NC *Ping* 
Please FRmail Bat_Chemist if you want to be added to or removed from this North Carolina ping list.This is a "Bat was busy but here's a good news ipso-facto PING."
Posted on 04/26/2008 7:47:20 AM PDT by NCjim
Raleigh, N.C. — Organizers hope 50,000 people will show up in downtown Raleigh Saturday for the biggest military parade in state history.
The Salute to Our Troops event will dedicate an entire day to active-duty and reserve members of every branch of the military and their families.
"It's an opportunity for the people of North Carolina to get in here and say, 'Hey, guys, we appreciate what you do to ensure the freedoms that we enjoy every day,'" Van Krebs, the event director, said.
Krebs said the parade down Fayetteville Street does not have a political agenda. It is intended to salute the troops stationed across the globe and the families who wait for their safe return, he said.
"It's not pro-war. It's not anything other than pro-military and pro-military appreciation," Krebs said.
A flyover by F-15E Strike Eagle jets from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base will start off the parade. Military units, bands, drill teams and honor guards will march the 1.5-mile route, with college and high school marching bands joining in the fun.
A day long with festival with military equipment and five NASCAR Sprint Cup cars on display will follow. Paradegoers can even make their own dog-tags and sample barbecue from the N.C. Pork Council.
The Marbles Kids Museum will be open free to active-duty military personnel and their families. The Carolina RailHawks will offer at least 1,000 free tickets to service members and their relatives.
The event will be a huge morale booster for troops, said Sgt. Josh Pope, who will perform with the 440th Army Band from Morrisville, a North Carolina National Guard unit.
"For anybody's who's found themselves in a challenging time, to receive support from external groups and parties, it means a whole lot," Pope said.
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
NC Ping
Thats awesome news, I wish more cities and states would appricate their Military branches and all they have done in the past and do for us now!
dang I had no idea this was going on this week end! ping us on the state board...thanks.
Raleigh turned out in a big way for this today.
Anti-war idiots tried to disrupt it...thankfully they were stopped.
Sorry I missed the ping...I was out with my wife yesterday and have been busy all day today.
This is a "Bat was busy but here's a good news ipso-facto PING."
I posted a few photos here, bat.
http://s233.photobucket.com/albums/ee148/Surfman968/Military%20Appreciation%204-26-08/
Good stuff, thanks!
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