A SOLDIER'S PERSPECTIVE
THE WEB'S LEADING MILITARY BLOG SINCE 2004
Chris Hill, National Director of Operations for Gathering of Eagles, has a brilliant post up today. He starts it off with a hattip to our Vietnam Veterans, calling them his “Gold Standard for warriors”.
For me…Vietnam veterans have always been the standard of excellence. They came home to scorn and derision. They were unwelcome in the VFWs. They could have simply faded away into the night, but they decided instead to band together. They started their own organizations to replace the VFW, and built their own memorials to their brothers lost in a far-off land. They also said, “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.†I took that to heart, too.
Gathering of Eagles came to be when the anti-war crowd was threatening our veterans’ monuments in DC in March of this year. Tens of thousands of veterans and supporters gathered to protect the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and provide a counter-voice the loud, obnoxious defeatists in this country who want to lose this war. Our own venerable, yet strangely absent lately, leader CJ was there to document the event for all of us (not all the same link). The GOE mission statement says
We are wholly and forever committed to our brothers and sisters in uniform. As veterans, we understand their incredible and noble sacrifices, made of their own accord for a nation they love more than life itself. As family members, we stand by them, and as Americans, we thank God for them.
Chris continues:
Our brothers and sisters fighting in far off lands have recently begun to receive the treatment my Vietnam brethren suffered. The far left has started to blame them for the War on Terrorism. The chants of “baby-killer,†“war criminal,†and, lately, “bomb maker,†have been hurled at us at our counter-demonstrations. We all know that the Tet Offensive was a complete victory for US forces. After the Tet Offensive the Viet Cong were finished as an effective fighting force. Their number had been decimated, and yet members of the US media called Tet a US loss. Does the model sound familiar?
I have, therefore, taken as my personal mantra “BUY THE TROOPS SOME TIME.†I cannot claim to have come up with it. I heard someone else say it, and it resonated. If we truly wish to be the support for the troops we claim, if we truly wish to see our men and women in uniform come home victorious, we have to BUY THEM TIME TO WIN. Congress will be deliberating yet again on whether to extend the funding in Iraq come September. It is time for us, the veteran’s community and its supporters, to stand up and say, “WE WILL NOT ALLOW THE COUNTRY TO ABANDON ANOTHER GENERATION OF VETERANS.â€
He’s asking for your help. Not monetarily, but patrioticly.
(16) Readers Comments
Leave a Reply
![[UPDATE] The “Face” of Military Dating Scams – The Wall of Shame](http://militarygear.com/asp/wp-content/themes/LondonLive/thumb.php?src=http://militarygear.com/asp/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/2.jpg&w=53&h=41&zc=1&q=100)
555FAA71-9003-E525-37025352646A88C8
I am posting this in case someone by the name of susan just goes to th
the_right_reverend
Thank You!! Excellent write up for a lead-in!!! keep up the excellent work!!
SEMPER FI
Donna
Thanks Patriot for that link and post! God Bless the GOE for what they are doing! I’m so glad that someone is standing up to the defeatist crowd in this country!!
CommanderMom
I support them 100 %!!
George Samek, CW-3 US Army Retired
As a Gathering of Eagles Recruiter I promise you I will support you in good times and bad. Thank you for protecting my freedom, I fully understand your mission, I want you home with victory, honor, and the knowledge you stood up to be counted, you humble this two tour Vietnam with you bravery in combat. I carry you in my mind and my heart 24/7 365. The Gathering of Eagles is here for you now and we will be here for you when you come home to say”Welcome Home Brothers & Sisters” Well Done!!.
please visit my NC Eagles Nest, Troop Support Site, I post video’s for you,..please pass the Nest around.
http://www.myspace.com/samek1105
george.samek@gmail.com
Carrie Swartout
Another GOE member here to say that we love you and are so proud of everyone of you. My husband is an OIF vet who came home to the lefts special treatment. As God is my witness I will do everything in my power to not let that happen to one more soldier. We are taking care of the “insurgency at home”. We got your back!
Charles W. Leeds (squiddoc)
As a proud member of GOE as well as Patriot Guard Riders, and as a former president of my Vietnam Veterans of America chapter I have also vowed that I will do all in my power to show the love and respect to our troops that you so richly deserve. We know how hard it can be to serve at a time when cowards and traitors seem to be so common in our land. please know that they are in the vocal minority. I see the reactions of real Americans when we rally in support of our troops. They love you and we love you.
Semper Fi
Eagles Up
Doc Leeds
Jim Tuttle
Thanks, Patriot, for the acknowledgement fo the Eagles and our purpose. It’s sorely lacking in all other media. God bless out troops! Never again, not on our watch!
Jim Tuttle
I ain’t known for my typing…..
Marilyn
I think it is time we wake up!! our very survival is at risk!! we have too many sideline, quarterbacks, sitting back talking, and doing little Else!! we need people out there~letting our side be heard! GOE is the one letting our side be heard!!! We NEED to support them at EVERY turn!! Personally, if I had the money~I would be at EVERY Rally!!
Marilyn
GO GOE!!!
Ron Murray
Dear Son’s and Daughters,
I am passing this along for your brothers, sisters, you mother and me. Grandma, Grandpa, uncles, Aunts, friends and co workers. Thank You, Because of your Courageous and Honorable service, we live in relative safety. And America will stay free for another 200 years because of men and women like you willing to sacrifice for others.
I am also a two tour Vietnam Army Veteran, and a proud member of the Gathering of Eagles. But no more prouder that to say you are part of my family, and I got your back.
Paul Hickman
It was a great honor to stand with every one of the Eagles in DC.
I can only say, that when you have been hugged by a Gold Star Mother, and she thanks you for what you are doing, then you must be doing something right.
Thank You to all members of our Armed Forces, Past, Present, and Future!
Semper Fi
USMC 84-88
Clyde Conner
Thank you for defending our countryfolk and our way of life. You all make me so proud. You are without doubt the best armed force ever to have existed on Earth.
Get some for those of us who can only hold the rear and await your victorious return.
God bless you and your wonderful families at home. THANK YOU!
Clyde Conner, Eagle Zeke,1 Cav.Korea,VietNam
MikeBSuffolk
Patriot,
My family and I support you and all your fellow Warriors in the fight against Islamic Jihad.
There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t have all of you Brave Men & Women in our thoughts and prayers.
You are the true Heroes of our country!!
Sincerely,
Mike Blankenship (MikeBSuffolk)
Paul Couturier
Brothers and sisters,
I stand proudly with the Gathering of Eagles to watch your backs here back home as you continue to fight the war on terrorism. I served in Iraq myself in OIF1, in 2003-2004, so I’ve worn your boots and endured what you’ve endured. Know this; no matter what the anti-military news media says, the American people still OVERWELMINGLY support you AND YOUR MISSION!!!!!!!!!!!!
Paul Couturier
Proud Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom!
Proud Vet
Thanks, Chris, for the pat on the back. I was one of those who was told by a VFW member “You ain’t no veteran, get out of my club.” I have only recently joined the organization. I have also been approached recently by WWII and Korean veterans who had the balls to look me in my eye and tell me they were sorry that they did not offer us a better welcome. So, I guess in my case, it balances out. But, you can bet that this two tour Air Force and Red Horse Vietnam veteran will NOT stand by and see a new generation of our brothers and sisters in arms abused the way we were!! I thank the Good Lord we still have men and women who will step forward to answer the call to arms, when needed!