Posted on 05/03/2007 4:05:06 PM PDT by Albion Wilde
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA-CHAPEL HILL, April 28, 2007 Veterans and troop supporters turned out for a troop support rally in the heart of a typically liberal/leftie campus under the Gathering of Eagles banner this past Saturday afternoon. Like most top-tier universities, UNC-CH has its generous share of Marx-spouting faculty spawned in the 60s, their anti-war sentiments misapplied to the current locus of the War on Terror, the insurgency in Iraq.
Many of the veterans who attended this GoE event in Chapel Hill had attended the original Gathering of Eagles in Washington, DC, on March 17 of this year. When several leftist/anarchist groups announced a large anti-war protest to meet at the Vietnam Wall that day, a group of veterans organized within five weeks into the Gathering of Eagles. It was not just that several of the anti-war web sites threatened to deface the Vietnam Wall or other memorials nearby (protesters had spray-painted the very steps of the U.S. Capitol Building in January, unimpeded by Capitol Police, who are under the Congressional purview of Nancy Pelosi); veterans were also galvanized by the need to expose the hard-core Socialist-Communist-Anarchist ideologies of the anti-war protest organizers, rarely mentioned in the mainstream press.
The March 17 GoE attracted some 30,000 veterans and troop supporters from all over the nation to protect their hallowed war memorials in the Nation's Capital, some making the arduous trip in snow and icy weather from as far away as California.
Other attendees at this Chapel Hill GoE had been in Greensboro, NC the previous week to counterprotest Cindy Sheehan, whose exploitation of her son's volunteer service in Iraq keenly rankles veterans.
"The Gathering of Eagles changed my life," said George Sanek, a retired Army Chief Warrant Officer and retired North Carolina police officer, harking back to the vilification and shame unjustly heaped on Vietnam-era troops by 60s anti-war protestors. "It's time for us veterans to be silent no more. The Gathering of Eagles gives me a chance to say things I haven't been able to say for 40 years. Our core message isn't the politics of the war, it's troop support. The GoE wants other veterans to join us. Come nest with the Eagles!"
At the GoE in DC, George was particularly appalled by the anti-war protesters indoctrinating children to hate the United States. "Watch this video!" he urged, pressing a slip of paper into my hand. It is a moving film about our troops, Remember Me, made by a 15-year-old girl who wants to join the Army after graduation.
Speakers and Entertainers
Campus GoE organizer Tony Stevenson emceed the program. A Navy brat, but one with with a beard, two-tone hair and an academic air, Tony is a free-thinking individual who arrived at his support for the troops through his own observations.
Speaker Jenny Stevens, President of Conservative Women's Voice at UNC-Chapel Hill, said, "Being a conservative on this campus ain't easy, but we do it," to loud applause. She alluded to the anti-war protests often subsidized on campus, and described the public service efforts of her organization, such as combating domestic violence, as well as CWV's support for Gathering of Eagles at this rally and in Greensboro the week before.
Major Ted Kaiser, another speaker, zeroed in on the lack of media support during this war, especially in contrast with the press conduct during WWII, the era of the "Greatest Generation." This generation would also be regarded as the greatest, he observed, if the agenda of the press were not so completely focused on touting failures. He spoke of the treatment of Vietnam veterans. "Many have now made it their mission to see that this generation is not vilified," he said, asking God's blessing on the Vietnam veterans present and thanking them for their service.
Another speaker and Marine veteran, R. J. Del Vecchio, asked not to be pictured, the better to continue investigating leftist rallies. He is a former combat photographer and the author of Whitewash/Blackwash: Myths of the Vietnam War, which is in its third printing. This 60-page volume is a text for high school and college students that refutes the negative misinformation campaigns promulgated against the United States military by the American left in concert with the North Vietnamese during that conflict. "Nobody who has been to war is pro-war," he said. "We need to expose the leaders of the anti-war movement. They are not grassroots citizens like the troop supporters; they are radical extremists."
