Free Republic

DETROIT, May 5, 2008 – Patriotism was in full gear at the Chrysler headquarters today, as hundreds gathered inside the star-spangled atrium of the automaker’s main hub to honor America’s men and women in uniform. Robert Nardelli, chairman and chief executive officer of Chrysler, signs a 5-Star Military Support Agreement on May 5, 2008, in Auburn Hills, Mich., pledging the automaker's commitment to continue supporting employees who are called into active military service. Defense Department photo by John J. Kruzel  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. On the tiered floors of the glass-enclosed plaza here, employees hung over railings...

An email from an Australian father, “I am an Australian and my son is serving in the Australian army in Iraq. As far as we are concerned there is no place on God’s earth better than Australia and there are no people better than Australians, that was until the past week or so. “My son and I just ended a long phone conversation and here are some of his comments: ”Before I came over to Iraq I thought the Australian army were pretty hot stuff -- was I ever wrong! “The Yanks (I hope you don’t mind me using that...

An Appreciative Local must have thought we were hungry as he drove past us because he bought us (BELOW - that is Eager helping Lurker Bill on our left flank) a bag of McD's double cheeseburgers and a bag of 20 oz. sodas. This meant he had to stop at two places since McD's does not sell bottled soda. Most of us chowed down immediately. This Saturday we had also bought some Dunkin Donuts with the gift certificates (4 - $10 certificates) that another appreciative local gave us several months ago. It had been too cold to buy donuts previously...

WASHINGTON, April 28, 2008 – Ida Hagg knows all about care packages; in fact, after 10 years of sending them out, she's pretty much an expert. "The troops appreciate beef jerky, sunflower seeds, movies, DVDs,” she said. “In the outlying areas, they appreciate receiving baby wipes and socks and hygiene products -- and all this is topped off with tons of cookies." Hagg first realized the importance of care packages when her own son was deployed to the Balkans, she explained during an “ASY Live” BlogTalkRadio interview. The online radio program is an extension of the Defense Department’s America...

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...

ELDER STREET AND GEORGIA AVENUE, WASHINGTON, DC - 18 April 2008 The DC Chapter stalwarts and FRiends refusing to cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment manned their post Friday night at the main gate outside Walter Reed Army Medical Center Week 157 Honor Roll: Fraxinus, Lurker Bill aka “Sweet William”, VAFlagwaver, Ron G. Kirby, USNRetired, Kburi, PleaDeal, BufordP, Tom the Redhunter; Cindy_True_Supporter, Trooprally (Mr. & Mrs.) and from the Mason Nation – Laura R. BufordP wants to know, “Are you talking to me?” PleaDeal on patrol, camera...

6th Annual Rally for the Troops will be held on Sunday April 20, 2008 at 11:00 PM in downtown Cleveland’s Public Square. Free Parking at Tower City Parking lots. Last year an estimated 5000 motorcyclist attended the Rally. Bikes will stage at 8:30 AM from Cleveland Harley Davidson Sales Company (W145 and Lorain), Lake Erie Harley Davidson (Avon Ohio); South East Harley Davidson (Bedford Hts. Ohio) and Western Reserve Harley Davidson (Mentor Ohio). Bikes will depart for downtown Cleveland at 9:30 AM. Jim Mantel of WGAR will MC the Rally and Monica Robins of WKYC will sing the National Anthem....

YES, we have the moonbats on the run once again! Around 2:15pm, a moonbat whom we nicknamed “Howard” as in Stern, walked to his position to see nobody there! He walked across the street to talk to us. He approached me first as I was the closest. He asked me how I thought the war was going. I told him I thought it was going fairly well. He then wanted to see if he understood us. He asked if we were for peace but just in a different way. I told him that was right, that we believe in peace...

Several weeks ago we had the local Mongomery County Sentinel newspaper interviewed the two opposing groups. Because the Sentinel requires a PAID subscription to view and link to its articles, I have received permission from JimRob to not link to the article so long as I don't put large portions of the article in this AAR. If you are interested in reading the full article, and paying for the privilege, the article is titled "War in Iraq protested and celebrated in Olney" by Bailey Quinonez and is in the March 27 - April 2, 2008 edition. My rebuttal Letter to...

FORT MYER, Va., April 7, 2008 – Children normally are told to quit clowning around, but today it was actually encouraged, as clowns from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus entertained more than 100 youngsters at the child development center here. More than 100 children from the child development center on Fort Myer, Va., enjoy a performance by members of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, April 7, 2008. These four, from left, Ryan Cline, 2, Madeline Fontana, 5, Jaylen Wright, 4, and Liam Ryan, 4, got a chance to be part of the action. Photo by...

