Posted on 03/20/2008 9:15:36 PM PDT by satin_patriot
It’s amazing what happens when people start working together toward a common goal. Friday night, 14 March, Free Republic, Gathering of Eagles (GOE), Eagles Up, Nam Knights, Band of Mothers, Protest Warrior, Patriot Guard Riders, A Soldier’s Wish List, Move America Forward, and concerned individuals got together at the intersection of Georgia and Elder in DC NW to show unified support of the men and women who wear military uniforms in service to our country. This intersection is the location of the main entrance of Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC). It is this intersection that greets the men and women who have given everything within themselves, risked their lives, lost health or body parts, and remain in the care of the United States Army. It is this intersection that welcomes the family, friends, and loved ones who support those wounded warriors as they face the struggle for life and normalcy head on.
When you go through security, at this intersection, the guards greet you with, “Welcome to Walter Reed, Home of Warrior Care.” The truth of those words rings across the campus, from the hospital to the grounds to the living quarters to the chapels. “Warrior Care” is what it’s all about.
WRAMC has served more than 750,000 patients and averages around 3400 outpatients per week. Over 9,000,000 people are eligible for care at the facility, and it has an emergency room which accepts local emergencies, even for non-eligible people. Thirty to thirty-five people are admitted daily. There are 260 patient beds, and on any given day, approximately 177 are filled. Around 2500 prescriptions are filled and close to 3000 meals are served each day. WRAMC operates with a clinical work force of around 7000, and about 9000 people are on post daily. WRAMC is a teaching hospital and a research facility, in addition to the regular patient flow. Besides all that, as a military post, WRAMC has deployed 640 of its own soldiers to serve in OIF/OEF (Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom) since the beginning in 2003. It has accepted many of the 7500 wounded warriors from OIF/OEF and houses nearly 700 outpatients on the grounds. There have been around 800 amputees in OIF/OEF, more than 500 of which have been or are at WRAMC for the state of the art prosthetic/orthotic and therapeutic services. Three times a week, fresh injuries arrive from the conflicts and many arrive within 24-48 hours of injury. This is a beast of a facility. With all of the good work that they do, the military and civilian personnel have more than earned my respect.
If you’re still reading this, you probably already know that a group of patriots gather each Friday night at the front gates of WRAMC to show support of these fine and noble men and women. You might not know, however, that this has happened EVERY SINGLE WEEK for three years. In fact, if you’d care to come, on Friday 28 March, the three-year anniversary FReep will be taking place. (***Shameless plug*** There will be much levity and joy, as well as food and patriotism in abundance. Come join us!)
Back to the swollen numbers. This particular Friday night boasted more than 130 pairs of patriot feet on those corners, due to some weekend events that drew in crowds from across the country. I counted representatives of at least 14 states out there. (Virginia, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Georgia, New York, Delaware, Missouri, Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio, North Carolina) I made a point of meeting as many of these people as possible, as you will see when perusing the Honor Roll. Many of these are worthy of entire articles about how they came to be there on that particular evening, but I won’t go into that much detail. I have to mention a few people though. (Please forgive me if I omit something important or if I don’t mention you. Space restraints are pressing.) Among the crowd were the weekly regulars (Mr. and Mrs. Trooprally, CindyTrueSupporter, Tom the Redhunter, KBuri, Lurker Bill, Plea Deal—our official photographer for the evening, Chief, Jimmy Valentine’s Brother, VA Flagwaver, Fraxinus, and more). Notable individuals (again, I’m sorry I can’t talk about everyone) included: our own Kristinn Taylor, Gathering of Eagles’ Chairman Capt. Larry Bailey, USN Ret., GOE Chief of Operations Chris Hill, the flattened spirit of regular attendee BufordP, Jerry Kiley—who was arrested earlier in the day for being overly outgoing with his patriotism, Ranger566—who Chris pronounced “your standard F-ing overachiever,” Band of Mothers’ Bev Perlson, DC Protest Warrior’s Concrete Bob—who was responsible for the coordination of much of the march activity on 3/15, Eagles Up’s Sharon—Patriot Event Calendar Coordinator, Ro Lahew—who informed me that Alpha Rubicon had provided six people for the weekend’s security detail, Eagles Up’s Chairman HMRiley, Jim Combat Clontz—who coined our new street-side motto, “Let me hear your horn! Blow me!” and many, many more.
