The Vietnam Veterans are gathering
Those on the New Left who think that Vietnam War vets are ineffectual old war horses are in for a big surprise. A group of these veterans, calling themselves “A Gathering of Eagles” is planning on countering the New Left’s planned march on the Vietnam Memorial Wall. Here, I’ll let The US Veteran Dispatch explain:
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, Ramsey Clark 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.
The wall is sacred to the men and women who fought in that war.
“It is our contact with our dead brothers — those who lost their lives in the cause of their country,” Bailey said.
Read the rest here and, if your a vet with an interest, you might want to join or support this Gathering of Eagles.
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Famous war hero John Kerry probably won’t be there…
Nor will, let me land the plane, or at least sit in the pilot seat, Mission Accomplished, war hero, non Curious George be there as well.
I really think that wall is ugly (in the word of R. Lee Ermey from Full Metal Jacket: “You’re so ugly you could be a modern art masterpiece”
and I much prefer the Frederick Hart statue that is adjacent (which I always make a point to visit when in DC); but that’s an aesthetic judgment, a matter of personal taste. What the monument symbolizes should be protected from the vandals, and I applaud the effort of the vets to see that it is protected. As for the comments above, no, I don’t imagine few if any prominent Democrats will take part in this protest. As for the second comment, here in Florida, swamp acreage is known for its lack of value and substance.
Thank you for supporting the GATHERING OF EAGLES.
Sincerely,
Richard J. Fields
worldwideveterans.blogspot.com
veteransnewscolumn@gmail.com
It’s gold where I come from ! Hey Disney made a a killing out of it down there ! Just gotta use that little ole imagination a little more.
Armbands are a really, really, spectacularly bad idea. The media will have a field day calling them Nazis. There are no words to express how bad that idea is.
” If they try to deface it, there will be some violence, I guarantee you.”
That’s an understandable but perhaps poor statement. I salute these guys and I know what they intend. They are Protectors of the Sacred. Those who oppose them MIGHT intend to desecrate ground that they hold dear, but it doesn’t seem effective to issue threats of violence. It would have been better if they’d said something such as, “We will protect the Wall, the statues, and the ground that we hold sacred. We saw these protestors cross the line and deface our Capitol buildings. We will make sure our memorials are not despoiled. Someone simply must stand up. And we are now Standing.”
Thanks for the head’s up BW. Strangely, I have seen nothing of either event here in the DC area.
I would hope that the Park Police would step up to their responsibility to this memorial. It may not be aeshetically pleasing, but it is certainly unique because it commerates the sacrifice of so many individual Americans. It should be as hallowed as any grave site.
I will plan to be there.
Swampacreage you are so far off the mark again that it borders on the pitiful. I guess you think that your rambling cheap shots are clever. You betray your ignorance as well as your prejudice. You are clearly a very small person.