Terrorist Supporters Begin March On Pentagon

From a nostalgic Washington Post:

Thousands of War Protesters Gather for March to the Pentagon

By Steve Vogel, Brigid Schulte and Clarence Williams
Saturday, March 17, 2007

Thousands of protesters, marking the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq, began gathering this morning for a march to the Pentagon, but many of them were met by a peaceful rally of veterans groups and war supporters near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

It was a classic example of grass-roots politics in Washington and of the strong emotions that the Vietnam War still exerts more than 30 years after fighting there ended. The organizers of the march to the Pentagon have modeled the protest after a key 1967 demonstration along the same route that denounced the U.S. military campaign in Southeast Asia.

Today’s counter-demonstration, organized by a group called the Gathering of Eagles, drew people from around the country who said they came to voice support for the war and for the troops in Iraq and to make sure that the Vietnam memorial, near the war protest’s starting place, is not desecrated. Many were veterans of the Vietnam war or relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq.

Rick DeMarco, 62, from Cleveland who was a Marine in Vietnam, said plans for the rally started after reports that at a war protest in January demonstrators defaced the steps to the Capitol. Veterans became concerned, he said, that demonstrators might vandalize the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and began an e-mail campaign to recruit supporters to come to Washington today.

They began gathering at 6 a.m. and by 7 had “completely occupied the sacred ground,” DeMarco said. All the entrances to the memorial were filled with Gathering of Eagles supporters, who held a rally with speakers and placards and American flags. They allowed others to view the memorial but were positioned to stop any attempt to deface it.

Antiwar demonstrators had said earlier that they, too, respect the memorial.

K.C. O’Brien, 65, flew in from Fairfield, Calif., to help serve as one of marshals for the Gathering of Eagles. “We feel that fighting terrorism around the world is better than fighting it here,” he said. Pointing to the antiwar protesters, he added, “If they’re anti-war, does that make me pro-war? I’ve been there. I’ve seen how awful war is. But there are things that are worse — living under tyranny.”

The Gathering of Eagles supporters and the antiwar protesters mixed peaceably along Constitution Avenue, sometimes trying to affix pins or stickers on each other but generally respecting the opposite side’s views…

Meanwhile, organizers of the march on the Pentagon expressed concern yesterday that the storm hitting the Northeast might affect turnout today.

Protest leaders said they still expect tens of thousands of people for the march, which will begin at 12:30 p.m. north of the Lincoln Memorial and cross the Arlington Memorial Bridge to the Pentagon’s north parking lot for a rally. Organizers are tying the protest to the 40th anniversary of the 1967 march on the Pentagon against the Vietnam War, saying it represents similar public anger…

“They are doing everything possible to continue to come,” said Brian Becker, national coordinator for the ANSWER Coalition, the march’s main sponsor…

Mike Marceau, a disabled Army veteran who served in Vietnam and is vice president of the D.C. chapter of Veterans for Peace, criticized the administration over recent reports of poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

“That is unconscionable, and we can’t allow that to happen,” said Marceau, who said he spent eight months at Walter Reed during 1970 and 1971 recuperating from wounds. “It’s time to stop spending money on hurting people and start spending money on healing people.” …

So far there are no wire service photos of this historic event. Which indicates that the war protesters might be outnumbered.

Funny how the Post’s headline only mentions the “protesters.”

And isn’t it also funny how bad weather always seems to keep the numbers of these things down.

But of course it is just the usual gathering of the same old rent a mob – ANSWER, Code Pink, the VFP…

Mike Marceau, a disabled Army veteran who served in Vietnam and is vice president of the D.C. chapter of Veterans for Peace, criticized the administration over recent reports of poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

I wonder if Mr. Marceau really is a veteran, since so many of these “Veterans For Peace” turn out to be fakes. And if his injuries are service related, since so many of them aren’t.

I also wonder what Mr. Marceau has done to discourage Code Pink and other anti-war protesters from their endless stalking of wounded soldiers at the entrance to Walter Reed, and mocking them with their signs.

Or has he joined them in that noble mission?