Update 10:35am Eastern. The anti-Cindy Sheehans are here! Blue Star mom Deborah Johns: “Cindy Sheehan doesn’t speak for me. She has never spoken for me. And she will never speak for me! We are winning this war. Now let our troops finish their job!…We are not going to let the domestic enemies at home defeat us like they did [during the Vietnam War.]…No retreat, no surrender. Not now. Not ever!…We are not 50 red states or blue states. We are the United States of America…These colors don’t run.”
Debbie Lee, mother of the first Navy SEAL killed in Iraq, Mark A. Lee, speaks. Describing her son’s heroism. “You can’t ‘take’ someone’s life who gives it…and Mark willingly gave his life….God redeployed Mark to heaven.”
Singer Diana Nagy performs.
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9:45am. The Gathering of Eagles are on Madison Ave. and 7th in front of the Capitol. Melanie Morgan of Move America Foward and Kristinn Taylor of FreeRepublic.com have just addressed a growing crowd. A priest ends his invocation: “Surrender is not a word in our vocabulary.”
Larry Bailey and Chris Hill of Gathering of Eagles have welcomed the activists. Hill: “What happened in Vietnam will not happen to this generation.” Hill mentions a 9/11 survivor who brought a large American flag flying on stage. “That’s what we fight for.”
Hill pumping up the crowd: “All across the country people are yelling at the television sets when they see Code Pink. They are looking for us. Yell loud enough so they can hear us. Yell loud enough so our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan can hear us.” Crowd is chanting: “USA, USA, USA!”
“It’s time for us to yell back…We’re not taking it anymore.”
Pete Hegseth of Vets for Freedom:
“I figured I’d seize this opportunity to quote a man best known for his $400 haircut. He claims there are two Americas in this country. For once, he’s right. There are two Americas…on display here today.
One America here today to desecreate our war memorials…those who want to retreat from the battlefield teeming with Islamic extremists
On the other hand, there are those who are here to defend our memorials, who understand the threat we face. This America. Our America…We cannot let a bunch of sign-waving, slogan-chanting protesters…speak for us.”
Hegseth mentions the MoveOn.org ad. “Stand up to the voices of defeat and retreat….As an infantryman who fought over there, I understand the difficulties…al Qaeda has drawn the line in the sand…I understand that Gen. Petraeus is working with American soldiers, brave Iraqis, to turn the tide in Iraq…Americans are saying, ‘We want victory.’”
“History will judge us not by when we leave, but by what we leave behind…Tell Congress to have as much courage on Capitol Hill as our soldiers have on the front lines.”
Brad Blakeman of the newly-created Freedom’s Watch now addressing the crowd. “Message to Code Pink: There’s a new sheriff in town and we plan to be around a long time.”
Military of the Order of Purple Heart commander Henry Cook on stage welcoming the crowd.
Popular singer Lloyd Marcus performs, “Remember 9/11.”
Great job, unleash hell on the enemies of the US!
Thanks md.
Thanks for the update and keeping us homebodies in the loop!
I have a bunch of National Dragster magazines, they cover the NHRA drag racing series, that I was wondering how I can get them sent to the troops??
Can someone point me in the right direction??
Thanks!!
What an incredible contrast Debbie Lee is to the despicable cindy sheehan who dances on the grave of her brave son Casey, and all the others that gave their lives, so that she can have the freedom to push her political agenda.