let’s all make believe that in the end we’ll all grow up.

He sold these a crock about people need your written permission to be recorded in public. And he misquoted a “wiretapping” statute to do so.

Notice that’s what got them hot and bothered.

Those two may want to hire a lawyer and sue the VFP “lawyer”. In good faith, they acted on what he told them.

I can only say, which coincides with CJ’s post above, that you have to see the ‘peace’ people in action to get an appreciation of what we face.

Keep in mind that the Gathering of Eagles formed because of the incidents that happened in Washington, DC, on January 27, 2007. On that day they held a march to the Capitol. Along the way they defaced the Navy Memorial, spit on an Iraq Veteran amputee, and spray painted their slogans on the Capitol steps. The Washington, DC, and Capitol Police did nothing.

Yes, there were many prior incidents, but this one was the catalyst.

When they announced that their next demonstration (a march on the pentagon) would begin with a rally at the Vietnam War Memorial on March 17, 2007, that was too much for many Vietnam Veterans to bear. The Vietnam Veterans had the most experience with this type of radical activism slandering and defaming them. The overwhelming majority of them had served honorably and well in Vietnam, yet were branded ‘baby killers’ when they came home.

Those men and women were appalled that another generation of American soldiers was being put through the same treatment they received. They were incensed that the police refused to maintain order in January. They were infuriated that their memorial, which honored 58,000 of their brothers and sisters who never made it home, could be defaced. When it was announced that Jane Fonda was going to be present that was the icing on the cake.

In the intervening years from the sixties and seventies a technological revolution had swept the U.S. and the world. Where before such individuals would have stewed by themselves and punched their TVs or yelled at their radios, now they actually had a means of finding and communicating with others who felt the same way. Internet groups and blogs had appeared on the scene which allowed interactive communications. Many of the veterans groups had established such forums and the combinations that I cited above lit up the channels like a brushfire on the prairie.

Non-military groups and individuals picked up on the chatter and passed the information along to their readers. Eventually almost every website that supported the troops and that was at all current on events had a reference to the March 17th date.

There was a general consensus that the time had come to act. That the ‘see no evil’ attitude of the police was going to encourage worse acts of violence and desecration than had taken place yet. That we had to sacrifice to protect our memorials and our men and women who served in Iraq and Afghanistan from the lunacy at home.

So we came. In ones and twos, a group here, an individual there. In weather that was atrocious if not life threatening. Braving a blizzard that blanketed the northeast, many drove through the dark night to be there. No one knew how many would arrive, few had posted their intentions on the web, but still they came. When dawn broke in Washington on March 17th, a coating of ice covered the ground as veterans and patriots alike began to gather on the mall. A stiff icy wind blew across the Potomac, but it failed to chill our resolve. Like buds flowering in the spring, flags began to sprout on the grounds of the rally site, all around the Vietnam Memorial and on the grounds of the Lincoln Monument.

It was a moment like none of us had ever witnessed, thousands had come from all across the country to stand guard over our memorials and prevent the excesses of the anarchists.

The ‘peace’ groups rallied directly across from the Lincoln Monument and for several hours we had to listen to their ranting and raving about the ‘evil’ United States, and how ‘peaceful’ the enemy is. The profanity they used and the hatred they exuded for this country was palpable to anyone within a quarter mile. Witnessing them in action was all the validation any of us needed for our determination and sacrifice in getting there.

For most of us it was a ‘Never Again’ moment. A resolve was reached that never again would we allow these people to go unopposed in their attempts to gain political gain by flagrant acts of violence, desecration and abuse. Never again would we allow such people to do unto our veterans today what they were able to do to our veterans in the past. Never again would one generation of veterans abandon another.

That is why we do what we do.

Just as I would not presume to offer advice or admonition about what you need to do in Afghanistan, because you are the guys on site with the knowledge of the terrain and opposition, I would ask that you grant us some credit for being intelligent and discerning enough to wage an effective war against the domestic insurgency without resorting to violence. Will there be incidents that get out of hand? Probably, any time you get two groups in direct opposition the potential for violence exists, but the violence will not be of our doing if I can help it.

Dan Maloney
NY State Coordinator
Gathering of Eagles

I have to beg to differ. I’ve been antagonized and instigated into throwing punches many times. When I returned from Iraq, I was stationed in the DC area and took part in many GOE and personal events to counter the anti-war psychos. I did it through talking about my experiences and trying to educate them. You may be surprised about what I was called and how in my face they were. They WANTED me to throw the first punch, but I’m a better person than they are. I could see a few times where it was backfiring and THEY wanted to throw the first punch because they weren’t getting to me.

