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MAF Presents: The Daily Blog
Here at the Move America Forward Daily Blog we chronicle the good news on the War on Terrorism you might
not have heard about on the evening news. We also shine the spotlight on those whose conduct against our
country and our military is unbecoming.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Day 5 - Tucson, AZ
November 30
This is the third time that Move America Forward has visited Tucson, and for me, the second visit to Freedom Park. Every time we come to Freedom Park we have the most enjoyable rallies, and they always come with people. Last time we were here there was an enormous amount of radio present and the park was decorated to the hilt by volunteers from FreeRepublic.com.
This time, Tucson did not let us down and we were treated to the same set up by all the local Free Republic posters. It’s always great to showcase other organizations when we are on the road. When you have something of a social movement such as what we have in supporting our troops today, there are numerous groups involved and everyone has a slightly different take on how best to do it. But whenever our groups work together and combine our talents and efforts, what we can accomplish is just that much greater.
Just as last time, our friends in Tucson helped make sure that the local radio station was there with a booth, and early ahead of the rally. Also we had lots of media there, I think I saw three different crews but I could have missed one since they tend to come and go without saying much. Buzz and Debbie Lee each did interviews and the reporters had their cameras trained on local MAF supporters who came as well. We had boxes of cards flowing in too, and up until the last minute when we were packing up, we still had people showing up with more cards. One local church group came with a bag of 500 cards, another supporter brought 300 from several area-schools. One couple showed up with 3,000 cards combined from her church group and the local chapter of Disabled Veterans of America of which she is president, and her husband a member. Then even after we thanked them for everything they promised us that they wanted to do more and send more cards to us at our Sacramento office.
You can always count on Tucson to bring signs too, I remember at the last tour there were a lot of great visuals provided. Tucson had flags everywhere and signs in almost every hand. The decorations were back at today’s rally and so were the signs. I saw a “V victory” sign and another gigantic one that said “We support our troops”. Not that these are different from what we hear from other supporters in different places, or see on other signs, but for some reason Tucson residents seem to have more of an affinity for large, bold signs than other places we have visited.
Oh yeah I almost forgot, in the midst of talking about this great rally we had I forgot to mention that it was RAINING all day. Not only did the people of Tucson come out strongly to support the troops (again) but they braved the constant rain that we had from the time got there to the minute we left. Usually when you try to have a rally and its raining, you can pretty much count on your event being ‘rained out’ and having nobody show up. Who wants to walk through the mud ( yes it was pretty muddy, there was a baseball diamond right next to us, and the whole area was basically a sand pit) then stand around in the rain for an hour. For the people of Tucson, whose gratitude for the troops obviously has no bounds, it is worth the hardship to go be a part of something that will help our soldiers, lift their spirits, and make their holidays a little brighter!
E-mail any questions/comments/corrections to mafbloggerdanny@gmail.com. Thank you for reading!
Day 5 - Phoenix
November 30
When our bus rolled into Phoenix last night there were seven people waiting for us at our hotel, a couple and their three girls – all in girl scouts, and several members from the community and surrounding areas. One supporter even came from as far as lake Havasu. Another one of the supporters present was the owner of that white corvette from the last time we were in Phoenix, you know the one that says support our troops all over the trunk.
When we awoke this morning and the bus brought us to the capitol area where our rally was to be held, we already had 3,000 cards with us, and we got even more from the people in Phoenix who came out to our rally at the capitol. We had about 30 people come and hang out with us, and a lot of people were stopping by to drop cards off. I was kind of busy during this rally, because with all the tshirt and sweatshirt sales the last couple of days, our boxes were getting out of order, so I basically sat there the whole time (with a bit of help from Joe and Ryan) pulling boxes out of the van, counting and rearranging and putting them back in! Tedious stuff!
But we had a great response here in Phoenix, just as everywhere else. Some of those who came down also wanted to come with us to the post office. This was to be our second post office drop-off of the tour so far and since we haven’t gone to the post office in so long, it was going to be a big one!
We had a caravan of about 5 vehicles make the 15 minute drive down the city streets to the post office we had selected to send the boxes off. We arrived with our customs forms in hand and shipped over 2,000 Christmas cards today. They’ll be reaching APOs in Iraq for the next couple weeks and we’re going to keep a steady stream. Thus far we have collected an estimated 35,000 cards and shipped 2,000
E-mail any questions/comments/corrections to mafbloggerdanny@gmail.com. Thank you for reading!
