Posted on 03/15/2007 12:26:00 PM PDT by Albion Wilde
WASHINGTON, DC, March 9, 2007— Most Americans will root for an underdog. Since the dubiously motivated articles stirring up scandal at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center appeared in the Washington Post over the past weeks, the motorists who beeped for our troop-support rally at the gates of Walter Reed on Friday night were now double, triple in number. Now it wasn't just a discreet little toot every five or ten cars; it was many drivers at a time releasing loud, long, sometimes frankly impassioned blasts of the horn, from cars, trucks, Metro buses, even a DC police car – hospital zone or no hospital zone. As inaccurate as they were melodramatic, the articles critical of Walter Reed have drawn the troops into the libmedia's anti-war web of deceit more than ever, forcing them to face the enemy at home as well as abroad.
There isn't space in this weekly chronicle to refute all the when-did-you-stop-beating-your-wife allegations and innuendo in those articles. Their transparently disdainful purpose was to demoralize the troops and embarrass the administration – certainly not to benefit the soldiers, veterans and family members who are now burdened by extra layers of uncertainty about their care in the middle of a war that the Loony Left seems to feel is as unnecessary as, say, personal integrity.
What these developments have meant for us in the the DC Chapter of Free Republic is the joy of more visits from troops to our four-corner, Friday-night rallies outside the main gates. This week the Walter Reed Med-Hold platoon sergeant, John Dail, stopped by to shake hands all around.
I asked Sgt. Dail about Building 18, which had been cited by the Post article for mold and vermin. (It's worth noting here that Building 18 is not a medical care facility, it is a barracks. It is not on the main 116-acre campus of Walter Reed; it is a former motel, across the 6-lane Georgia Avenue bounding the eastern perimeter of the base, that was purchased as an overflow residence for outpatient and recovered soldiers waiting for transfers out of Walter Reed. Yet much of the uproar resulting from the articles has created the impression that the patient-care areas of the hospital are similarly contaminated, which they are not.)
"The residents of Building 18 have moved to Building 14, right on the base," Sgt. Dail revealed. "It has apartments with kitchens, DVD players in the rooms. They just got a plasma TV over there. It's a beautiful building – one of the best I've seen in the Army.
"The residents didn't want to move, and didn't really understand why they had to move," Sgt. Dail went on. "But now we are going to improve all the facilities," he added, indicating that the shake-up has resulted in different budget priorities at Walter Reed, which had in 2005 been scheduled to be phased out altogether over the succeeding decade. For now, the Student Company was moved out of Building 14 to off-base civilian housing leased to WRAMC, and the "Med-Holds" were moved into 14, where those who are still reporting for outpatient medical appointments will be closer to the hospital building. The Student Company will now commute to the base.
As for Building 18, the subject of one of the scandal-mongering articles, Sgt. Dail said that inspectors determined "there were only seven rooms in that building that really needed work." My own sources on the base say that the mold was a result of a bathtub overflow, not from a problem in the larger infrastructure. One source, who has managed other residence buildings on the base, said that problems affected less than 5% of the rooms in Building 18, which is only one of many residences serving recovering troops at WRAMC. Other troop accommodations are comparable to upscale hotels, or, like the Fisher Houses, are home-like environments housing entire families of spouses and children of the recovering troops.
Specialist Tim, an MP of the 198th National Guard troop, was wounded in Afghanistan 15 days before the end of his tour. He was thrust into the spotlight on the previous Friday, March 2nd, as he stood near our rally. A Fox affiliate local DC television station interviewed him about the conditions at Walter Reed; he appeared on the 11 PM news for a very brief sound bite. On Wednesday of the past week, he and three other patients, with help from FReeper Just A Nobody, organized a lengthy press conference in support of WRAMC that was attended by major news outlets and then ignored, except for a tiny blip on FoxNews. (Even Demo-leaning pollster Zogby admitted last week that readers perceive a leftist bias in media coverage.)
Tonight, Tim (who will soon return home to Kentucky to continue healing, where he hopes to enter local politics) determined to talk with the anti-war protestors down the block, to lodge his objection to their phony "vigil" outside the hospital. "We need to put our attention back on the War in Iraq, on the Congressional resolution to support the troop surge," he said, "instead of on any problems at WRAMC. Because if we don't, we're just going to have more soldiers in Walter Reed. We need the funds for the ammo and armor to fight the war."