Stuck Mojo's rockin' sounds brought more UNC students out to the Gathering to mingle with veterans. As lead singer/songwriter Rich Ward's web site explains, "The story begins with the signing of the Declaration of Independence... my great grandfather four times removed on my mothers side, was one of the original signers of this historic document. Each generation that followed also found one of my ancestors woven into the fabric of American history. My great grandfather graduated from and taught at West Point as would his son eventually following in his footsteps. My grandfather was appointed as military aide to then Franklin Roosevelt during World War II and was present at the Yalta Conference..." Stuck Mojo, begun in 1989, has toured in the U.S. and U.K. and has completed nine albums. Wikipedia says the band is "highly controversial due to their "somewhat politically incorrect views" such as patriotism, Southern pride and, today, a Christian motto on one of their tee shirts.
Veterans and Supporters from Miles Around
Moonbats Number Barely in the Single Digits
Where there are moonbats and their fawning lackeys in the mainstream media, you are also likely to see counterprotest activists. Just one or two Eagles, FReepers or Protest Warriors is usually all it takes to throw the lefties' smug self-assurance into a tailspin.
This festival was attended by some of the East Coast's most dedicated troop supporters, bringing creativity, ideas and commitment to the task of wresting our nation back from the bleeding left edge. Where Eagles fly, others may soon follow.
Additional links:
The prior week's Gathering of Eagles in Greensboro, NC on April 22 to counterprotest Cindy Sheehan: WakeUpAmerica blog with photos (scroll down).
Click here for free downloadable troop support poster graphics from Tamanders.com
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That’s my kind of hat, lady!
Sorry I couldn’t join you but thank you so much for being there.
Bump!
Ping!
Thank you for your comments and bumps to the thread! Always glad to see your screen names...
So true I guess they are the ones who fried their brains in the 60s and haven't grown intellectually since then, in view of the manifest threat posed by Islamofanaticism spreading around the world. It's the people who aborted their children or avoided having any who are most careless about the future for those of us who do care what kind of world our descendents will inherit.
Many thanks for your post, BillF, master of WR AAR’s.
I had little to do with preparing the rally except to write about it the good folks in Chapel Hill, especially the students Tony and Jenny, as well as the GoE veterans, did the great job!
Adams is UNC-Wilmington. Being a conservative at UNC-CH wasn’t easy in 1970 either.
Hey, Race, good luck with that. "This or something better, Lord!" Let us know how your rally turns out!
Hell, yeah!!!
It was fun, and the band was LOUD, which could probably be heard all the way to Charlotte! I saw some dancin' going on!
Wow, bert, that is an airtight alibi if I ever heard one! Congratulations! Sorry to have missed you, who was faithfully present at the GoE in DC in March all the way up from SC.
God bless your new baby grand!!
\/\/ayne, you do such a terrific job with passing out literature out there at your Arizona FReeps. Music will push you over the top!! And, if it's happy music, it might make your AZ moonbats' heads explode!
Thanks for reading and bumping the thread, maxter!
No, he's at UNC-Wilmington, which is almost 4 hours away down on the Atlantic coast near the SC line. I'm a huge fan of his, and bumped straight into him at this year's CPAC conference in DC. He's so young looking for someone so smart!!
For any who are not familiar with Dr. Mike Adams, he's a professor of criminology who, presumably because he has tenure, routinely skewers the Politically Correct excesses of UNC campus life, laying the sarcasm on with a trowel. His particular targets are the university's diversity enforcement squads. Click here for lots of hilarious Mike Adams columns on TownHall.com!
Wadn't nit? Great to see you there, freema!!!!
Thanks for your readership and posts!
Missed you, lady! Thought about you as I pressed the pedal to the metal on the way down and back...
That is interesting - I wouldn't have thought that leftie decadence went back that far at UNC, but you would know. I had my share of it in the late 60s in Pennsylvania. Guess it was everywhere....
You’ve got legs!
Thanks for going and the report. Well done to all.
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