THESE COLORS DON'T RUN (MAF Caravan)

Canada Free Press ^ | 2-19-07 | Judi McLeod

[smoothsailing]

THESE COLORS DON'T RUN

By Judi McLeod

Monday, February 19, 2007

Even as the anti-war movement is setting the stage for the mother of all protests next month, Melanie Morgan is turning it around to a nation-wide show of support for American troops.

snip

"Move America Forward is about to launch a major advertising campaign to rally support for our troops in Iraq." (www.melaniemorganrocks.com).

"On Saturday, March 17th, Cindy Sheehan, Jane Fonda and Ramsey Clark will lead a giant anti-war protest in Washington, D.C.--disgracing the war memorials there as they march to the Pentagon...

snip

This is how Move America Forward intends to trump all this negativity and disrespect towards our troops: "With a positive and patriotic national effort titled, 'THESE COLORS DON'T RUN.'"

MAF will lead a national caravan of vehicles and supporters from California across the nation, all the way to Washington, D.C. Heading up the caravan will be real people, Gold Star parents who lost a child in the war on terrorism, Blue Star parents...,(and) veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

At each stop along the way, the MAF caravan will stop to conduct a patriotic pro-troop rally where they were be collecting American flags from rally participants.

"At each rally we will collect the flags and pack them in the trucks in our caravan and then bring them to Washington, D.C. where we will surround these war memorials in a giant sea of red, white and blue--and where we will conduct our final and largest pro-troop rally in Washington D.C.-on March 17th...

You can follow Melanie Morgan's caravan starting today by checking on the posted planned route and stops along the way at the Move America Forward website.

[tgslTakoma]

OOPS! Well, just ignore the first paragraph of my reply to you, then.

:-)

[tgslTakoma]

It came together with a combination of veterans groups and the D.C. chapter of Free Republic.

The stars aligned.

:-)

[tgslTakoma]

Move America Forward is one of many allies in this grassroots effort. You can go to the Gathering of Eagles website and see all the other allies who have signed on, including MAF, the Military Order of the Purple Heart, mil-bloggers, conservative bloggers, vets bloggers, veterans groups, and all kinds of other groups who have joined in on this great effort.

Oh, and I just read that Roger Hedgecock (subbing for Rush Limbaugh today) gave the Gathering of Eagles a plug on the show today. Great news, and the participant list keeps growing!

[smoothsailing]

Hope I'll see you there! :-)

[Impeach98]

Huh? I think it's a pro-troop event. There's MAF, Free Republic, Rolling Thunder, Vets for Victory, etc... and there are multiple components - MAF is doing something that the organization does well, tap into its national supporter list to find a way to involve people from across the nation.

That's a good thing, Bob!

[tgslTakoma]

Definitely!

[Bob J]

Good luck!

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Jimmy Valentine's brother]

Thanks for the ping. At long last a number of organizations have joined together.

[debbieargel]

Thanks for clearing this up. As a member of MAF and a Gold Star mother, I don't really think it matters who started the event. What matters, is how many people show up. MAF came up with the caravan idea and confirmed just last week. We are JOINING the movement. The more people we can bring along the way, strengthens the effort. A big thanks to all who have organized this. See you there!

Proud mother of Capt. Derek Argel, USAF Combat Control, KIA Memorial Day, 2005 Diyala, Iraq

[Just A Nobody]

Thanks Deb...well said!

[Bob J]

What's important is the show of support for the troops. Good for you!

[Bob J]

Congrats on the Hedgecock plug!

[Bob J]

All the PR you van get is important!

[cgk]

This is currently being discussed on Neil Cavuto's show on Fox News Channel right now, and Deborah Johns gave a mention to Free Republic as one of those involved. :)

[mdittmar]

Thanks Jim,for putting it front and center.

[bmwcyle]

If there is any Freep to attend. This is the one.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

Just received this EMAIL, I wish I could go!

A dedicated group of American heroes will lead a caravan of cars, trucks, motorhomes and other vehicles across the nation in a patriotic, pro-troop effort called "THESE COLORS DON'T RUN." (The effort will culminate in a giant patriotic event in Washington, D.C. where we will join with "The Gathering of Eagles").

Move America Forward is honored to be working with these wonderful people - and they want to meet personally with all of you as the caravan heads across the nation. Find out where the caravan will be each day - and if we are not coming to your city, then try to organize a mini-caravan of fellow pro-troop supporters to drive down and merge with our caravan across the nation.

Here are brief biographies on the people who will be leading this national caravan. They remind you to please bring American flags to each of our rally stops throughout the nation so we can bring them to Washington, D.C. for a massive display of American flags - the flags will then be sent to our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

DEBRA ARGEL BASTIAN: Debra's son, Air Force Capt. Derek Argel, gave his life for his country in Operation Iraqi Freedom on May 30, 2005 - he was 28 years old. Derek was from Lompoc, California; assigned to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida. He died in the crash of an Iraqi air force aircraft during a training mission in eastern Diyala province, Iraq.

Currently Debra Bastian is the Military Outreach Coordinator for Move America Forward, and she speaks throughout the country in support of the War on Terror and most especially in support of the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. She recently returned from a trip to Iraq with Gold Star Families, to see first-hand some of the progress being made in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

JOHN UBALDI: John Ubaldi served as a Master Sergeant in the United States Marines during Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq) from March 2005 to September 2005 and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) from June 2002 to December 2002. Ubaldi has served in the United States Marine Corps for 22 years, enlisting in December 1982, assigned to various military units while he was on active duty. Discharged from active duty to attend college, he subsequently joined the Marine Corps Reserve.

Mr. Ubaldi has helped ship millions of dollars in relief supplies to the people of Afghanistan and Iraq, so that they may rebuild peaceful, free nations that reject terrorism.

DEBORAH JOHNS: Deborah Johns is a hero to the pro-troop movement, and has led countless efforts to support our troops. Her son, William, is now serving his third tour of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Deborah is the founder of Marine Moms Online; co-founder of Northern California Marine Moms; was leader of the "You Don't Speak for Me, Cindy" tour; organized a protest of the Sacramento City Council for their passage of a resolution attacking Operation Iraqi Freedom, among many other actions in the pro-troop cause.

Ms. Johns regularly organizes drives to ship care packages to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2004 she teamed up with Move America Forward to organize "Operation Fuzzy Wuzzy" that collected and sent more than 5,000 teddy bears and stuffed animals to the children who survived the terrorist attack on the school in Beslan, Russia.

Deborah has been featured in national television ads such as this one: WATCH IT HERE

She also lent her voice to a national radio campaign urging support for our troops. You can LISTEN TO HER AD HERE

JOSEPH WILLIAMS: His son, Marine Lance Cpl. Michael J. Williams, died on March 23, 2003. Michael was 31 years old and from Yuma, Arizona; assigned to 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Michael was killed in action near Nasiriyah, Iraq.

Joseph Williams currently is active in letting the American public know how important it is to support the effort of the nation in supporting the War on terror and the American Armed Forces. He recently returned from a trip to Iraq with Gold Star Families, to see first-hand some of the progress being made in Operation Iraqi Freedom.


We're going to make this effort a HUGE success...

[Jim Robinson]

Woo hoo!! Just got the word from the boss (Sheila). We WILL be there!!

[mdittmar]

Sent a donation last week,will be sending a new 5'x8' American Flag tomorrow.

Send flags via UPS,US Mail,FedEx or other delivery service to:
Move America Forward 770 L Street Suite #1400 Sacramento, CA 95814

I wish I could be there.

My Flag will be there though,it has no history now,but it will have a damn fine one come March 17th.

I hope hanoi jane can see it.