After Action Report From Crawford

basil ^ | 8/28/05 | basil

[basil]

So now it's all a part of history. Would that all of you could have been there to take part in this joyous day of celebrating our troops, our president, and our mission. Everyone who was able to attend saw different things, had different experiences, came away with a different idea of what transpired yesterday. That is the nature of how these things work.

My own perspective is that the event was a huge success. The number of people who gave freely of their time, their pocketbooks, their expertise, their muscle power, and their overwhelmning support was truly phenomenal! What a heart-lifting experience to be surrounded by good, all American Americans! What a contrast to those poor people on the left, with their sad faces, their misplaced loyalty, and in some cases, their desire to destroy this, the most successful country the world has ever seen.

My perspective on the day will probably be surprising to some, especially to those who have never been involved in the planning and execution of a large event like this. The truth of the matter is that during the event, you are too busy to see and hear what is going on up on the stage, and around the periphery of the event. There are always details to keep up with, people needing something taken care of IMMEDIATELY, some minor emergency or some request, that keeps you focused on that little subject, instead of what's happening a bit futher afield from your location at the moment. In actuality, in a lot of ways, I wasn't there!

There was never a time to just stop and listen to this speaker or that one---most of them, I didn't hear at all. The one thing I did hear was the lovely singing of our anthem by Mr. Bruce Odems, a career Austin Firefighter, and a veteran of the 1st Gulf War. No one could miss him, as his lovely voice was projected so beautifully out over the crowd. Then, it was time to turn back and take care of other details.

Many thanks to TXBubba for keeping a live thread going--(someday, I will have finished reading all of those 3 thousand plus posts). I was not very helpful as the phone connection was so bad for one thing, and for another, there were so many things happening that I didn't yet know about, so I couldn't tell her about them. And--well, I have to add that some of the things I told her turned out to be not true anyway, so maybe some of that bad phone reception was a good thing--LOL!

There are so many people who did a yeoman's job of making this thing a roaring success. It was incredible--people from all over the country just showed up with wonderful contributions, and went to work right away. I'm going to start a list of the ones I remember off the top of my head, and hope that The Sarce, Gracey, Drewsdad, and all the other freepers there will add to the list.

First of all, of course, is Kristinn. There are not enough adjectives in the English language to describe the contribution he made to this endeavor. Those of you who know Kristinn know what I mean--the rest of you will have to take our word for it. Kristinn is Kristinn and is one of FR's finest gifts.

While mentioning Kristinn, I have to interject and mention that 2 of my very good non-freeper friends who happen to live very near Crawford took over the duty of chauffering the non-driving Kristinn around all day every day from Wednesday through yesterday--when they even had to drive him about 100 miles to the DFW airiport, as the shuttle flight from Waco had mechanical problems. I won't mention there full names here for obvious reason, but Rich and Gail, you know who you are, and you have our gratitude!

One of our newer freepers, by the name of FFforFreedom-I think I got that right, but will check it to be sure-just literally connected with me, and got the ball rolling putting members of the Austin Firefighters Union to work, and rounding up supplies for the rally. The list of things they added is a long one, but one of the bigest things they contributed was sheer muscle power, hard work, heart, and sweat. They are the guys who furnished the barbeque and other food (and it was delicious). They hauled their grill and the power system to run it out to the site early in the day, and the smell of grilling sausage and brisket filled the air. They furnished water, ice, generators, fans, the EMS service, and on and on. They even hauled in a discarded old bathtub and iced down a load of watermelons in it! That's pure Texas, folks--LOL! Please give a word of thanks for these fine fellows. As the packing up, cleaning up was underway, FFforFreedom was nowhere to be seen--and then, all of a sudden, I spy him walking across the field, holding up his own IV! Seems he had finally been overcome by the heat and had to be administered to himself by the very EMS that he was responsible for getting onsite! He was on his way back to join his crew in cleaning up and packing up!

There were the two female dynamos from Ft. Benning, GA, who just came out of nowhere--with their 3 story tall flag, their balloons, their yellow ribbons, tents, and on and on. It was these young ladies who paid to rent out the air conditioned Community Center for EMS to have a place to bring in victims of the extreme heat for treatment. These gals were like a whirling dervish--came in, set up, broke it down, and carried it away. The engineering, heavy equipment, and all the details necessary to pull this off were just there--that's all--they just showed up.

The wonderful speakers, who truly spoke from their hearts, the families with loved ones serving in the Middle East, the bikers, the people on horseback, the true Gold Star Families--the people who made all the sacrifices to get to the rally from near and far--all contributed greatly to this wonderful day of patriotism and support for our fighting troops, their Commander In Chief, our mission.

Have no worry about lack of media coverage. (Is anyone really surprised?). Many, many cameras got this rally memorialized on film, and that film will find it's way to Iraq and Afghanistan and our toops will know that there is huge support for them in the U S of A! That was the point--that was our message, and our Service Men and Women will know this!

I will close with one personal incident that occurred at the end of this very long day. Forgive me, but I just feel the need "share" this.

We're finally on the road for home--it's about 8:30 PM or so, and Doctor Raoul is driving. He is an excellent, very safe driver (although he drives a bit slower than I do--LOL!) Anyway, after a while, he tells me that he has sort of hit the wall, and is having trouble keeping his eyes open. So we switch, and I take over the wheel. Raoul is now in the passenger seat, trying to snatch a few ZZZZZZ's, when he stirs, and says, "Is that a siren I hear?" I look out the rear window, and sure enough--I see these flashing blue and white lights, and the siren is growing closer. (Keep in mind, I've been behind the wheel for --oh maybe 5 minutes). Of course, I'm being nabbed--LOL!.

I pulled over , and my "new friend in blue" pulls in behind me. Also, you must know, we were on a back road, not a major highway, and there was very little traffic, and nothing but open road ahead. I didn't want anyone to get the idea that I was endangering anyone--but I was definitely speeding.

So the cop walks up and introduces himself as Officer so and so, from the Hutto TX police dept, and that he clocked me going 76 in a 65 mph zone. I tell him, "Guilty as charged, officer, and it is also my obligation to let you know that I am armed." He asked if I had a License to carry the gun, and I said yes. And then............................

His radio squawked--

and the message is that there is an erratic driver on the road, with a child in the car. The officer looks at me, and says. "Be on your way, and drive safely!" He hadn't even gotten around to asking for my driver's license! He ran back to his car and took off!

Doctor Raoul, who never opened his mouth during all of this, was wondering if he dreamt the whole episode. I told him no, it happened, and it just goes to show that there is a GOD! End of story--the rest of you take over with your details now, please--I've already been far too long-winded!

[FFforFreedom]

The elusive troughs have been returned

YA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks folks for all the help. Don with Yellow Ribbon lives in the area. He located and returned them. This saved those young ladies from Ft. Benning about $900.
I know they dropped over five thousand of their personal funds into this event.

A BIG THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED!!!

[anymouse]

Glad you guys found the troughs.

Thanks for the great BBQ.

[SuzyQue]

Good point. I will gather videos also.

[strategofr]

Sounds excellent. Should be getting back to you next week.

[SuzyQue]

Could you, or any other reader, tell me how to capture video? Like this, for instance: http://ww2.kake.com/global/video/WorldNowASX.asp?playerType=native&ClipID1=514769&h1=Peace%20Rally%20Leads%20to%20Fighting&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=93034&LaunchPageAdTag=News&fvCatNo=&backgroundImageURL=&activePane=info&playerVersion=6

[strategofr]

"Could you, or any other reader, tell me how to capture video?"

Sorry. I don't do that kind of stuff. Good luck with it. I'll be getting back to you soon with the DVD manufacturing info.

[freekitty]

Congratulations to all you wonderful Americans.

[The Bat Lady]

I got a speeding ticket too. I was still dressed as the Statue of Liberty and had green face when the officer came to the car.

he was taken aback and asked if I was racing to the hospital.
"I would love to be able to say that but I can't. I'm just getting the generator for the rally returned at a city a few hours away."

He did give me a ticket but in the highest zone so was very kind to me. he say that was the ticket he would give me ..."depending on my attitude" so I know who he had been putting up with and was kind to him. I did get the green off my face by the time he got back.

I meant to warn everyone... I'm sorry.

I'm going to driving class soon.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Wonderful report, basil. I used to live in Texas and I didn't know that ANYONE drove slower than 80mph on those back roads! LOL. God Bless the DPS for treating you kindly, and I never thought I'd say that!

The DPS used to scare the bejabbers out of my kids with their mirrored air-force style glasses -- you couldn't see their eyes when they talked tough to you -- unnerving. Of course, my kids needed scaring, and for that I was grateful! I used to swear that they sent the troopers who give the driving tests to "mean" school first before they let them loose on a crop of new drivers.

One of my sons was the only teen I ever knew who got his license on the first try -- and he was the son who shouldn't have been allowed to drive right away! I was certain that they'd fail him, so I let him go ahead and take the test, and he surprised us and passed! Of course he accumulated a ton of tickets and even totaled a car before he wised up.

We lived in a suburb of Houston and he went to college at Texas Tech. I swear he had a ticket in every county between Lubbock and Sugarland -- those long, flat stretches just inspire speed. A stern lecture by the Judge ("Son, explain to me why you should be allowed to keep your license") and SEVERAL defensive driving courses finally straighted him out.

I'm glad the event was such a success. I didn't see much on the news, and I didn't like the coverage they gave it -- even Fox. The most frequent clip I saw was your group on horseback with all the signs, but then they'd immediately pan over to Cindy and her crew and never really explain what the rest of you were doing. I don't know if they were afraid to give you coverage, or if they were too dumb to understand the difference. I'm so glad that the films will make their way to Iraq.

It sounds like a wonderful weekend, and I wish I could have been there. Thanks to everyone for producing a stellar event.

[Earthdweller]

Thought you might like to see the results of the Cindy bus (van) visit to Indiana.

On the steps of the Indiana War Museum

After Action Photo Essay of the Indianapolis Pro-US Rally . (More photos of our FReep here)

[basil]

Put a fork in her--she's done! LOL!

Y'all did a great job.

[strategofr]

Here is some info I got off a web page. It seems fairly clear so I did not call them at this point.

Actually, I am disappointed by these numbers. I thought costs would be lower. On the other hand, $1.05 apiece for only 1000 is not bad. The way I look at it, you can charge people $2 a DVD, and if they don't want to pay that small amount, they really have no interest. So we should be able to get our money back. But we would need to come up with $1000.

Another way to go is charge people $5 a DVD, still not that much. Then we could funnel all "profits" back into new production runs and finance production without continually passing the hat.

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Each disc would have a color-printed label. No case for these prices.

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Double-sided DVDs, known as DVD-9 replication, cost more, of course.



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