They’re just words. I grew up with the whole “stick and stones” thought process. Hell yeah, I was angry at some of the things they said about me, my fellow Soldiers, and our fallen comrades, but I kept my cool. Fortunately, none of them initiated contact on me or tried to steal my signs. That’s when the beatdown would have proceeded. Andria could stand to have the same self-control.

As a fellow Soldier, I can tell you that Congress instigates me every day, but I won’t start hitting a 14-year boy for it!!

Thank you for being, as always, mature and well thought out in your messages. I do have something to say about a comment you made. “In the end the noisy strategy won, not because we like to be loud and in anyone’s face, but because it works to get us in the news and steal some of that airtime from the opposition.” If you antagonize the opposition you should expect some sort of rebuttal. The one thing that messes soldiers up more than anything is problems on the home front. And It seems like your making more war than peace.

I took your advice and looked up some of the other organizations you mentioned. It makes me sick that someone could serve their country and through it out the window. I also ran across some information about someone who sued a nun for, barley nudging one of your members in the butt. Don’t you think thats a bit over the top. Have you ever considered leaving the courts out of your incidents? I understand that you need the public eye, but is there any way to reach a compromise. There must be many ways to grab the peoples interest outside of court cases and fights. Even if you didn’t start them. You instigated them. It takes two to tango.

On the contrary, you are splitting hairs by saying that Brad did not escalate the “physical” situation. In fact he did that too. It is plain to see that he is taunting Jason Swartout by pushing his wheelchair into him and then asking “What are you going to do about it?” He is using his medical condition as a shield.

Jason, wisely, steps away from him off the path, and Brad pursues him. That all amounts to escalation.

You then say that Jason’s attempts to recover his sign are an escalation. Let me ask you this. If a pickpocket grabs your wallet are you allowed to grab the pickpocket in an attempt to regain your property? The sign was clearly Jason Swartout’s property. It was taken from him. He attempted to recover it in a non-violent fashion. He did not punch the thief even when provoked to do just that.

Finally you say that the two handed shove was a continuation of the escalation, glibely ignoring the fact that the video clearly shows that the woman in green struck Mrs. Swartout first with her right hand into Mrs. Swartout’s left breast area.

The two things that are clear to me are that you are viewing the video with preconceived notions and that you think that no one should have the right to publicly voice their opinion about the opinions you freely express.

Dan Maloney
NY State Coordinator
Gathering of Eagles

I’m sorry you are upset by whatever incidents you are reading about. Perhaps if you provided links I could look into them.

The one incident that every lefty likes to point to is the Carlos Redondo incident on September 15th in Washington. Every lefty accuses our members of attacking Carlos. That is not what happened. One of our members DID take the photograph of Carlos’ son off the casket that Carlos was dragging around. That member did not know who Carlos was and it was wrong for him to do that, but it was not an attack.

What happened next was that Carlos saw him walking away with the picture, ran after him and tackled him from behind. Other members pulled him off and held him until the police could arrive, which was only a minute or two.

That was the sum total of what happened. No one was kicked, contrary to some air head’s claims, and the worst injuries were bites when Carlos bite one of our members. Our member who was attacked refused to press charges when he was told of Carlos’ status as a Gold Star father.

My personal experience, and in the last year I have racked up quite a bit, has been that every single instance of violence has been initiated by individuals from the ‘peace’ groups. I have had women from my New York group assaulted, I personally have received threats from so-called “Veterans for Peace”. One of our members was assaulted in New Jersey and his camera stolen. The Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Times Square was bombed with an IED. A young airman in New Jersey, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, was shot in the heart but managed to survive.

Have you read anything like that being perpetrated by the Gathering of Eagles?

You say “A real hero is a silent hero.”

Well, we tried that once before 35 years or so ago. It got 3 million southeast asians killed. Just search for any current references to the Montagnard Tribes of Vietnam or anything on the Killing Fields of Cambodia in the seventies. There is a lot of atonement that should be required for what happened in Vietnam, but very little of that is from what our troops did while over there. A whole lot is needed for the lack of an effective response and pushback against those who ‘cut and run’ and then denied any material assistance to our ally.

