Eagles Landing in DC - Again! Why? We MUST!

Tho' much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield!

Tennyson's closing stanza to his poem Ulysses could well describe many of our nation's veterans, especially those of us from the Vietnam era and earlier, who once again will be gathering in Washington, D.C., to offset planned anti-military, pro-terrorist rallies scheduled for mid-September.

The anti-democracy, pro-communist, pro-terrorist organization ANSWER, backed by liberal money, will again turn out demonstrators, some paid, some uninformed, some horribly lacking in basic intelligence, to disparage our form of government, intimidate shaky politicians, and desecrate our national memorials.

Once again, a counter-umbrella organization of veterans and pro-troop forces will stand vigil to protect our monuments, counter the hate-filled rhetoric of those who are attempting to bring about the downfall of the United States, and shore up those politicians who need a visual show of the true positions of mainstream Americans.

Among the groups working on the DC event are Eagles Landing, Move America Forward, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Vets For Freedom, Gathering of Eagles and many others. Each has its own particular niche to fill, and all are committed to showing overwhelming support for our troops and Gen. David Petraeus, architect of the offensive currently underway in Iraq known as the Surge.

Gen. Petraeus is scheduled to report to Congress in mid-September on the progress of the Surge, and the pro-troop forces intend to be there to let him know America is behind him.

There are many efforts underway to blunt the pro-troop movement, with some even questioning its sincerity and the need for another showing like the successful Gathering of Eagles on March 17.

On that day, vets and pro-troop supporters overwhelmingly outnumbered the ANSWER groups, and showed America that we can organize, can speak to the issues, and demonstrate to Congress that there is far more to reckon with in the American political arena than a relative handful of miscreants who are afforded far move coverage and credibility than their numbers and actions deserve.

So, having done it once, why are we going back?

For starters, neither the pro-terrorist, pro-communist, anarchist forces, nor the media, nor Congress ever expected the Gathering of Eagles to be so successful. America's veterans had not united in such large numbers with such passion in recent memory.

That turnout of patriots was a surprise to the anti-democracy forces, and please, don't bore me with this "Peace-loving, anti-war" drivel. I SAW the demonstrators in DC on March 17. I SAW their placards and signs, heard their anti-American rhetoric and speeches. They are NOT peace-loving, anti-war, rank-and-file Americans.

Their group was comprised of Islamo-fascists, communists, socialists and anarchists, none of whom were spouting anything remotely resembling "peace."

If there were any true peace-loving, anti-war demonstrators in that group they were totally hidden by some of the most virulent, filthy, anti-American, anti-democracy, anti-capitalism riffraff imaginable. They came to DC not to demonstrate and make a point using their Constitutional rights to assemble and speak. They came to tear down, destroy, and deface!

Right alongside them, providing all the free public relations capabilities it could muster was the mainstream American media. If the Gathering of Eagles was mentioned at all, by the New York Times for instance, we were lied about, and efforts to correct those lies have been met with stone silence, not that there should be any surprise there.

But our memorials are considered sacred ground, and veterans and our supporters will stand as one to protect them when threatened by spray painters, chisel wielders, and cretins who believe they are making a statement with vats of ink and urine and feces.

Also, among the senior ranks of today's pro-troop forces there is a long-held resentment of the pro-communist forces, conspirators and collaborators, including Jane Fonda, John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, John Murtha and Henry Kissinger who successfully conspired with the mainstream media in the early 70s to cut off all aid to South Vietnam, abandon an ally, and set the stage for the slaughter of millions of innocents.

We have never forgotten the treasonous commentary and political cowardice that caused this calamity, nor the semi-successful effort that continues to this very day to blame it on the military, especially those of us who fought in Vietnam and won every major battle. Military historians know that there has rarely been such a lopsided victory as that won by America and our allies in South Vietnam, and never has such a total victory been so totally sabotaged by cowards and traitors in our government even as we fought to keep Southeast Asia free.

We more than any other group of Americans understand that we can not stand by idly, as America did then, and let a similar calamity occur in the War on Terror and the Battle for Iraq. We understand more so than any other group of Americans, that if we do to the current generation of servicemen and women, what was done to us, it will only be a matter of time before the suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks occur on own land as they now do overseas.

Yes, we are getting on in years. We don't look as we did 40 years ago or more. Our hair is gray or thinning, or gone, and we are no longer the trim and twenty military models that we were then.

But deep in our hearts, the fire still burns. Deep in our hearts we know the cause is just and the battle must be fought.

Deep inside where it matters most there still is strength and determination and pride. Deep inside where it matters most we know that if we sit back today and allow the communists, terrorists and anarchists to rule the streets, as America did a generation ago while we were away at war, then the next generation will grow up in an America devoid of freedom, an America where the light of liberty has been extinguished.

We are going to Washington because we know from hard and bitter experience that America WILL NOT.

Unless we do it, the job won't get done. Unless we do it, anarchists, terrorists and communists will rule the streets, intimidate the politicians, alter the course of history and destroy the world's single greatest hope for the advancement of humanity.

We were the recipients of the sabotage and treachery that marked the US Congress in the Vietnam and Korean eras. We were the recipients of overt acts of hostility, matched only by the more subtle, but equally devastating silence from friends and family who believed without question the lies that were told about our service.

But unlike those who abandoned us then, and turned their backs on us then, we will not abandon this generation of fighters. The men and women in uniform who are striving so valiantly to drive the terrorists into oblivion, the men and women in uniform who are performing so magnificently on the field of battle, will NOT return to an America that resembles the America of the 60s and 70s.

This time an American ally that needs only time and assistance to arrive at the point where it can stand on its own, taking on its own internal matters, and providing for its own external defense, will not be abandoned by spineless traitors and cowards who can blithely shrug off the slaughter of millions, so long as it doesn't directly affect them.

This time, there will be no Silent Majority. This time the majority will roar its support of the General, its support of the troops, its support of the efforts to crush terrorism where it takes root, and its disavowal of those who would destroy our homes, our families and our country.

WE are going to Washington because if we don't, hard and bitter experience has shown that no one else will. WE are going to Washington because there is a job to do, a country to be saved from both external and internal forces that would destroy it, and WE are the people with the drive, initiative, knowledge and ability to take the fight to our enemies where ever they lurk.

We are going to Washington because WE MUST!