After talking with them, Tim circled back to the FReeper coffee stand. He related that the anti-war protesters said they are bringing "visibility" to their perception that supporting the troops means not allowing them to perform their military jobs. "It's not about visibility," Tim said. "It's about the fact that they're on what I consider sacred ground. This is our home, this is where I live, where my brothers and sisters live who have lost an eye, a leg, part of their brain..." he trailed off, and then continued, eyeing some nearby young FReeper females. "Hitting on women is why I came out here," he joked, "but if there's a bonus like debating with the Commies, I'm for it! They [the Pinkos] seem to think the Afghanistan War is different than Iraq, but I say no. Those people need to move to the other side of the street!"
This week's Honor Roll of troop supporters: FReepers present were Albion Wilde, BufordP, Cindy-True-Supporter, Citizen SMASH, Danang68, Fraxinus, Just A Nobody, Kristinn, PleaDeal, PrezUSA222, Taco Mamma, tgslTakoma, Tom the Redhunter, [Mr & Mrs] Trooprally and VAFlagWaver; lurkers included Amanda, Ashley R, Bill from MD, Chevelyn, Laura Bush, Lindy and Miss USA.
To view all of the photos of this FReep by [Mrs] Trooprally, click here.
To view all of the photos of this FReep by PleaDeal, click here. To view a complete archive of Walter Reed FReeps maintained by BufordP, click here.
I understand from Buford's post that we can expect a stellar PleaDeal AAR for today's non-confrontation at WR! It should be a good one, showing FReepers in "their" permit area!
And...threatened to shoot a wounded warrior twice, spit on him once and at him numerous times, broke a satellite truck's windshield, trid to force their way into the recruiting center at 14th and L Streets and when unsuccessful broke the window.
One of the threats is on video, the second group's threat is not but I witnessed it and there are photos of those guys standing in the park behind the wounded armed with large sticks which ultimately ot them run off by US Capitol Police who made the "peace thugs" leave their weapons behind.
This is a group ((((((thank you))))) to many of you who posted on this thread. Thanks for the readership and bumps! Looking forward to seeing many of you again, and meeting others for the first time on the weekend! And for those who can't be around, send us your thoughts and prayers. At last, the right is starting to stand up. Pray with me that the MSM will no longer be able to frame a shot anywhere without catching a patriot sign or armband in the background.
Lest we forget. Thanks for the reminder. They have to be peeing themselves about now thinking of 20,000 veterans descending on the place, as far as we have so far heard, and countless civilians.
Thoughts and prayers will be with all of you Albion!
Awesome. I'll be there if the weather isn't too bad. I'm traveling extra light, just what I can fit in a backpack for carry on, so I'm limited as to cold weather/rain gear.
The Metro will be open until 2 or 3am on Friday night, so I don't think you'll have a problem with that; we usually leave WRAMC at around 10pm.
P.S. I watched our local news tonight and saw that Gael Murphy was arrested outside the Rayburn (IIRC) Building today, along with ANSWER commie Larry Holmes and some unknown "designated arrestees."
Unfortunately, they will be cycled out of lockup in time to play "spit on the soldiers" on Saturday.
You can count on me for praying, AW..!!
Bump!
Great report and pictures, as always. So good to see our wounded heros coming out to meet the FReepers, and giving THEM support, too. Well deserved, both ways! And I had to laugh at the pics of the Pinkos - looks like it was Pinko Clown Night. Thanks much for the ping, and God bless all of you for all you do to support our wounded heros.
BTTT
God Bless all.
You all have my prayers.
A bttt for everyone...
and a
Now I have to wait how long for the report on the 100th?
I don't care how long, just as long as it comes, and I know
it will. Thanks for all, and to all. From the hinterland.
Tom the Redhunter is writing this one, and it will be up this week. Our reports usually come out no later than Thursday for the previous Friday; sometimes they go up by Tuesday. Check the Activism/Chapters box in the blue sidebar for the latest reports.
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