After Action Report - Support the Troops and Their Mission Weekend 2006

About 150 people participated in some aspect of the five activities over two days that marked the second annual Support the Troops and Their Mission Weekend.

The weekend kicked off Friday morning with a visit to congressional offices by a small delegation of military family members. Leofl, armymarinemom, armymarinedad, olgaesq01 and myself met at the Rayburn Building and visited the office of Rep. Jim Moran (Virginia) first.

Even though it was a drop-in visit, Moran’s military staffer took the time to meet with us for almost thirty minutes. Moran is adamantly against the Iraq war but, as they say in diplomatic parlance, we had a frank exchange of ideas.

After that meeting, we went to the Cannon Building to drop in on Reps. Michaud (Maine) and Carter (Texas) I had to skip those two visits as I received a request to do a phone interview with CNN Spanish radio.

I stepped outside to do the interview, which went quite well. The interviewer said she would translate it for broadcast in a few days. We spoke for about fifteen minutes about a freep planned for later that day at the Venezuelan embassy in D.C. and our opposition to Hugo Chavez.

While I was waiting outside for the others to finish their meetings, I spied Code Pink cofounder Jodie Evans get out of a chauffeur driven Cadillac Escalade, accompanied by some of her Pinko minions. A report about that was postedhere.

Leo, Olga and armymarinemom and dad came out after the Pinkos were gone. Olga had to go elsewhere, but the other four of us made our way over to our 2 p.m. freep at the Venezuelan embassy across D.C. in Georgetown.

Ten Freepers eventually arrived and formed a decent freep line on the sidewalk in front of the embassy. Those in attendance were: Jim Robinson, Synchro, TBP, Trooprally (mr.), BufordP, armymarinemom, armymarinedad, Leofl, upchuck and myself.

We had a good time for the hour-plus we were there. We got cussed in Spanish by a Chavista embassy staffer and got a lot of positive feedback from most of the people passing by--including many foreign born people. The Secret Service showed up to make sure the embassy was okay--it was. We left about 3:20 p.m. to get ready for the Walter Reed freep.

When we arrived at Walter Reed around 6:30 p.m., we were pleasantly surprised to see a good number of people already there. The George Washington University College Republicans had come out to join us in our salute to the troops and their families. The evening went very well. A separate report will be posted soon.

Saturday morning started as a gray day with a threat of showers and thunderstorms before noon. The rain never materialized and the clouds went away, allowing the set up to proceed unencumbered. The hardest part of the set up was getting the large American flag secured from the top of the facade of the Sylvan Theater.

Showtime arrived at noon. I looked out on the expanse of grass from the stage to the Washington Monument. It was virtually empty. About 100 people were gathered in attendance along the wall at the foot of the stage with a few people scattered on the lawn.

The rally had been announced six weeks in advance and had been promoted on the Web, via e-mail, in press releases, radio interviews and radio ads. But we weren’t alone in drawing small crowds for political rallies in D.C. in recent months. The pro-illegal movement and the so-called antiwar movement have also had trouble drawing their supporters to their events.

The rally began with an invocation by Air National Guard Chaplain Lt. Col. Richard Marciano, followed by Eve Tidwell of God Bless Fort Benning who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. We played a recording of the Star Spangled Banner and then went in to the speaker program:

Larry Schweikart – co-author of Patriots History of the United States; Kevin Martin - Project 21; veteran, USN; Diana Irey - Washington County Commissioner, Pennsylvania; Nikki Mendicino - POW/MIA activist; Frank Schaeffer – co-author of AWOL, author Faith of Our Sons-a Father's Wartime Diary; Ray Davis - Military Families Voice of Victory; taped remarks by Mark Levin, talk radio host; Capt. Larry Bailey, USN Ret. – Vets for the Truth; Wes Vernon - Accuracy in Media; Mychal Massie - National Chairman, Project 21; Evan Sayet - Writer/Entertainer; Becky Davis - Military Families Voice of Victory; Leo Flood, father of son who served in Iraq and Afghanistan; Richard August - father of Capt. Matthew J. August, KIA 1/27/04, Iraq; reading of letter from Nancy Hecker, mother of U.S. Army Maj. William Hecker, KIA 1/05/06, Iraq; Richard Linn, father of LCpl. Karl R. Linn, KIA 1/26/05, Iraq; Tribute to the fallen - Mansions of the Lord; closing remarks.

Everyone who took to the podium during the three-hour long program gave it their all and were well received by those in attendance. Our sound system carried the speakers’ voices up the hill to those waiting in line at the base of the Washington Monument--and was projected way over the hill toward the W.W.II Memorial if a speaker really got into it. Many people walking in the area came to attention when we played the tribute to the fallen.

We ended the rally on time at 3 p.m. and finished the load out around 4 p.m. Hungry Freepers mutinied and started the anniversary dinner an hour and a half early, causing heartburn for the restaurant but making our waitress very happy.

About thirty Freepers joined JimRob at the FR 10th anniversary dinner: Doctor Raoul, Exit148; NCPAC, 3D-Joy, Just a Nobody, tgslTakoma, sonoftgsl, TBP, Christopher Lincoln, olgaesq01, nutmeg, zelig, armymarinemom, armymarinedad, Synchro, Mr. and Mrs. Trooprally, concretebob, Blueblade, Leofl, Gunsareok, bmwcyle, appleblossom and daughters, stand watie, Albion Wilde, TFroatz, Fraxinus, JoyjoyfromNJ, myself and whoever I’ve missed.

