By Payton Hoegh
CNSNews.com Correspondent
March 12, 2007
(CNSNews.com) - When Lance Cpl. Kyle Croly was killed in Iraq in 2004, his father felt that the 18-year-old had passed the torch of supporting the country on to him.
Mark Croly, struggling with the loss, has been reflecting anew on his son's sacrifice since he and other supporters of American troops set off on a cross-country caravan headed for the nation's capital late last week.
"It really feels good to be a part of this," the retired steel worker told Cybercast News Service. "I know that Kyle can see me and as proud as I am of him, I need him to be proud of me."
The "These Colors Don't Run" caravan, sponsored by the pro-troops organization Move America Forward (MAF), is traveling from California to Washington, D.C., where it aims to counter an anti-war protest planned for March 17.
The convoy is stopping for pro-troop rallies along the way, and at each rally, participants are collecting flags from supporters to be sent to Iraq to show the troops that their country still supports them. In the first three days, 5,000 flags had been collected, MAF said.
Speaking en route to Los Angeles Friday, Croly said America cannot back down from the effort in Iraq.
"This will never stop until we bring the fight to them," he said.
The pro-troop movement has gained momentum with the recent push in Congress to pull the armed forces out of Iraq by August of next year. The convoy participants dismissed the plan as a "cut and run" policy and said they continue to push for victory.
"If we pull out, we have failed, and all those who have died for it will have died in vain," Croly said. "I believe it is a grave mistake ... to pull out and not finish this job.
"These people don't seem to understand," he continued, in reference to anti-war campaigners. "This administration that we support may not be the best administration, but it's who's in office. Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, you need to support your country.
"The cost of freedom is more than people know," Croly added.
"[House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi thought she had a mandate to cut and run in Iraq, but I think we are seeing that the American people want victory in Iraq, not surrender," another member of the convoy, Deborah Jones, said in a press release issued by MAF. Jones' son is a Marine serving his third tour in Iraq.
The caravan was formed to counter protests organized by the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) movement, which predicts that tens of thousands of anti-war activists will attend its upcoming rally.
In a statement on its website, ANSWER described its pro-troop counterparts as "some tiny pro-Bush groups who support the war in Iraq, and who normally mobilize about 25 people to hold signs when massive anti-war protests take place."
The caravan is due to arrive in Washington in time to join the "Gathering of the Eagles," a demonstration aimed at protecting war memorials and monuments in the capital against potential vandalism by anti-war protestors.
The 3,500-mile journey from the West Coast will take them through California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia.