What the Eagles will not stand for, however, are "violence, vandalism, physical or verbal assaults on our veterans, and the destruction or desecration of our memorials. By defending and honoring these sacred places, we defend and honor those whose blood gave all of us the right to speak as freely as our minds think."
Sgt. Artie Muller, founder of Rolling Thunder, the POW/MIA advocacy group, has called on his 80-plus chartered chapters to turn out. Move America Forward, the grass-roots, non-profit, pro-military charity, is launching a caravan from California March 8 to join the Eagles and will bring flags from across the country for the event. The Nam Knights will be there, too. Bill Devereaux, a member of the South Jersey Viet Nam Vets Association, wrote to tell me he had "appropriated a bus on which 40 of our members will be attending the event."
Daniel McPeters, an Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veteran, e-mailed that "at least a dozen of my brothers will be attending this vigil of necessity and representing those not able to be present. This has needed to happen for 30-plus years. Anyone that supports our troops and their cause should try to make it out, or contact their local Veterans post and spread the word. The silent ones need not be silent any more."
Cindy Sheehan has responded to the Eagles by deriding them on the Gold Star Families for Peace website as "Rightest [sic] America Haters" who are "brainwashed and propagandized."
The question isn't, "What can I do to respond to the Sheehanistas?" The question now is, "What will you do?"
Get off the darned sofa and show your support. March 17. Washington, D.C. Find out more at www.gatheringofeagles.org.
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