FReep 82 at Walter Reed, Nov. 10 (Join us Nov. 17!)

DC Chapter ^ | Nov. 17, 2006 | BillF with Albion Wilde & PleaDeal

[BillF]

With temperatures in the low 60s and little wind, we had a great turnout of dedicated FReepers from the DC Chapter and beyond as we FReeped on all four corners of the main gate at Walter Reed (WR) for the 10th month in a row, the 230th birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps and the day before Veteran's Day.  Our control of the four corners followed the Pinkos' (i.e., Code Pink anti-troop hate group) retreat as explained in the thread relative to January 20: Code Pink Retreats from Walter Reed-Freepers Win! (Week 40 Report at #1352). Before that, the Pinkos had the Western two corners near the main gate and we had the Eastern two corners near the main gate.

Our honor roll of attendees, apart from the two Gold Star parents as discussed below: Albion Wilde, Apple Blossom, Bill from MD*, bmwcyle, Brittany*, BufordP, chcknhawk with his wife and 3 kids, Cindy-True-Supporter, Cordelia*,  david_a_e (from Connecticut) with his wife, his daughter, the daughter's boyfriend, and two of his college students, Doctor Raoul, George* and Ethel*, ilovew, iMacMan with wife and their proud Canine-Americans (dogs for those of you in Rio Linda) Rio and Coco, Jimmy Valentine's Brother, JoyJoyfromNJ, Just A Nobody, Keith* from MD, Pasquale (from NY), PleaDeal, PrezUSA222 (former lurker who’s previously been at WR FReeps), Sensei Ern, Sirak* from CA, Sisku Hanne, tgslTakoma, Tolerance Sucks Rocks, Tom the Redhunter, trooprally [Mr.], VAflagwaver (former lurker who’s previously been at WR FReeps),  and BillF.

Since their "banishment" to a block away from the main gate, the Pinkos are largely out of the sight of the troops and relatives coming and going into the gate.

On this particular night, two of the Pinkos, followed by others, came down towards one of our corners and police responded to the resulting verbal conflict.

On a more positive note, we were honored to have two Gold Star parents join us in support of the wounded warriors at Walter Reed. Mike and Angela Anderson are the parents of Cpl. Michael D. Anderson, Jr, a Marine who was killed in Iraq combat action on Dec. 14, 2004.

Albion Wilde was quite helpful in writing this report. She contributed, among other text and info, the following quotes from the Andersons:

Comments from Angela Anderson:
"It's the most unnatural thing in the world for parents to bury their child. There are still many troops out there and we want to give them our support. Our son, Cpl. Michael D. Anderson Jr, knew what he was doing and he wanted to do it. He has a web memorial site: http://www.cplandersonjr.org/

Comments from Mike Anderson Sr regarding his recent trip to Iraq with other Gold Star Families [DC FReeper kristinn went on the trip and reports here.]:
"The American people should be able to see what I saw [in Iraq]. I met a woman 80 years old who lost relatives 23 years ago and is still holding out hope to see them walk in. [After Saddam's raids] they never knew what happened [to their loved ones].

"We went in a 9-vehicle armed security convoy to a concentration camp. There was absolute squalor. A woman we talked to said that persons of means were sent there [to live like animals]. Saddam grabbed them up and put them in these camps. Her daughter, son and husband were executed. [The authorities] are still digging up bodies, sometimes even infants with bullet holes in their heads. For whatever reason, this story doesn't get out there, but it needs to get out there.

"[Anti-war protesters] probably wouldn't believe it, anyway. If it were Cindy [Sheehan] over there, she'd be in a private jet with full press coverage.

"Our trip over there was historic -- no civilian parent group has ever before traveled to a war theatre. [When we began negotiations with U.S. authorities to make the trip, we found] there was no existing policy for it.

"There is a huge price to pay for freedom. My son rotated out of a Special Ops unit to rotate over there. I'm very proud of what he did. The American people are very impatient. Don't get me wrong; even one death is too many; but to compare this war to Vietnam, where 58,000 [American troops] died -- there is absolutely no comparison."

We also had long-time WR FReeper trooprally [Mr.] in attendance. [Mr.] trooprally, a Gold Star brother. The Marine brother of trooprally laid down his life for our freedom in the Vietnam war decades ago. It was quite fitting that trooprallys [Mr. & Mrs.] went to the dedication of the Marine Museum earlier in the day.

This FReep is a continuation of a struggle over more than one and a half years with Code Pink at Walter Reed after a preliminary skirmish more than two and a half years ago. The background is in the beginning of a report a while back. Click here for a listing of reports (the link itself may open a pop-up window) from all of the WR FReeps as compiled and updated by BufordP. (Unfortunately, the photos from the earlier reports will be missing until I replace them on a new web host.)

PleaDeal was quite helpful in writing the report. In addition to her photos here, she contributed the following text, among other items:

Anyway, I counted 11 Pinkos including the mystery moonbat parents.

The confrontation with the moonbats was pretty funny! They stayed too long (past 9 pm) and were visible to the troops coming back from . . . dinner. Maybe that spurred them to come to the aid of the mystery parents when voices were raised up at our side. (There's a fair picture of the Pink Posse prancing up the block) Voices got very loud at that point with people yelling over each other. When McCarron started cursing, the group broke up and started back down the block. Or, maybe it was because they saw the Cops coming!