Of no particular interest to anyone of any importance was the shameful presence, halfway down the block, of the Anti-America crowd. When I walked down there for the official headcount, there were six in attendance. Sometime thereafter, some reinforcements joined them, and I didn’t bother to try to count them, because there were too many patriots down there yelling at them and outnumbering them to get anything close to an accurate count. At one point, being entirely defenseless, a few of them began singing an ancient anti-war tune, “Give Peace a Chance.” Most of us who heard it cracked up in laughter, which annoyed them, but TJ answered it with a rousing and memorable round of “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition.”
The events of the evening were many and varied. Some of my personal favorites included: anything Bev Perlson did (such as yelling at an old lady in the opposition camp, “What are you doing?!? Go knit or something!”), getting to see long distance friends, almost getting hit by a car while being hugged by Concrete Bob in the middle of the street, meeting the crowd from NY and NJ, meeting/thanking the police officers who got to come babysit, having a van squeal to a stop a foot away from me while crossing the street, seeing the vociferous troop support sweeping the crowd, and of course, as always, waving flags, yelling “Thank you!” and singing “God Bless America” as the bus came in. The best moment of the night, however, had to be when a soldier stepped off the dinner bus at the gate to say “thank you” to us for our support.
All in all, it was a good night. Spirits were high, love and patriotism were very much in evidence, and even the occasional spitting rain couldn’t dampen the spirits of any of the patriots on the corners. (The commies always have damp spirits, even in sunlight.)
***HONOR ROLL***
(Please forgive me if I have mis-spelled or mis-used anyone’s name, and correct me in the comments! My notes got dampened, so they’re tough to read…)
Mr. and Mrs. Trooprally, Kristinn T, Chris Hill, CindyTrueSupporter, Zeke, Robert (PA), PepininPA and Emily and Nikki, Futureranger19, Burghman1941, PatrioticMarineMom, Rockermom2myhero, PapaTitus, SassySuz, Mike (independent photographer), PleaDeal, Chief, Infidel, Joe and Mary, CarrieSwartout, JasonSwartout, Andrew, OlneyKeith, SenseiErn, Tom the Redhunter, Lurker Bill, Kburi, Bev Perlson, Sandy Ross (Protest Warrior), Toothless Dawg, Gary_S (MI), Radar, Dittos, Jimmy Valentine’s Brother, Jerry Kiley, Ranger566, Hillary Rhymes With Rich, Lucy, Linda and Brian (Milton, GA), VAflagwaver, Joey (NY), Frank (NY), Drifter, Kristina, DanNY, Coby, Nicole (A Soldier’s Wish List), Soldiersmother2 (A Soldier’s Wish List), Jerrie (A Soldier’s Wish List), Darthyorktown, Yorktownpatriot, Jon, Viperash50, Snakedrivr, Anomaly99, Chris, Tammy (St. Louis, MO), Lauren (St. Louis, MO), Huckster25, Fernando, Concrete Bob, Ron8000, Carolyn, Tacomama, Danang68, Fraxinus, NavairDan, Navywife, Melanie , Chris, Yankeemom, Streetsweeper95D, BMC, JohnH2Os, TJ, Robert, Kathy, Rongkirby, Lazarus (Chicago, IL), JimCombatClontz (KY), Bradriley, DaleSmith, Mr. & Mrs. Waldronbh, Skid, Sharon (Eagles Up), ProudArmyMom3, Will, DotheDhue, Sanjuro, Seo3, Becky, Spook, Fred Peterson Jr, Fred Peterson III, Roger Peterson, Satinpatriot, Shimo, GarthNJ, Alamo (Eagles Up), Mowthecrow (Eagles Up NJ), Tom, Tim, John, Bruce, Amnnovak99 (Pittsburgh, PA), Coolhand_1947 (Toledo, OH), Prostar19 (Pittsburgh), Flib, Roadrash (Buford, GA), Walt, AirforceJim & MsAirforceJim (Greensboro, NC), Phil Ray, Chris (Charlotte, NC), 2ndClassCitizen, Ro Lahew, HMRiley (Eagles Up), Ridgerunner7172, Captain Bailey, JessicaTaylor, Olaf
(This is NOT a comprehensive list, but it is my best attempt at one. If you or someone you know was in attendance and is not included on this list, please point out the omission in the comments section. Thanks!)