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Day 4 - Move America Forward Occupies Bagdad
Wow, we just had a Rally in the city of Bagdad Arizona as part of Move America Forward’s ‘Honoring Heroes at the Holidays Tour’. It was the best rally ever. I was pretty skeptical, coming into town. We didn’t expect much. When we called Freeport McMoRan, the mining company that basically ‘owns’ the whole town, they said… “You want to do this here? Do you know anything about Bagdad, do you know how small it is?” We didn’t really care, it’s Bagdad! So we rolled our bus into town fully expecting to have a short, tiny little rally and as we got to the parking lot of the Miner’s Diner it looked like that would be the case. There was not a single soul there to meet us. That was okay, this town only has a few thousand residents anyways, it’s not like some gigantic media market that we’re trying to crack, but the name of the place being Bagdad, AZ it just made too much sense when the finale of our tour is (hopefully) a trip to Baghdad, Iraq. Well we were about half an hour late, so maybe they all left, That was one thought I had. The other thought was…well nobody cares. How wrong I was. We pulled our big red bus up close to the curb where the street traffic was, and where we thought passersbys would see us. We got some flags out from under the bus and stood there on the side of the road, pathetically begging the tiny population of two thousand to stop by on their way to work. We got a few things out and ready to go, not really expecting anyone to use or see them. Half out of boredom and half out of desperation, we decided to post a few sentries down the street, in front of the bus and up at the corner to wave flags at the few passing motorists. It took just a few minutes, somehow, by some miracle, someone pulled up! We thought we were lucky to have car pull up and to have two women come to sign a card or two. Then, not long after, I don’t know how, but someone else pulled up and then another person saw the cars all parked, the flags, and came to investigate. Word around town traveled so quickly people started showing up all over the place. I was absolutely amazed. It was better than anything we could have expected! There were so many kids coming up, on their bikes, walking, in cars with their parents. Couples were stopping by in pickup trucks and small SUVs. People were walking over to sign cards while their cars were gassing up. The kids were all around the table, signing cards, writing letters to our troops, everyone was so enthusiastic it was just FUN. I don’ know how else to describe it, but it was just FUN. The owners of the local S&G gas station/mini mart came over and in our talking to them, we discovered that the husband was actually an Iraq war veteran! Michael and Margaret Adams live in Bagdad and from 2004-2005 Michael was deployed in Iraq with the US Army 1st Cavalry Division. He was stationed in the South West of Baghdad as a Forward Observer and talked a lot with me about his different jobs, training the Iraqi military, doing some missions with the Special Forces, and doing what he affectionately called psy-ops. This kind of confused me. Psy-Ops, what’s that? Sounds like something a spy would do, like mind control or something…what it REALLY means is…outreach. Grassroots outreach, philanthropy. Psy-Ops means building infrastructure, handing out food and treats to Iraqi children, going to the orphanages, teaching the Iraqis about medicine and helping to rebuild hospitals, schools, etc., basically anything humanitarian. Mike told me that in his experience there, this kind of thing is what the soldiers really love and what makes them want to stay in Iraq. “Even if you don’t believe in the war, BELIEVE IN THE TROOPS” he said. “Even if you didn’t like the president, or believe about the WMDs,” he told me, when I asked about what he and his soldiers thought, “I didn’t want to go, but once you get over there and see the living conditions, we ended up being there for the kids, for the people. The old men, you can’t change their minds, but the kids, we are winning…we call it the hearts and minds.” The amount of compassion that Mike and many of our soldiers over there have for the Iraqis is amazing, it’s inspiring. But I was equally amazed at these kids who we were seeing there, they were so cool, making up cards with the most adorable pictures and heartfelt emotions. And so enthusiastic as well, the kids were just BEGGING for American flags to take home with them, I was handing out our little camo-colored wristbands that say “Defend Freedom”, and they were passing them around, getting an extra one for their friends. One little girl was getting tired holding her flag, she must have been about 6 or 7 years old, and she started to put her flag down, but her big sister…still no more than 9 or 10 herself came over and stopped her, saying, ‘don’t let that flag touch the ground’. It’s enough to make the tears of pride well up in my eyes. These kids were so awesome, they were offering their allowance money, a dollar, twenty five cents, two, three dollars at a time, these kids wanted to give everything they had to support what we are doing with this national pro-troop tour. “It’s for the soldiers right?” they asked. We told them all about Move America Forward and what we do. The kids wanted to help any way they could. I don’t know what they put in the water in Bagdad, Arizona, but whatever it is, the rest of America sure could use the kind of selfless patriotism, nationalism, and compassion for all fellow Americans, ESPECIALLY the troops, as these little kids today displayed. And this is without having a parent around trying to coach the kids or telling them what to do. This is just…good parenting, a close knit community, and good, traditional, American values hard at work. It was tough to leave, the kids didn’t want to go home, they didn’t want us to leave, but we had to make it to Phoenix. We spent probably twice the amount of time as a normal rally in Bagdad already, so we just had to force ourselves to get back on the road. I’m on the bus on the way to Phoenix right now, waiting for Mary to show me pictures of this rally and I cannot wait!
