"Gathering Of Eagles" To Defend Americ's Memorials on March 17, Website Now Up And Running!

Gathering of Eagles is an act of love by thousands of veterans who choose to honor the sacrifice of the fallen by guarding the memorials from those who would desecrate them on March 17th in a “peaceful” anti-war rally in Washington D.C.

It is also an act of war, a call to action for every American who chooses to stand and say “No more!” to those who would spit on our veterans and ridicule their service to our nation.

We invite you to join us March 17th, as we stand together as one to ensure that the sacrifices of our fallen and the memorials that remember them are not tarnished by the ungrateful.

Leftist activists who march to the Pentagon next month will discover that their path won’t be as clear as it has been in the past.

The group, led by Cindy Sheehan, Jane Fonda, Ed Asner and their ilk, plan to gather March 17 at the Vietnam Memorial Wall to begin a march to protest America’s involvement in the Iraq war. The date marks the fourth anniversary of the war’s beginning.

This time, however, protestors will see objectors if they spit on Iraqi veterans again, or throw paint on a war memorial. This time, they will encounter a buzz saw of Vietnam veterans and supporters who will gather to protect the Wall, and show their support for U.S. troops. The counter-protestors are calling themselves the Gathering of Eagles.

“… An eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it breaks. The eagle will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it.”

An unknown author wrote that description, but it describes how the veterans see their mission. They are angry that the Wall is being used as a jumping off point for a political protest and they are gathering to protect it from another storm of anti-war activists.

“The anti-war/anti-America group cannot be allowed to use the Vietnam Memorial Wall as a back-drop to their anti-America venom and stain the hallowed ground that virtually cries out with blood at the thought of this proposed desecration … it must not happen,” said veteran Bud Gross. “… All Americans are invited to support our effort, which is intended as a defender of hallowed ground and intended as a non-violent competition between those that would sell out America and those of us who support freedom and keeping the fight with the enemy on distant shores.”

The group defending the Wall will be wearing armbands to identify themselves. Those who are unable to stand with the defenders are being asked to wear armbands with small U.S. flags to show their own communities that they abhor the Fonda-Sheehan tactics.

“We’ll be there to act as a countervailing force against the Cindy Sheehan-Jane Fonda march from the Vietnam Memorial to the Pentagon,” retired Navy Capt. Larry Bailey said. “We will protect the Vietnam Memorial. If they try to deface it, there will be some violence, I guarantee you.”

Bailey and thousands of his fellow Vietnam vets are worried that the anti-war protesters will damage the wall, just as they spray-painted the steps of the Capitol at their last march.

“It is our contact with our dead brothers — those who lost their lives in the cause of their country,” Bailey said.

And so it is that Washington will see a Gathering of Eagles - Americans determined to stand up against leftist propagandists who denigrate U.S. troops and the mission for which they sometimes sacrifice their lives.

Retired Col. Harry Riley organized the Gathering of Eagles. Organizers hope thousands will show up in Washington from as far away as Hawaii, and they won’t only be Vietnam veterans. Families, friends and veterans of other wars, including Iraq, and soldiers still on active duty, will be there to defend the Wall.

“When we say a gathering of eagles, that signifies people who support the American way,” Bailey said.

The leftist Web site MarchonPentagon.org describes the anti-war demonstrators this way: “The March on the Pentagon has already attracted more than 1,500 endorsers, including prominent individuals and national and grassroots organizations. Students on college campuses and in high schools will be attending in large numbers. There will be a large turnout from the Muslim and Arab American community, which is organizing throughout the country.”

The movement is well-financed. Its sponsor list is lengthy and contains highly recognizable names, as well as those of Fonda and Sheehan:

· Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark (who offered his services to defend Saddam Hussein)

· Ultra-liberal Congresswoman Maxine Waters · Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney

· Waleed Bader, vice chair of the National Council of Arab Americans and former president of Arab Muslim American Federation

· Islamic Political Party of America · FMLN (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front)

My father was an Army surgeon during the Vietnam war. I've only seen my dad cry twice in his life, once at the funeral of my grandmother, the other time when he told me about Memorial Day 1968. He was in a room with so many wounded men that he was up to his waist in blood, trying to save them all. I've asked him many times to come see the Vietnam memorial, or to make the Memorial weekend ride to it, but he can't do it. There are too many names of honorable men he tried to save on the memorial itself, and the emotion he feels when he thinks about it is overwhelming. As the son of a man who served his Country and lived with the pain and loss and hope of all the men he cared for, I will not stand by and see this memorial desecrated. I will not stand by and watch left wing activists use it as a springboard to make political statements. If my dad can't be there to protect it, then I will be, in his place and with his honor in my heart. I make this pledge to all of those who have served, and all of those who rest on that wall.

