Its a great day for democracy

Flashback, Saturday September 10, 2005

The Southern Arizona Chapter of Protestwarrior begins supporting our troops at the front gate of Davis Monthan AFB. 4 men from Tucson with the love of our troops and the need to do the right thing gather flags and handmade signs and stand on the corner of Craycroft and Golf Links in the summer sun. As seen from the pictures here at Speed of Thought it was a small humble thing to do.

As we spent more time out there, our numbers grew, with more people signing on to join us. There were weeks when only a couple of us would be there, but we stuck with it. In a fortunate turn of events, Wayne, from Americanprotest.net joined protestwarrior and advised of the need for help at the recruting center on Speedway every Wednesday morning.

This turned to me being introduced to a woman who is a master planner named Pat. She was the organiser of Wednesday mornings. Expressing to her my operations at the main gate of Davis Monthan she unabashedly pledged support and people. On that first Saturday following, she arrived with several people in tow. There were 2 special families who were a part of her contingent, the Luceros and the Zurheides. Both of these families are goldstar families, both had lost their sons to roadside bombs in Iraq in 2004, and both of these families made a pledge that their sons loss would NOT be in vain.

The day was a complete success. And I couldnt do enough to express my gratitude to all of them for their support. Since that first day, they have been there faithfully standing in support of our brave men and woman who fight and defend our freedoms and protect people worldwide.

Today, I stood on that same corner that only occupied 4 people 1 year ago with not 10, not 15 and not even 30 people, but I stood there with over 75 americans who wanted to come out today to show our support for the troops.

As a result of emailings to the southern Arizona chapter of ProtestWarrior, the email list maintained by Pat, the Pima County Republican party, we had a festive and colorful morning with all 4 corners filled to capacity with people with signs, flags and hearts of gold waving and thanking the troops. Everyone was represented, black, white, hispanic, asian, male, female, old, young, politicians and everything in between.

The streets surrounding the area were a symphony of horns and cheering. At points in the morning you literally could not hear yourself think due to the noise. We had 2 F-16s fly over our positions wag their wings at us and saluted us for our efforts. But it was not us who deserved their praise, it is they who deserved our undying gratitude. If only one soldier on that base was uplifted, if only 1 family member knows that the american people care and support them, if only 1 child knows that people who dont know them love them, then our mission today was a success.

There was a japanese film crew on the scene, doing a documentary of the support of the troops, and more specifically on the effects the loss of their son had on the Luceros. They filmed, asked questions, interviewed people and they are taking that footage back to Japan to televise a program on americans attitudes towards the troops and the war. As it turns out, the Japanese people are rock hard supporters of our movement to spread democracy. As well, I know there was a photographer from one of the local newspapers there taking pictures, keep your eyes peeled.

As I stood there holding an american flag on a vantage point higher up on the corner, I surveyed the scene before me and reflected on the past year. There have been fun times, there has been sad times, there has been pain, there has been sorrow, there has been laughs and there has been an overwhelming sense of belonging, of doing something to make a difference in peoples lives. Not only has each and every person out there been active in counter demonstrations, but each and every person has taken an active role in the democratic process by voting, writing letters, making phone calls and keeping information flowing. This is what America is about I thought...THIS is democracy in action. THIS scene before me is what those brave men and woman fighting for us here and abroad are striving for. The right to voice our opinions without suffering censorship, the right to keep and bear arms, the right to be safe from unwarranted invasion of enemies in our homes, the right to be secure in our persons and posessions, the right to not incriminate ourselves, the right to a speedy and fair trial, the right to have a jury of our peers hear our defense, the right to a fair bail amount so we can help to prepare our defense should we be charged with a crime, the right to not be disparaged of our rights and the guarantee that the power shall be always to the people.

It was a great for democracy, a great day to be alive, a great day to thank God for our many blessings and a great day to enjoy the fellowship of others.

Pictures are coming, just waiting for other bloggers who were present to post them.

God bless America, I love you and all your people.

Update 9/10/06 - Hot off the presses here are the pics - Thanks Scott for allowing me to use these!


Our initial corner is a sea of Red White and Blue, with patriotism and love overflowing. Notice the sign in the background, "We Support, the troops, The mission, the President. America." It is every americans patriotic duty to support your president, not continually attack them, be they democrat or republican.


Randy Graf Republican candidate for CD8 He WILL win.


VICTORY TO AMERICA .. this is what it is about people, not partisanship bickering..everyone jumping on the wagon to win this things..when its said and done, THEN go back and rehash things.


The Japanese documentary film crew rolls tape of the front of the base.


American patriotism, filling the sidewalk to overflowing. Notice the sign in the foreground, "Honk to support the troops" And honk they did!


Now how is this for a patriotic truck? All American, All US MARINE CORPS...ooohrahh


A view of the opposite corner filled with people...this is on the side where traffic exits the base, it was a popular spot with some of our older supporters because of the shade.


The film crew films the filmer of the camerman with the camera.


There were 2 people that day brave enough to wear our infidel shirts in the heat, those things are hot in the sun. There was me and another young man, this is NOT me.


Thank you US Military, you are in our prayers. And they are, everyday I pray for their safety and their families, and I pray for our country and the president as well. Not the other sign...Freedom isnt free. Freedom doesnt come from an idelogical principal or a law...no it comes from the brave men and woman of our armed forces who defend democracy, worldwide.


Our lone simple message for the day, Support the troops


The Northwest corner where there was ZERO shade. The true diehards picked this corner, I must say that because I was on it..lol. Thats me holding the large american flag and re-hydrating myself. In the foreground is 1 other PW in the red shirt on the left, and another young man holding a sign saying, "I support our troops and their mission" This young man goes to UofA and we spoke at length about his professors and how on campus, if you are conservative, you keep your mouth shut because the staff will make it hard on you. He was an amazing young man, he happened to be driving by and saw us out there and came to join...he has a lil bro in the Army, and he is proud to be american!


The shade dwellers .. hehe


Old glory...I love this picture with the flags!


The film crew with the folks on the NorthEast corner.


The tall gentleman in the center median is a thorn in the side of many liberals, he is resident expert on all things political in the world. His website is here


God bless America. Many men and woman have fought and died defending this symbol of America and democracy. It still instills fear in the enemies soul when this flag is flown. And you know it strikes fear because people want to burn it and descrate it, that is the sign of a coward and someone who is afraid of what it represents.


I close out with this picture of the Marine Corps Flag and the American flag side by side. The Marine Corps is almost always first with boots on the ground, and they have the most difficult job of defending the american flag. It is for this reason that although we were at the air force base that day, I close it with the symbols American fighting spirit and pride.

Semper fi.