The highlight of the dinner was watching The Beltway Boys on the Fox News Channel when they flashed on the screen the top conservative political web sites and Free Republic was listed as second behind Newsmax. The study was done by Nielson Net Ratings. We all cheered Jim and thanked him for the wondrous work he has done creating and keeping FR online.

Media coverage of the rally was almost nonexistent before (one article by CNS News) and scant after. The Washington Times ran an article with two nice photos. I’m told that WRC-TV 4 and NewsChannel8 ran brief stories, as did WTOP-FM.

Video clips comprising the entire rally are being posted to Google video. Links will be posted later on this thread. Please take the time to watch them. The speakers did an excellent job (the emcee, so, so.) Other clips and photos have been linked at various points on this earlier thread. More photos will also be posted here.

My after-action report:

Out of thousands of registered Freepers and lurkers in the DC, MD and VA area, fewer than one hundred attended the rally last Saturday. Their loss.

We had around twenty Freepers who traveled from: PA, NJ, ME, RI, TX, CT, SC, and probably a couple other states that I've forgotten at the moment. Thank you all for your great effort and dedication to the cause, and for traveling great distances to be here with us. Your friendship and support is golden.

I could tell all of Freeperville my thoughts about the attendance, but I think you probably already know what they are. Oh, heck, maybe I will tell you...

We built it, and people chose not to come.

What kind of message does that send to our troops?

We have soldiers and Marines doing their second, third and even fourth tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and people can't step away from their keyboards for three hours to even show up at an event dedicated to them.

It does get old to read comment upon comment on FR about how the media only covers the bitch in the ditch, and never covers people who support the troops and their mission.

We know the media is mostly rooting for our enemies, so they are loathe to show anything positive in the first place. Our side's history of low attendance rallies only adds to their reluctance to cover them.

How do we get people on our side to stop playing around at their keyboard and actually get involved? And I'm not talking about people two thousand miles away, living on Social Security checks and Kraft Mac 'n Cheese. Those are usually the folks who do the most in their own locales to show support for our troops and this country.

I'm talking about the big-talking folks with comfortable lives who voice their outrage over Cindy Sheehan, Nancy Pelosi, John Murtha, Michael Moore, The Dixie Chicks, etc., but who can't be bothered to actually do anything to take back the public square.

I don't expect any answers or solutions. I thinkn we've tried them all. Some folks just can't be bothered, and won't be bothered until they have a personal reason to get involved.

That's a shame, because in the words of one of our fantastic speakers last Saturday, these soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines are all our sons and daughters. They are all our neighbors. They are all our brothers and sisters.

They believe in our country. So great is their love for and faith in our country that they offer their lives in its defense. In our defense.

And a hundred people show up in DC to tell them thank you.

Thank you to everyone who sent in donations large and small, to help us put on this rally. And a heartfelt thank you to all who attended and helped where and when you were needed. It was a group project, and you all are priceless.

Our guest speakers were the best.

They spoke from the heart. They spoke of God and country, love and loss, and faith and optimism. Thank you Eve, Larry, Kevin, Diana, Mikki, Frank, Ray, Mark, Cap'n Bailey, Wes, Mychal, Evan, Becky, Leo, Richard A, Nancy (Dana) and Richard L, for sharing your time and your hearts with us. Thank you Jim, for traveling across the country to be with us. And thank you Kristinn, for being an optimist, and for pushing to do the right thing, even if thousands of lazy, indifferent folks wouldn't attend. We did the right thing. And it wouldn't have happened without your work.

The media pretty much blew off the rally, so the only footage of our speakers is what we took. Below are links to video I shot of all the speakers on Saturday. I had to break the day's video up into 9 parts. I hope you all are as inspired by these wonderful speakers as I was (and still am).

Rally Video - Part 1
Speakers: Opening remarks by Kristinn,
Eve Tidwell, God Bless Fort Benning,
Larry Schweikart, co-author of Patriots History of the United States.

Rally Video - Part 2
Speakers: Kevin Martin, Project 21, USN veteran,
Diana Irey, Washington County (PA) Commissioner.

Rally Video -Part 3
Speakers: Nikki Mendicino, POW/MIA Activist,
Frank Schaeffer, co-author of AWOL, author of Faith of Our Sons - A Father's Wartime Diary.

Rally Video - Part 4
Speakers: Ray Davis, Blue Star Father (3x), Military Families Voice of Victory,
Taped Remarks by Mark Levin, Syndicated Talk Radio Host,
Capt. Larry Bailey, USN Ret, Vets for the Truth.

Rally Video - Part 5
Speakers: Wes Vernon, Accuracy in Media,
Mychal Massie, Project 21.

Rally Video - Part 6
Speakers: Evan Sayet, Writer/Entertainer,
Becky Davis, Blue Star Mother (3x), Military Families Voice of Victory.

Rally Video - Part 7
Speakers: Leo Flood, Blue Star Father (Iraq and Afghanistan),
Richard August, father of US Army Capt. Matthew J. August, KIA 1/27/2004, Iraq.

Rally Video - Part 8
Speakers: Letter from Nancy Hecker, mother of US Army Maj. Bill Hecker, KIA 1/5/2006, Iraq,
Richard Linn, father of US Marine Corps LCpl. Karl R. Linn, KIA 1/26/2005, Iraq.

Rally Video - Part 9
Tribute to the fallen, and closing remarks by Kristinn Taylor.

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