Posted on 08/30/2010 6:49:05 AM PDT by paterfamilias
It was a great day.
First of all, I'm no expert at crowd estimates, but one thing to bear in mind when looking at the aerial photos is that under the dense trees all along the reflecting pool, there were wall-to-wall people sitting in the shade; if you wanted to go to the head (the portable johns were along the walkway), you needed to pick your way through the densely packed crowd. None of those people are visible from the aerial photos.
Here's a capsule of the crowd:
A young couple from Pittsburgh behind us with their 4 well-behaved kids (about 10-3 years old), home schooled, he a 6-year Army vet.
People in front of us from Florida, their 26 year-old daughter made bracelets to commemorate the event, which she was selling to raise money for the Special Ops Warrior Fund (my wife bought two); she and her friend were selected at random to have breakfast with Glenn Beck, Alveda King, Sarah Palin and some of the other speakers. They could hardly contain themselves as they talked about their experience.
Another group of people from Florida (near Pensacola) whose son was our son's class at the Naval Academy, now a P-3 pilot based in Florida.
I met a 30-ish guy on the Port-a-San line who walked with a cane: he took AmTrak all the way from Oregon to get to the event.
As the event was starting, a guy was walking through the crowd handing out freebies: in one hand, he had pocket Constitution booklets; in the other hand, he had a roll of trash bags. I believe that we left the National Mall cleaner than when we arrived.
And for the rally:
Many poignant moments - the mother of the KIA Air Force Special Ops officer told her story, and the story of the wife and son he left behind.
During the Merit Medal ceremony, the man handing out the medals to the honored recipients was a man who HAD NO HANDS - he is a Marine vet who lost his hands in a IED explosion, after his recovery, he continued to teach martial arts in the Marine Corps, and there he was, gently placing those medals on the recipients using his two hooks!
Then there was Glenn reading the words of the Gettysburg Address, which sent chills down my spine.
However, one of the best moments for me was when Glenn told the story of John Newton who was a slave ship captain, and who found religious conversion after surviving a tempest at sea: He wrote the words to a song that, as Glenn put it, is the best song ever to be played on bagpipes: "Amazing Grace."
What happened next was inspirational: pipers came out, began to play Amazing Grace, and the crowd immediately started to pick up the tune. But then, a singer came to the microphone, and with him, the crowd really started to sing - figure 300,000 people singing a hymn of redemption on the National Mall, 300,000 people surrounded by monuments to our greatest founders, and to the patriots who have fought in wars from WW2, Korea, Viet Nam.
It was a moment that I will never forget.
On Sunday morning, after early Mass, my wife and I met our daughter (she is a med student it USUHS; she took us for tour of the small medical museum at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. There, among other things, they have an exhibit of warrior art that commemorates the service and sacrifice of our heroes in uniform - powwerful, powerful art, much of which has been created by combat doctors and medics.
What a weekend!
I was choked up before they panned to her, then I totally lost it.
God Bless Us all!
Was the guy handing out the copies of the Constitution a good-looking slender guy with a shaved head? If so, he might have been Jim, the head of our local Tea Party group. One of our promotions is handing out copies of the Constitution. I know that Jim and a friend of his rode their bikes to the rally. He is a former Marine.
Me too mama. I just used half a box of Kleenex during that event.
he was slender, wearing a hat, and very nice, going out of his way to make sure a teenage boy got a copy of the Consitution.
o.k. I don’t have stock in anything BUT maybe I betta get on the bandwagon and invest in Kleenex...cuz I’m sobbing!
There were two guys who walked by, one white and one black, and they were each holding a sign with an arrow pointing to the other, and both signs said, "Do we look racist"?
Many from the crowd took their pictures and had a good laugh and the two men, from North Carolina, were interviewed by a Canadian station.
It was a fantastic day and well worth the time and money it took to attend!
-------------
My wife and I were there as well, and we know of four other friends who attended but trying to meet up with them in the crowd was pointless not to mention physically taxing in that heat and humidity. You are absolutely right about the people sitting in the shade. What a wonderful gathering of patriots.
It was a privilege for us to part of such a great crowd at this memorable event.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope this is another FReeper post page that lasts forever. I watched it all on FB and Cspan at the same time so I could see it in each room as I went about my duties in the house. But all these little observations from those who were there make it much more memorable. What a wonderful event and what great memories you, who attended, must have. I am so glad you shared with those of us who could not be there. I am sure there is nothing that has compared to this, ever!
I am extremely encouraged by all of you who could not attend, but who watched it on TV or the web.
There are obviously more of us who are deeply dedicated to God and Country than I ever imagined! Before I went to the rally, I sometimes felt that my wife and I and our circle of friends were an anomaly. Now I know that we are a force to be reckoned with.
When Glenn introduced the “Black Robe Regiment”, he said that they represent 180 million believers in their churches, temples and mosques. They have dedicated themselves to teaching their people that our individual rights come from God, not man.
Just think, 180 million who will be hearing from the pulpit the basis of our liberty. Now that’s a voting block.
I forgot to include what I think is Glenn’s quotable quote of the day (paraphrasing): “We must be good as individuals so that we can be great as a country”
I will have to go through the video to get the exact words.
Best to all.
bttt
We were there as well!
As we were sitting back under some of those trees, it was hard for us to even see one of the large screens. Being that we had to sit and listen, the bagpipes and all of those thousands of people singing “Amazing Grace” together really got me too. I am soooo glad that I went even though the Metro was horrible.
Thanks for the personal post. Sure beats the MSM!!
Truth ALWAYS beats the MSM. Matthews can have his tingling leg, Beckheads got the real deal Saturday (said by a Beckhead). You knew it was going to be special when the weather was forecast ... God set that one up real nice! Late August in DC is usually like visiting a sweltering swamp—I spent the first eight years of my life about seven miles from the Pentagon, in Fairlington.
I turned to m wife afterwards and said, “I’ll bet DC has NEVER had 750,000 folks join together to sing ‘Amazing Grace’ before!”
I LOVE Amazing Grace and I LOVE to sing but I can never seem to sing it. I get a couple words out and then everything gets blurry and I can hardly breathe.
“I LOVE to sing but I can never seem to sing it. I get a couple words out and then everything gets blurry and I can hardly breathe.”
Ditto. I also have that problem with the Navy Hymn; I always break up at the Marine Corps verse (our son is a Marine).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.