Come join us every Friday night between the hours of 6:30pm to approx 9:30pm.
Directions to our Walter Reed FReep location from the Takoma metro station
BufordP's Walter Reed FReep archive
PleaDeal's (GunnNutt) blog at Semper Gratus
NOTICE:
Some weeks back, someone left a flag on a flagpole at our corners after a WRAMC FReep. If you are missing a flag, please let me know, otherwise, I will hang onto it and we will keep flying it proudly at WRAMC and whenever else I feel fit. Thanks!
LOL Bump. Swollen and throbbing. You been readin’ too much Spitzer and Paterson stuff lately.
Very impressive. GOd Bless the work you all do!!
I would suggest trying to get more flags of our allies.
Other than that, excellent night.
Great report, and the attendance was astounding!
I would suggest not using that new street-side motto too much...
EXcellent idea!
"I wasn't there Syncro - honest!"
‘a few of them began singing an ancient anti-war tune, “Give Peace a Chance.” Most of us who heard it cracked up in laughter...’
I am laughing just imagining it. Peaceniks are so passe!
Interesting commentary and very nice pictures. Thanks to you all!
That night was a moment in time I will never forget. I really enjoyed finally being able to put faces with names!
If anyone happened to capture the Westminster gang in pictures could you let me know? I would love to have a few. Hubby and I left our camera in the hotel room.
DC Chapter Ping!
Fantastic AAR!
Very interesting information about Walter Reed too, so thank you for doing the research. It is a large facility but I must say some of the numbers still surprised me.
Hope to see a big crowd March 28 for the 3 year WR FReep anniversary too!
Excellent AAR and terrific pictures! Wow, you did well with all those names too, SP! Thanks for including the stats about WR and the patients. It was an honor and pleasure for me and my family to finally make it to WR! We enjoyed our time with so many dedicated Patriots while supporting our brave Troops. We will be back!
wy - We have Poland, Australia, Great Britain, South Korea. I know we need Ukraine what other countries?
how wonderful it must have been to be with so many patriots & the weather was NOT a blizzard so a second blessing
Thanks to all the FReepers for your loyal participation to this work. God Bless you all & may you have a wonderful Easter. Wondering if you are going to be there Good Friday..
Thank you Freepers. I am so proud to have you as fellow Americans.
Thanks for a great AAR!!
Thanks also should go out to American Truth Warriors, Paul Couturier and Skye who were broadcasting the event live on Blog Talk Radio Friday and Saturday!!!
You can listen to the archived shows here:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/anewtone
I have noticed over the years that those reporting the events struggle with recalling everyone who was present. Have you thought of bringing a legal pad and haveing everyone who comes "sign in", giving their handle, state, organization, and any comments they would like to add. That would certainly help the person writing the AAR. If anyone fails to register, then they don't get mentioned. Then it's their own fault and no apology is necessary.
Oh, waitaminute... the MSM DIDN'T write a story about the troop supporters. I guess the MSM doesn't think that a weekly, three years running, rally for the troops is newsworthy.
Not to worry, though. We have bypassed the MSM and thousands and thousands of people around the world know about the Walter Reed Freeps, and probably close to a thousand (maybe more) people from around the world have stood with us on a Friday night.
Hmmm... maybe that would be interesting to check by going through all of the past Freep reports' Honor Rolls, and make a "Three Year Honor Roll."
Hey, Buford! I don't know how to cut and past names from all the reports and then alphabetize them (so that I can remove duplicate names of those of us who are "the regulars"). Can you call me or Freepmail me and give me instructions?
Satin_patriot, thank you again for all your hard work writing up this beautiful report.
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