I just heard from Chris Hill, Gathering of Eagles National Director. Following the 10am News Conference on Capitol Hill today, GOE visited 437 Congressional offices in support of the troops and their mission. Chris said that "probably half of the offices were happy to see us," with "one quarter apathetic and one quarter passive-aggressive." Predictably, Southern Democrats and Republicans were more typically glad to see GOE representatives. Overall, more than 200 in the House of Representatives gave a positive response to the Eagles. Vets for Freedom will be doing follow-up lobbying Capitol Hill on Tuesday, and the VFW follows...

FORT HUACHUCA — While deployed in Kuwait, Spc. Herbert Brown remembers how much he and his comrades appreciated the little things from home. So when boxes of Girl Scout cookies were shipped to his unit, the men and women were completely moved by the gesture of good will. “It’s really hard to express how much this means to the soldiers,” Brown said, recalling what it was like to be on the receiving end of the cookies. “I was in Kuwait in ‘05-’06, and it meant a lot that people I didn’t even know were thinking about me.” For the past...

WASHINGTON, April 4, 2008 – It was all a big joke for servicemembers and their families at Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s Fisher House yesterday when comedian Kathy Griffin came to visit. Comedian Kathy Griffin, star of “My Life on the D List,” greets Susan Badia at Walter Reed Army Medical Center's Fisher House III on April 3, 2008. Badia, her daughter, Kylee Ray, and her husband, Army Sgt. Jace Badia, currently are living next door at Fisher House II. Sergeant Badia is recuperating from wounds he suffered in Iraq when he was hit by a homemade bomb. Griffin...

Washington, DC, April 1, 2008: ON April 7, 2008 at 10:00 am, members of Gathering of Eagles will hold a press conference at the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. This rally will showcase patriots from all over the country standing up in support of our military and their missions in Iraq and the War on Terror. The conference is timed to coincide with Gen. David Petraeus’ return to Capitol Hill. Chris Hill, National Director of Operations, said, “The purpose of our actions on April 7th is to encourage our elected officials to provide full funding for...

This is my story and Hitlery's handlers are not going to get me to change it and B. Hussein O. can't "change" my mind by spouting his "typical" dribble. Where is Doctor Raoul's gas mask when we need it? The three moonbats that showed up today had all 16 patriots shaking in their boots and ducking for cover when a strange green cloud blew over to our side of the street. It was so bad that several patriots had to deploy to the other two corners. Luckily the brisk wind soon dispersed the strange odor and we we back to...

Tonight was our sixth show! We plan on having them every three months, and if it works out, move that up to every other month. ALSO NOTE, IF SOMEONE HAS CONNECTIONS AT BETHESDA NAVAL HOSPITAL, WE WOULD LIKE TO DO SHOWS THERE ON THE ALTERNATE MONTH. We had a good size crowd this night, including a FReeper. Our band never showed, but we went on without them. Not sure what happened to "Destroy All Zeros", a touring rock band. I guess they were tied up destroying some free roaming zeros. They missed one as their appearance at WRAMC turned up...

Almost unbelievable that it's really been three years for this event. I've participated since August of 2005, and that itself seems long enough, so I my thanks goes out to those intrepid FReepers who started this FReep back in March of that year. With this in mind, we had a special FReep planned for the Three Year Anniversary. When I got there just before 6:30, our usual starting time, FReepers were already on our corners holding their signs! I got out the MOAB and we set to work Soon we had it up and the FReep truly began! On the...

A heroes' return - troops home after Afghan tour   Well-wishers lined the streets of Maidstone yesterday to welcome Kent soldiers back from Afghanistan. Around 330 troops from 36 Engineer Regiment marched through the county town in a cold and wet homecoming parade. Major General Keith Cima presented the men with medals for their sixth-month tour of the dangerous Helmand Province. The general said that the troops had, “helped to make Afghanistan a better place for her people”. “You have undergone the fear, the fun and the challenge of operational service,” he added. “You can look anybody straight in...

As I am somewhat new to doing on-the-ground reporting, and I simply wanted to give these patriots in an out-of-the-way small town their due, their diligence and determination truly struck me today - below 30f, windy and on a busy street corner (Petroleum Street bridge and Front Street). Apparently this particular troop rally has been going on for quite some time (several months), and as I work nights it is quite conceivable that I could miss it (asking for a pass :-) ). Hearing and seeing about these kind of rallies going on in our major metropolitan areas is nothing...

The Vets for Freedom Heroes Tour will be in Columbia SC THIS Thursday, April 3rd at 11:30 am. There will be a rally at the Statehouse Capitol Steps located at 1200 Gervais Street. (Intersection of Gervais and Main St) Please come down and show your support for our troops and their just mission!!