on 08/27/2005 10:41:39 AM PDT by hsalaw
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Ooh-Ah

What I have noticed is most of the left wing nuts tend to be more concerned with how much they can insult you then offer any substance in argument.


12 posted on 08/27/2005 5:32:18 PM PDT by dnsmith
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ooh-Ah
A Jewish group with it's head on straight. Love it! But I can't understand why more Jews don't understand what the US is trying to accomplish. I would think that Jews more than most groups, would understand the threat of a big all-encompassing government could be, seeing that they lived it 60 years ago.

Thanks for posting this. I'll gladly donate.

I was in line at the gas station store at Bethesda Naval at the beginning of the war and a terribly wounded soldier (major skull flap, moving slow) was buying a frozen TV dinner. I felt horrible. Wanted to push him into my car, whisk him off to my home and cook him the second best home cook meal (moms best of course) he ever had. All of us in line offered to buy the meal for him and he just said "that's ok".

I still think I owe this guy. Since I can't help him, I'll help his brothers. Thanks for making it possible.

13 posted on 08/27/2005 8:00:01 PM PDT by lizma
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ooh-Ah
Bumping because Fox Sunday did a piece on Fran O'Brien's restaurant this morning.

We're going to donate to their Friday night dinners for wounded soldiers and thought others might want to do the same.

Their phone number is 202-783-2599.

14 posted on 10/02/2005 12:05:35 PM PDT by Clint N. Suhks (If you don't like Jesus, you can go to hell.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Clint N. Suhks

Thanks. It was a wonderful piece Chris Matthews did on this special program.

It will be on again on Fox Cable in the last part of the 5 o'clock hour of FoxNews Sunday.


15 posted on 10/02/2005 1:03:44 PM PDT by Ooh-Ah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Clint N. Suhks; All

Oooops! It was Chris WALLACE!


16 posted on 10/05/2005 4:34:10 PM PDT by Ooh-Ah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Ooh-Ah; Thumbellina; MJY1288; MEG33; hsalaw; lizma; Clint N. Suhks; dnsmith; Southack; Alia; ...
If you haven't heard, Hilton is refusing to renew Fran O'Brien's lease. The owners have to vacate in the next couple of weeks, depriving our wounded troops of a wonderful and therapeutic evening out. Please see this linked thread and raise a voice in opposition.

The Battle for Fran O'Brien's

17 posted on 04/14/2006 4:22:30 AM PDT by Coop (Proud founding member of GCA - Gruntled Conservatives of America)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson