Lurker Bill from Maryland is joined on the southeast corner by 3D-Joy.
Posted on 07/27/2006 6:53:33 PM PDT by Albion Wilde
WASHINGTON, DC 7/21/06-- This FReep at the gates of Walter Reed Army Medical Center started out calmly enough, very much like so many others since we, the DC Chapter of Free Republic, have have been coming there every Friday night since March, 2005 to counter anti-war agitators organized by Code Pink. Nothing seemed different except the wildly enthusiastic beeps of passing cars. In summertime's long daylight, with many car windows open, the enthusiasm of the drivers for our support-the-troops rally is much easier to express. Even two DC Metro police officers patrolling the area gave us the thumbs up as they drove up Georgia Avenue, and later, as they drove back down.
As a result of our keeping the pressure on, the Pinkos have bent over backwards to obscure their malevolence towards the Administration, the soldiers and the entire idea of defending this country, not just by having adopted hypocritical signs urging better care of the soldiers, but also by having now brought more American flags -- flags that are not desecrated like ones they have brought to Walter Reed in the past, or the one they recently protested with at the White House.
So, to help passing motorists tell them apart from us, the week before we started a helpful "Burma-Shave" campaign, and mounted it again this week:
Abruptly, one of the Pinkos decided that their feelings were hurt. Free speech is only for the hate-America crowd, not for those who honor the troops and support their mission! So one of the Pinkos performed a stupid human trick and started yanking the signs off the tops of the cars, tossing them over the fence onto Walter Reed's property. Kristinn wrote about it in an earlier thread.
We went up to the gates to see about retrieving our signs, but not so fast. It seems that the Pinkos' anger management issue had generated a call by the gate guards to the U.S. Department of the Army Police, two of whom strolled down to have a talk with the Pinkos:
A friend of the Pinkos arrived on the scene after the brouhaha. A DC lobbyist, he was also an acquaintance of Debbie Does DC. Returning to his car after bringing the Pinkos some sodas, he stopped to tell her that his friend in the Pink camp "felt really bad about it." I was standing with Debbie Does DC and remarked, "It looks like they got their feelings hurt." With a chuckle, she remarked how lucky it was that was all that got hurt.
...and the FReepers carried on as usual, waving to the troops that came and went, and waiting for the bus to return that brings troops and their families back from a night on the town. Pinkos do not wait for the bus, having been visibly disdained, back in the early days of their phony pro-troops vigil, by genuine troops on the bus. FReeper rlmorel hoisted the "THIS CORNER UNDER NEW NON-COMMIE MANAGEMENT" sign, but everything else settled back to normal. Carloads of people kept honking and high-signing us, including soldiers yelling out their car windows, "Thank you!" and "We love you!" to which we shouted back, "Thank YOU! We love YOU!"
An Army active-duty sergeant from California stood next to me for awhile as he waited for a taxi with another solider from Michigan and that soldier's father. The two looked so much alike I asked if they were brothers. "Yes, but from two different mothers," he said, meaning that his comrade-iin-arms was as close as a brother. Sergeant Bientema was from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, and Spec. Litherland was from the 562 Engineers. Both had been recovering at Walter Reed. It took me a long while to notice that the sergeant had one prosthetic leg, since he was moving around so effortlessly.
"Thanks for being out here," said Sgt. Bientema. Regarding the anti-war protesters down the street, he continued, "They'll never get rid of us ground-pounders. You can't win a war without ground-pounders, whether for the fightin' or for the clean-up. Thank God for those that support us, and too bad for the ones that don't."
A young servicewoman who, with her mother and a group of other troops was also waiting for rides downtown, related that she is a medic and had been in Balad, Iraq, where there is a trauma hospital in the Iraqi combat zone. Battlefield injury patients are typically stabilized in the combat zone, then flown rapidly to longer-term care facilities such as Landstuhl, Germany or Walter Reed. This medic is now at Walter Reed for further training. "I like being here," she said, "because I get to see some of the patients I took care of in Balad. Now they are getting better."
FReepers present this week included Apple Blossom, Black Republican, bmwcyle, Cindy-True-Supporter, Debbie Does DC, Fraxinus, Gretchen15, Jack Deth, Jimmy Valentine's Brother, Just A Nobody, Kristinn, rlmorel, SenseiErn, tgslTakoma, 3D-Joy, Tom the Redhunter, [Mr & Mrs] Trooprally and myself. Lurkers included Bill from Maryland, Gavin, and his guest, Jeff.
Link to all the previous Walter Reed FReeps, courtesy of BufordP.
It's not at all a bad ride, especially if you stay over and take advantage of the wonderful (and free) DC attractions -- all the dozens of National Museums and the splendid public monuments are free of charge.
We deeply appreciate your support and your prayers from around the country. We also hope you will join a chapter and look for opportunities to FReep in your own locale. The media are allowing the malcontent riffraff to dominate the conversation in this country. Take it back!
It'll be great to have you back with us!
Everything is going wrong with times this weekend...next week is clear for both events!
JOYCE
LOL. Priceless. That is the way my liberal children view mw, so I stay away from them. Enjoyed your report. Thanks for going down.
I've been thinking that we need to post a spy at the entrance of every event like this so we can out the disrupters before they get in.
What an extraordinary post, rlmorel. Your words really fill in the gaps of my rather factual reporting, explaining to others who might consider coming out with us what it feels like to be there.
You were a wonderful addition. You will be with us even more in spirit now that we know you, and you know what it's like on the street! It was great to meet you face-to-face after having encountered you online many times before. Thank you so much for taking the time (and spending the gas money!) to be with us, and God bless you!
Watch the "Activism/Chapters" blue box on the sidebar of the News/Activism forum. That is where announcements of FReeps are posted. You never know whether one will pop up for that day.
Or, consider coming down on Friday and spending a wonderful weekend of sightseeing in DC. Washington is loaded with free museums and attractions. It is a city like no other.
Great to hear! Love your tagline, by the way.
Funniest thing I've seen in weeks. Okay, who's the mastermind?
Very noticeable drop off in horn honks for the PinkOs once the signs were in place. I heard a car load of soldier types as they drove by the hags... they called out to them, "Commie $*$!#"
Ain't the First Amendment great?
LOL! It's not that bad! Many of us have been here for decades! I used to feel that way about the Left Coast until I was sent there on business and ended up liking it very much!
I can't recommend the District of Columbia highly enough as a tourist destination. It is magnificent and loaded with historical significance. I went to the recently reopened Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery last week and was completely blown away by the detailed review of U.S. history conveyed through the captions on the paintings, sculptures, artifacts, furniture and television clips, especially in the Hall of Presidents.
Great news, W04Man!
"Gerry Fonseca, a fellow war protester...acted as Sheehan's agent...
"If Cindy Sheehan came to town, I don't think anybody would have sold her any property," Fonseca, of Eagle Rock, Missouri, said Thursday."
My midday news just had a little piece on the land purchase. The original land owner, Celia Ramsey, is furious, saying she was "duped". She had no idea that Cindy Sheehan was involved in any way. Apparently this Gerry Fonseca claimed to be a Katrina evacuee (uh, okay). He said in the news interview that he feels kind of bad about they way his side did things, and that they are going to try really hard not to disturb the neighbors (the poor Ramsey's included). They're supposedly going to use the far side of the property and may build a high fence. Hmmm, sounds neighborly, but something tells me that the FIVE HUNDRED or so people they are expecting to camp there in August won't be contained. The town is noooooot happy! The only positive I've heard was from a town councilman who was hopeful that at least the protesters might not cause as much disruption in the traffic flow. You could tell the poor guy was really reaching and trying to be diplomatic. Yuck.
More on the story is coming on another channel at noon. (Hey, this is a hot topic around here!)
Yes, CNSNews, Rush Limbaugh and Hannity and Colmes did pieces condemning the very idea of anti-war protests at a military hospital last August, almost a year ago. You can find links in the second paragraph of this thread.
The left-leaning Washington Post on October 30, 2005, did an article by Allan Lengel called "A Weekly Battle Over War in Iraq" that made moral equivalence between Code Pink and Free Republic. Several members of Code Pink have been skewered on TV by Sean Hannity from time to time.
These exposures, and the continuing pressure from us every week, have helped pressure Code Pink to clean up its act in front of the hospital, but we believe they are essentially wasting even their own time, because the vast majority of decent people, even those who oppose the war, are disgusted by their choice of location. They are doing themselves more harm than good by insisting on staying there. It's a lack of imagination, at the very least.
Thanks for the clarification; and I couldn't agree more. Here's what Jesus had to say about it:
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. -Matthew 24:6 NIV
When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. -Mark 13:7 NIV
Your wonderful photos tell the story as much as the words. Thank YOU!
It's quite enough for us to unsettle their arrogance and make them show their true colors.
Actually, this is quite often true, especially when the College Republicans and Young Republicans come out with us; not to mention our stellar collection of mature beauties.
You are right on with your assessment of the situation, AppyPappy.
And if they didn't realize their beeps were unintended before, they do now.
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