The media loves to publicize anti-war demonstrations because it fits right in with their mindset. They couldn’t give a rat’s a$$ if it gets more of you guys attacked over there. But they hate to publicize us because we are the antithesis to their thinking. We believe in America, we believe in our troops, we believe in their mission.

The end result is that if we are present the media tends to not cover the anti-war event. That way they won’t have to be even handed and interview us as well. If you think there is no media bias just look at the reporting on our first event on March 17, 2007. Every single media outlet went to the anti-war side, none came to us even though we outnumbered them three to one.

There was much discussion about the ‘silent’ strategy vs. the noisy strategy. In the end the noisy strategy won, not because we like to be loud and in anyone’s face, but because it works to get us in the news and steal some of that airtime from the opposition. (That doesn’t mean we can’t be quiet and respectful when appropriate. Many of our members are also members of the Patriot Guard riders and other organizations that do ‘silent and respectful’ all the time.)

We need to do this because if the anti-war crowd gets its way:

1. The bloodbath in Afghanistan and Iraq when the terrorists wreak their revenge on anyone who placed their faith in us will exceed anything we saw in SE Asia.

2. The reputation of the United States and the faith our allies place in us will be severely damaged. Who will side with us the next time? Who will stand up to the terrorists knowing that no one has their back?

3. The one hope of shuffling the cards in the middle east by injecting democracy into the mix will be irretrievably lost. The radical theocracies will have won the day and will continue their efforts to dominate the world through whatever means are at hand.

Now if you want to talk about a group that is trying to give you a bad name look at Veterans for Peace (VFP, formerly VVAW, Vietnam Veterans Against the War) and their new stepchild Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). Those people tried to pull off a remake of the original WInter Soldiers debacle that slandered and defamed every Vietnam Veteran and painted them with a stigma that lasts to this day.

They promised riveting stories of atrocities and war crimes being committed by our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. They have been unsuccessful to date because we and individuals like us have been fact checking everything they say, and exposing the frauds among them that have been claiming to be veterans.

That’s all I’m going to write tonight, more than I probably should have, but those were all things that had to be said.

Thank you again for your service.

Dan Maloney
NY State Coordinator
Gathering of Eagles

Mrs Swartout stepped in to seperate Andria from Jason. Her sister ran up to her and laid hands on her. Don’t forget Mrs. Swartout is in a cast recovering from major foot surgery. If she could have turned and ran away from the girls she would have. In fact the video shows her turning and Alyssa grabs her shirt and pulls her back around.

If someone is trying to pull you into a fight would you not push them off of you?

You all are hypocrites!

Andria’s boyfriend is merely regurgitating the same talking points these local anti war protesters have been saying about the Swartout’s for months. They simply are trying to demonize them. Fact is the Swartouts have participated in about 5 counter protests in the past 6 months. hehehe Now does that sound like stalking to you. They have better spent their time holding 2 pro troop rallies a week and gathering donations for the troops. Lets not forget the Poker Run their group is organizing to benefit Operation Helping Hands at Walter Reed.

Let’s stick with the facts and not hearsay about the Swartout’s character. Cause I can guarantee you that their critics could not compare!

I appreciate the civil discourse.

“Brad was not some poor invalid who happened to get caught up in the altercation, he helped escalate the situation.”

He may have instigated, but he did not escalate; escalation of the physical nature was first committed by Jason, when he put his hands on Andria, after she grabbed the sign he had set on the ground.

Escalation was continued with the two-hand shove by Mrs. Swartout.

“Andria’s sister rushes over with her red sign and the first contact is clearly her pushing Carrie Swartout with her right hand. Carrie then pushes her away and the red sign strikes Andria. That is the beginning of the physical assault, the pushing of Carrie Swartout.
Watch that scene carefully and step through it frame by frame if it isn’t clear the first time.

If you are not going to do your homework and actually study the videos then don’t start making false allegations about what happened.”

Dan, I have watched the video 100 times and 2 things are clear: Jason first initiates physical contact, and Carrie further escalates the situation with a two-hand shove..

This page was full of false assumptions and i find it laughable that some here suggest it is EVER OK TO HIT A WOMAN, or that Andria’s bf should leave her. (thanks for serving, btw)

You say Andria instigated Jason by grabbing the sign. Well what do you call Jason and his family, whose entire lives are based around stalking peace vigils and antagonizing ?

There were regrettable actions on both sides but the entire situation could have been avoided if the Swartouts would simply respect the efforts of those with another opinion.