E-mail any questions/comments/corrections to mafbloggerdanny@gmail.com. Thank you for reading!
Day 4 - Heroes come from Henderson
November 29
We held our rally for Las Vegas in outlying Henderson, where they have the most beautiful memorial out in the city civic center. We had a good crowd assembled when we arrived, but it took us a while to set up because of the long set of stairs and that we could not park the bus too close.
When we finally got underway, a little bit late, we had just the nicest little rally. Unfortunately we still don’t have a Deborah Johns. We miss her presence a lot on these stops when we don’t have her, because she just always brings so much energy and leadership to the equation.
Pressing on, Diana opened us up with the national anthem as is the norm. It was probably the coldest rally we’ve had to put on so far on this trip…although I’m sure we will see colder days soon. Diana was decked out in a sweater, big poofy jacket over that, with gloves and a scarf too. But with all that and despite the cold, crisp, morning air, Diana’s voice sang true as ever, and I don’t know…it might have been the cold morning air, or maybe it was the sight of the flag waving gently in the wind with the impassioned voice of Diana singing “that our flag was still there...” and the feeling of my hand pressing heavily over my heart, but I felt chills run up and down my spine.
We met three members of the local Blue Star Mothers of America chapter. They informed us that there was actually a funeral scheduled later that day for another family who a child to this conflict. Our hearts and prayers go out to that family, may you always live free and be proud of the sacrifice your son made in service to his country.
Dorothy Fosco, a Blue Star mom from Henderson was there with a picture of her son. Sergeant First Class Anthony Fosco is 29 years old and has been serving in the US Army for 11 years, now as an Army Ranger. He is in the 82nd Airborne and is married to Melissa, who is an MP, also in the 82nd. Sgt Fosco was awarded a Bronze Star for his service last year when he went above and beyond the call of duty in combat, resulting in the saving of the lives of two of his comrades. It was during the constitutional elections, the historic occasion where Iraq voted for it’s own government for the first time since coming under the dictatorial rule of Saddam Hussein. Anthony and his unit were guarding the polling places around town, as Iraqis came to out to vote despite the threats of violence from insurgents and al-Qaeda. His unit, stationed at one end of a bridge, came under fire from the other end, they were pinned down by heavy enemy elements and were not able to retreat. Anthony sprung into action, hijacked a commuter bus he was able to find, and drove it into the line of fire, out into the middle of the bridge and jackknifing it across the roadway, effectively putting a barrier between his men and the enemy and he pulled his men to safety. We can all be very proud that men like US Army Ranger Sgt 1st Class Anthony Fosco are only made in America.
Laurie Van Leiden, of Las Vegas, is another blue star mom I had the pleasure of talking to. Her son Anthony Monger, 23, is also a Sergeant in the US Army 10th Mountain Division. He joined the Army when he was 18 years old, fresh out of high school, and has served two tours in Iraq, one in the middle of the “Sunni Triangle” sometimes also called the ‘triangle-of-death’. He just retuned stateside in October and his mom is just thrilled to have him back. She says he “always wanted to [join the military] since he was a kid” and is basically doing what he wants and loves. He has a brother who lives in Utah and sister Michelle, 4 yrs old, who lives with mom in Henderson.
Chere Pedersen is the mother of US Army Specialist Alastair Addie. He entered the service at 17 years old and is now 21 and about to receive the rank of Sergeant. Alastair is a Combat Medic in the 1st Armor Division, 2nd Brigade, 1st Battalion 35th Armor the “Iron Knights”. Alastair is currently serving at Walter Reed Medical center in DC. He was also stationed at a hospital in Baghdad for the 10th CSH where he took care of combat injuries. Alastiar told his mom Chere that they took care of military injuries but also helped the Iraqis too. Everyone who came to that hospital was treated, even if they were the enemy. Also, at that hospital, he on his own time, started a program that trained Iraqis as EMTs because there were too many coming in from the ‘red zone’ (a bad part of town, as opposed to the green zone) in critical condition because they were not receiving proper first aid and didn’t have enough people trained in quick-response emergency medical techniques.
From here, we head to Bagdad. Only one problem, since 9/11 they don’t let large vehicles cross over dams. So Hoover Dam and Davis Dam, on our way to Phoenix, are now officially OUT. This means we have to drive way off course, down ALMOST to Lake Havasu, then swing back up to get to Bagdad!
E-mail any questions/comments/corrections to mafbloggerdanny@gmail.com. Thank you for reading!
Day 3 - Barstow, the city where patriotic little kids run the show
November 27
We arrived in Barstow BARELY on time because we hung around Bakersfield for a long while after the rally had ended. The first thing that happened was we got into the parking lot and saw NOBODY! I was pretty panicked at first…
Then I got out of the bus and the security guy for the outlet mall we were holding the rally at told me I was at the wrong parking lot! He directed us into the middle parking lot, where we were supposed to set up, which we had to leave the parking lot and drive a little further down the block to get into, and then take this short little driveway into where it expanded into a larger parking lot with enough room for our bus. There was a small crowd waiting there, and we waited about 20 minutes and started late because people who were trying to get in didn’t really know that they had to drive around to the back in order to find us. Joe walked out to the street so he could direct people, and after a dozen more cars or so made it in, we decided it was time to start the rally.
I had to put out extra construction paper and fish some un-signed cards out of the boxes because these kids were really enthusiastic. They all wanted to make cards, they all wanted to hold flags and wave, and it was just a real treat for everyone there to watch the kids interacting with each other and with the cards they were making so creatively. I picked a couple of cards that I liked a lot and found out which kid made them and told them how awesome they were. One card that struck me—I thought it was jus adorable – was this one that Annie, Age 7 made. It was backwards first of all, which was just cute, and on the front it said “Jesus love you” but instead of the word the O in love and you it had little hearts. And on the inside, when you open up the card it said “I love you” and had a little picture off to the side, with Annie’s name and her age. It was just the cutest thing ever. With the kids around, Mary had a field day with her camera. I kind of felt sorry for the kids because they had to stand forever while Mary takes endless pictures.
The Barstow police department came by and dropped off a stack of cards, and also two of the employees at the Holiday Inn ® that was across the street came by and told me how they had put cards out for several days in the lobby and the guests staying at the hotel were signing them. So they had a big stack to donate, and they told me they would continue the practice and mail more cards to our office so we can get them to NY and hopefully to Iraq!
Again we mingled far too long at the end of the Barstow rally, but we just had to, it is so amazing talking with Americans about why they support the troops, who they know who served and why they all say it’s so important to give our servicemen and women as much thought as we can this holiday season. Seriously when we get to talking with people after a rally, exchanging cards, e-mails, hugs, and words of gratitude, it is easy to lose track of time. Luckily we were still able to make the drive to Las Vegas at a reasonably decent hour, thanks to none other than Chris Walker our fearless bus driver man (he is a machine)
I am staying with the MAF family in the New York Hotel (yes, this pretty much sinks our budget for the rest of the trip, but hey, it’s Vegas) and we absolutely cannot wait for the rally in Henderson (just outside of town) tomorrow morning! The responses and sentiment we have been getting from everyone all along the way is really encouraging. And Debbie Lee has said several times how she feels like this her favorite tour that MAF has done, because it’s just ALL ABOUT SUPPORTING OUR TROOPS.
E-mail any questions/comments/corrections to mafbloggerdanny@gmail.com. Thank you for reading
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