Posted on 03/17/2007 4:22:21 PM PDT by weldgophardline
We took our Support The Troops Float to Ft. Collins for the St. Paddys parade to counter the leftists hate march in the parade. Here is what our float looked like.
Very nice! I bet it got cheers and waves all along the parade route. God bless our troops, and all who support them and their mission.
It was kind of sad to put that in a great parade.
Post more pix please. I have an old lefty friend who teaches college English there and I'd like to see if he's in the crowd.
I've got a load of pictures and will post them later tonight.
Thank you weldgophardline.
My wife (Ex) and I drove from Bakersfield to Ft. Collins back in he early '90's to attend Dan's Bake Sale (any body remember?) Nice town, very clean. And you had a VERY NICE float! Thanks for expressing the majority opinion so well! Wish I'd been there. Thanks for the pics.
Fort Collins is a very nice, all-American town, although it's been 30 years since I was there. It's sickening to think pinkos would have any visibility there whatsoever, much less a presence in the town.
Thank for showing your pictures.
Great float.
Thank you
Great float, weld. Thanks for going out and flying the colors.
I couldn't make it to DC but I was getting calls from FReepers there who were giving me reports which I then posted on the GOE Live Thread. I almost felt like a blogger!
Keep those CO Commies on the run!
Thank you for putting your footprints on your beliefs.
The peace-niks
And now for the good guys:
The crowd was huge. Whole families stood with their hands on their hearts as the Veterans passed. My jaw still hurts from grinning. There is still a hometown patriotism alive and well, no matter what the peaceniks say.
Ping!
Wow! Wonderful job on the float and great photos.
Here's FireEngineRed, WeldGOPhardline and TRTeamer decorating the float the evening before the parade:
TRTeamer, with the Marine Color Guard in the background with their prized WWII jeep:
The float, raring to go. Most of the large photos were taken in Iraq by Red's and Weld's Marine Corps son:
An older vet riding on the float, with his canine buddy:
These young heroes, all local hometown heroes, are the reason for this float. The soldier in the center - Tyler Mackenzie - gave his life for his country on Nov 2, 2005, near Baghdad:
The VFW color guard led the way, with the fife & drum corps behind them, and the float behind that. There were also a number of us walking alongside and behind the float:
After the parade, a number of us attended the noon-to-1PM "Support Our Troops" rally that we've faithfully been holding every Saturday since October, 2001. ("We" being the VFW, Freepers, parents of active service members, and many other troop supporters):
The leftists across the street with their UN flag, and their usual signs that promote their usual delusions. Eg, that this is really all about "Oil Gluttony". Or that 9/11 was an inside job orchestrated by the White House. Or that denouncing the mission of our armed forces and saying "bring them home now!" will really make our soldiers feel loved and appreciated and supported. Or that merely making more of an effort to talk rather than fight will solve most of the world's problems and end terrorism quicker than you can say "flower power". Or that once an innocent civilian gets killed, any war immediately loses its legitimacy and must be ended right there. And that's just the tip of the iceberg with these folks.
The float was a big hit with the VFW as well as the crowd. Usually only a small number of vets walk in a color guard in any given parade. But with Weld's and Red's float a part of the equation this time, the older vets who can't walk, and some female VFW regulars were able to ride the float. The two rows of folding chairs running up and down both sides of it were packed. And they all expressed over and over again how much they appreciated the float. They're now trying to get the float to return for the CSU Homecoming Parade this fall.
And the crowd loved us! We couldn't stop smiling the whole time. Lots of applause, cheers, and little kids waving at us. A lot of the vets were very moved, having not seen such an enthusiastic reception in quite awhile, if ever.
I only heard one sour note ("Bring them home now!") from a kook I recognized (she believes 9/11 was an inside White House job). I yelled back, "Yes! After they complete their mission!"
I still have a Dan's Bakesale Tshirt in mint condition.
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