Report on Glen Beck Rally in San Antonio to Support our Troops

The San Antonio Rally to Support our Troops, sponsored and hosted by Glen Beck, was well attended despite a faint drizzle throughout the event. The 8,000 seat Verizon Wireless Amphitheater was only about 500 short of being filled to capacity.

Because the surrounding streets to this venue are inadequate to heavy traffic, cars were backed up for at least a mile or more and people were still arriving 45 minutes after the scheduled start of 11:00. The start was pushed back several times while patriotic music was played by a live band. There were hundreds of flags and many signs supporting the troops, President Bush, etc.

Around 11:40, the program started with the greetings, an invocation, the national anthem, and the reciting of the pledge of allegience, led by three Boy Scouts at the microphone. Spontaneously, the crowd emphasized the words “under God” in response to the latest attack on God and the Pledge by the Ninth Circuit Court.

There were several more songs sung by a local singer; America the Beautiful and one other, I think. Finally Glen Beck spoke. He gave a very moving speech. Basically, he said that our country has moved quite far from our true selves that we used to be in our grandparents days. He said that 9-11 was a wakeup call from God, and that some people are ready to fall back asleep. He urged us not to do so. He said that like the firefighters on 9-11, Americans are not people who run out of burning buildings, but we are people who run into burning buildings (to help people). He said that we will do what we have to do in this upcoming conflict.

The mood was very positive and uplifting. It was a great rally. Thanks, Glen Beck for being a mover and shaker in this arena.

I can verify the 7500 attendees (see my previous photo post). It was amazing the number of families that were there. And the long distance attendees were incredible. I personally spoke to people from New Mexico and Oklahoma.

Unfortunately there were several photos that didn't come out the way I hoped or didn't portray the moment properly.

One lady was carrying a poster sized banner proclaiming that she was celebrating her 67th birthday by supporting her president and the troops.

Another was a family that was 4th generation military. It was funny trying to take the picture as they were arguing as to which was the best branch of the service. 8 former and present service people and only 1 was Air Force (being a 2 tour Air Force (Desert Storm era, never in country) former enlistee I had to chime in a little bit, but it was all in good fun.

The (I'd say) 4 year old and the 2 year old being corralled by their mom with the poster proclaiming their love for their "ARMY DADDY"

The gentleman that would do everything he could to stand and wave his flag while balancing his (what appeared to be) newborn child.

The flight jacket with Air Force and Navy aircraft patches and Army insignia. Once again these were little kids. Come on now, the Phantom II patch is kind of cool. I had it when I was a kid.

The Korean War (Truman Police Action as he called it) vet that stated that he felt sorry for all of us with numbing toes standing in the cold out in the crowd. Why? He left most of his lower legs in Korea, and 10 fingers. He now works (or volunteers, sorry I can't remember which) at the Fort Sam Houston Cemetery and has laid to rest thousands of soldiers.

The line of cars that had never been to the Verizon Amphitheatre (myself included) that mixed up the line for the little league soccer field for the event location. There would have still been massive traffic, but not as bad as was encountered. I jumped out of my truck and snapped 5 different pictures and they were all junk thanks to the fog. Thank goodness for digital cameras. I would have snapped myself broke otherwise.

And pictures cannot do justice to Glenn Beck's "It's Time To Wake Up” speech. Thanks to my wanting to cover the event for the Free Republic family I could hide my tears behind my camera most of the time.

When I looked to my side and saw a gentleman doing the same thing, I no longer felt sheepish about shedding tears. Why? He was wearing a cap showing that he was a 3-war vet (II, Korea, and Nam)

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. If other events of interest occur in my area of the country I will be honored to cover them for Free Republic.

Your humble correspondent-
AgentEcho
Æ

Just for referance, from San Antonio it's about 395 miles, or about a 6 hr 50 min drive, to the closest place, as opposed to somewhere where signifigent nubmers of people live, in New Mexicio and 335 miles or 5 hr 25 min the closest place in Oklahoma. Texas is a big place, and San Antonio itself is only on north edge of South Texas, it's 275 miles or 4hrs 40 min south to Brownsville. :)

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