Gathering of Eagles, March 17, 2007 latest Update.

First of all... Gathering of Eagles has a web site http://gatheringofeagles.org/ please use it to check on latest information. Also register to add your own information.

Second: Available rooms....see below. Anyone that knows of other accommodations, please post on the web site.

Holiday Inn Arlington at Ballston
(703) 243-9800
$89.00(+tax)/night
Mention 'GATHERING OF EAGLES'

Third: Guidance on driving into D.C. from the south, parking, and walking directions to the Viet Nam Memorial Wall provided by Dave Perkins:

I have scanned the appropriate map from the latest ADC map book of Washington DC for you. It's a rather large file so instead of trying to send that map to you via email I have uploaded that to my website and this is the link to it: http://www.daveylee.net/maps/VietnamMemorialArea.jpg

On all these maps, UP is North! Just so there's no misunderstandings...

You can right click and copy any or all of them to your computer much more easily than clogging your system with a HUGE email file... including the maps below.

The map loads up looking small, but with my browser, and using Windows XP as an operating system, I just click on the map and I get enlargements... hopefully you will too...

I have cut out, separately, segments for printing out and distributing (if desired), and they're listed here:

Arlington Metro to The Mall & The Wall: http://www.daveylee.net/maps/VietnamMemorialArea_1.jpg

Suggested safe Parking area: http://www.daveylee.net/maps/VietnamMemorialArea_2.jpg

On the map where I suggest parking, there is a LARGE parking lot right where you find the word ARMY near the top center of this map. The word Army is part of the street name for Army Navy Drive.

As you come up 395, you'll get off at the #1 and follow the * marks and continue to bear right at 2 and 3 and at 4 is where you'll find the lot (mentioned above) on the right that is normally open parking on the weekends... During the week, it is reserved for Pentagon Employees. From that lot (or if you park in the Mall Parking Deck) you'll head down Hayes St. to the Pentagon City Metro to head over to the Arlington Cemetery

Perspective... The Wall to The Pentagon... http://www.daveylee.net/maps/VietnamMemorialArea_3.jpg

My recommendation is to park at or very near the Pentagon City Mall which is shown at coordinates F-8 on this map.

You will likely come up I-95 and once you cross the beltway, you're on I-395 (I'm sure you remember) and when you get on up the road, closer to D.C. the signage is clear ( I will take my digital camera and do a "drive through" and snap some photo's of the signage you will be looking for) and there is an often empty lot, right at the bottom of the ramp where you come off I-395 to Army Navy Drive... or you can park in the HUGE parking deck at the mall. It's paid parking and a safe place to leave your car. I've parked there many times and never had my vehicle bothered.

In case you (or anyone else viewing these maps) are not familiar with the DC Metro maps, the ORANGE lines on this map are the metro line. And the long wider blocks on that Orange line are the Metro Stops. Just remember you will be riding BLUE LINE trains!

Then, a short walk to the Pentagon City Metro stop and two stops north on a BLUE LINE TRAIN you're at the Arlington Cemetery station.

Get off there and walk across the Arlington Memorial Bridge and you're at the West end of "The Mall" and that's very close to "The Wall".

This is actually not a very long walk at all... unless, of course, it's a cold and blustery day and that wind that often comes down the Potomac River at a frigid pace makes a short walk begin to seem like forever! Hopefully we'll have thawed some by March 17th...

Hopefully, this will be a good start for maps to suit your needs. If you require more detailed maps and pictures, aside from those above I have mentioned that I will provide, please ask!

Hope you're having a great weekend... We're in the freezer (so to speak) as it's below freezing and the wind chill has it in the LOW teens.

Dave Perkins
milret@daveylee.net
cell: (301) 788-3070

Fourth: I'm looking for anyone that has telephone numbers, locations, etc of BOQ/BEQ accommodations in the D.C./VA/MD area.. If you have them, please post on the Gathering of Eagles web site.

Harry Riley, COL, USA, Ret
hmriley@cox.net

Gathering of Eagles Web Site: http://gatheringofeagles.org/

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