Two D.C. cops appeared out of nowhere and asked "What's going on here?" We said it was the Pinkos' fault as they infringed on our territory. The cops then went towards the retreating commies. However, they stopped long enough to give tgslTakoma some crap about not video taping the confrontation. [tgslTakoma] stood her ground and the pair finally went after the legitimate quarry. I don't know what they said to the Pinkos, but the commies beat feet pretty quickly afterwards.

After all that, the mystery parents stayed up on our corner and continued to bust chops. Sensei obviously has the scoop on that part.

I noticed a definite increase in "HOOAH!"s last Friday from cars passing and exiting from the hospital. I think the troops are counting on us even more since the politicians have taken a turn for the worse.

The verbal confrontation involved a Pinko couple, who claimed to be parents of a soldier currently deployed to Iraq. I was on the opposite side of the street, but bmwcyle and Doctor Raoul exchanged words with the purported parents who came to our corner (per accounts given to me by bmw and Raoul), leading other Pinkos to join them. Doctor Raoul said that the purported parents claimed that Halliburton was supplying their son with contaminated water in Iraq. Raoul further said that Kevin "Maimed for a Lie" McCarron, also known for being on video stealing a FReeper sign, called Raoul a liar when Raoul pointed out that McLie had previously described our troops as killers. bmwcyle wasn't buying the purported parents' story and heated argument occurred. Police came over to order the Pinkos back, but also tried to get tgslTakoma to turn off her camcorder as she recorded, from a distance, the police interaction with the Pinkos.

The purported parents came back to our Southwest corner, site of the original verbal confrontation, via a round-about route and then happened to just then get a phone call from their purported son in Iraq. Sensei Ern talked with the purported parents and, via their cellphone, the alleged soldier-son.

If bmwcyle, Doctor Raoul, tgslTakoma, Sensei Ern, or anyone else wants to add their perspective to the interaction with the purported parents or any other part of the FReep, they are invited to do so.

I will try to add photos to the thread later today, but you can also see the link to PleaDeal's photos, above and repeated here. (I had computer problems that delayed this whole process.)

I also thank iMacMan, who was kind enough to email photos to me. I'll try to post his photos first since PleaDeal's photos are already available online.

Special thanks are due to the veterans who attended the day before Veterans' Day FReep including bmwcyle (Navy), BufordP (Air Force), chcknhawk (Army, also Iraq War Veteran and former WR patient), Cindy-True-Supporter (Army), and Jimmy Valentine's Brother (Army). In the year and 8 months that we've been at WR on Fridays, we've been honored to have veterans and members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard join us.

Special recognition goes to some who traveled extra far to attend the FReep. david_a_e came all the way from Connecticut with his wife, his daughter, the daughter's boyfriend and two of his college students.  There was also JoyJoyfromNJ from New Jersey, Pasquale from NY, Sirak* from California, and Sisku Hanne from Pennsylvania. Then, there's Doctor Raoul and Just A Nobody, both of whom travel long distances at every opportunity to join us at WR.

All of the long-distance FReepers (and others on other occasions) have gone the extra mile to support the troops. Here's hoping that their dedication will be an inspiration to you to join us at Walter Reed.

At the end of the FReep, and as usual, FReepers cheered wildly as the wounded heroes and family members returned in a bus from a big dinner. The bus driver turned on the light so that we could see the WR patients and family members waving in appreciation of our small efforts to thank them for extraordinary sacrifices.

Let's help our wounded heroes maintain a positive attitude.  We absolutely must keep the pressure on Code Pink and keep showing the wounded troops at Walter Reed that Code Pink doesn't speak for the nation. If you live in the DC area and haven't yet come out for one of these FReeps, please do so this next Friday. Injured Walter Reed patients, including amputees, and their families have repeatedly told us how important it is for us to be there to counter Code Pink and their ugly anti-troops agenda.

If we can sufficiently outnumber the leftists often enough, we can hinder their psychological warfare operation against the wounded troops ("Maimed for a lie" was one of their commonly-used signs in the early days) at the hospital. What about you? Can you spare a few hours on a Friday night?  

Can you give up this Friday night at the movies to support troops who've given up limbs for your freedoms? Will you?

If you missed all of the first year and ten months of these FReeps, please join us at least once in the near future. You'll be glad that you did.

This FReep is rewarding, fun, and important for our troops and our nation.

[debbieargel]

I just read this post and wanted to thank all of you for your support. Thanks to all of you, we were able to visit Walter Reed on the 17th after just returning from Iraq. The guys were somewhat timid at first, but warmed up to us after learning who we were. I am so happy that I made this journey and that Kristen helped us get to see some of our soldiers. It was good to meet all of you on the four corners. It was a little cold...but good to meet you. Thanks for all of your support. I do have a little confession to make. When our taxi went by the Pinkos, I rolled down my window and yelled, "Traitors!" I am sorry, but just couldn't help myself.
Love to you all! Deb Argel Bastian

[\/\/ayne]

I rolled down my window and yelled, "Traitors!"

That's different. You're just relating facts, there.