Vets for Freedom's National Heroes Tour Update
The Tour Rolls on
It's Day 6 of our historic coast-to-coast bus tour and the Vets For Freedom (VFF) National Heroes Tour is in Austin, Texas today.
Standing ovations were the norm at stops across three states in the past several days, from a crowd filling the auditorium of a local school to the rafters in Los Angeles; to a group of veterans of all wars at the American Legion Post in Tucson; to a packed town hall forum at the Goldwater Institute in Phoenix; all the way back to a blowout, sunset kick-off event on the deck of the USS Midway in San Diego.
At the launch in San Diego, hundreds crowded the deck of the Midway to see former SEAL and Special Forces skydivers parachute onto the deck. Local area bands provided entertainment and Oscar winner Jon Voight was on hand to help recognize those veterans in attendance and thank them for their service. Check out video of the event here.
Several National Heroes spoke passionately to the crowd on hand about what the tour seeks to accomplish.
"It warms my heart to see you guys out here and to back us up in what we do. Because, we're not gonna quit…we're gonna fight… and there's nothing anybody can do to stop us from defeating them," said Marcus Luttrell, the only survivor of Operation Red Wing — a tragic day in Naval Special Operations when 11 SEALs and six Army Nightstalkers were killed.
"This heroes tour is not about the people on this stage, this is not what the heroes are all about. The heroes are in every...city who serve, who don't get attention, that don't get the awards," said David Bellavia, a Medal of Honor nominee. "The wives and the kids who don't have a dad for 6 to 15 months, these are the heroes. More importantly, the heroes that we left at Arlington National Cemetery, the heroes that are convalescing at local VA hospitals, that's what this is all about. And I just want to say from the bottom of my heart that what keeps us motivated is to see a city like San Diego, which is all about Patriotism and service [supporting us]."
Along the way, the National Heroes Tour has touched veterans of several wars and conflicts; parents of soldiers serving right now; and pushed out a message about commitment and community to high school students.
At one event in Los Angeles, the father of a soldier being deployed from Ft. Hood in Texas came to meet these heroes. He came to talk about his son, and thank them—and the countless others in our communities—for their sacrifices to our nation. The pride he has for his son and his commitment are overwhelming.
That's what this tour is all about.
Frontline Focus
Vets for Freedom Executive Director Pete Hegseth Returns to Iraq
Earlier this month, Capt. Pete Hegseth, who served in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Divison from 2005-2006, traveled back to Iraq as an embedded journalist with the National Review to report first hand on the progress of the surge. Below are some excerpts from his dispatches.
"Over the past year, violent attacks throughout Iraq are down over 65 percent, sectarian violence is down over 90 percent, Iraqi security forces are truly taking the lead in operations, and — thank God — American casualties are near all-time lows.
These dramatic security improvements have — as intended — created an environment in which Iraqi political leaders can reconcile. The result: De-Baathification law — passed. Provincial election law — passed. Amnesty law — passed. $50 billion budget — passed. With much more in the pipeline.
More importantly, at the local level, Iraqis have banded together to protect their neighborhoods and start the process of truly rebuilding Iraq. Markets are flourishing, shops have reopened, and in former al-Qaeda strongholds, girls are going back to school." |
To read more of Pete's Dispatches, visit the Vets for Freedom Website.
A Neighborhood Reborn, Seeing Baghdad again, for the first time:
February 28, 2008
Al Doura, Baghdad-
As I step out of the humvee into the street, I have two facts in mind: I've been here before; and this time, I don't have a weapon...
I take a few steps into the middle of an intersection with a clear view in all directions. Along the main thoroughfare, my immediate surroundings are replicated: block after block of shops and bustling residents. The side streets that I remember as sewage-clogged gutters are clean and teeming with construction and activity.
This is not Al Doura. The Al Doura I knew was the heart of sectarian violence, with daily body counts in the dozens. As I keep walking, I pass a busy car wash, and then a fitness center where young men pump iron and tear-outs of Muscle Fitness adorn the walls. We pass two new playgrounds, where boys clamber up and down slides and beautiful little girls play with dolls. A cart vendor offers me a bag of freshly popped popcorn — but I decline and have some falafel instead...
The entire time, we have only nominal security. It was disconcerting at first — I would never have come here unarmed two years ago — but the commander I'm walking with eases my concerns: the people are our security. The neighborhood residents trust the Americans, as well as the "Sons of Iraq" (or CLCs, as the Army calls them: Concerned Local Citizens) — local residents who provide security for the neighborhood. In a place where al-Qaeda dominated just eight months ago, today they couldn't buy a bag of popcorn. |
To read more of Pete's Dispatches, visit the Vets for Freedom Website.
Sons of Iraq, A grassroots surge against al-Qaeda.
March 1, 2008
East Rashid, Baghdad-
...Saint John's — one of about two dozen Chaldean Catholic parish churches in Baghdad — is located in East Rashid, a Sunni neighborhood described by both Iraqi and American officers as "former al-Qaeda headquarters." Church leaders manage a small but growing congregation of Iraqi Catholics, many of whom were able to attend their first Mass in years this past Christmas. The pews that day were also full of local Sunnis supporting their Christian neighbors, as well as invited Americans...
I step outside to find out more about the man in the tan shirt who persuaded the sergeant to disarm himself. He is a Sunni member of the Al Doura market area's "Sons of Iraq" (formerly known as Concerned Local Citizens), the local security militia paid $10 per day to maintain order and to collect intelligence in their neighborhoods. Asked why he took it upon himself to enforce church rules (on a U.S. Army sergeant, no less!), he told me, "I respect the Christians here, they are my brothers..."
One Son of Iraq told me, "A few of my friends joined al-Qaeda, and now they are dead or captured. I never did, and this gives me a chance to keep al-Qaeda from coming back."
In the near-term, the signs of success at the street level are obvious, with Sunnis protecting Christians and working alongside Shia police units. Al-Qaeda's former headquarters in Al Doura hasn't seen a significant attack in months, and I walked freely through the neighborhood, unarmed and with limited protection, for the better part of two days.
So, next time you hear antiwar groups say "We are arming Sunni militias who will turn their guns on us," throw the facts back at them. The young men I met are sick of the violence and have said "enough!" They want safe streets for their families and neighbors. The Sons of Iraq are not an end state, but they are a significant step forward in America's complex counterinsurgency fight. |
To read more of Pete's Dispatches, visit the Vets for Freedom Website.
Vets for Freedom In the News
Op-ed by Iowa Vets for Freedom State Captain Brandon Shepard
Iraq, the Iowa of the Middle East?
By Brandon Shepard
There are few places where the wheels of democracy turn more freely than Iowa.
Every four years, the eyes of the world focus on the Hawkeye state as we kick off the presidential political season. And we don't just vote when the CNN cameras are rolling, we vote in little-publicized local elections, too, because it is our civic duty.
I have always held a deep pride in Iowa's voting prowess, but I never knew what democracy was all about until I visited a land where the right to vote was little more than a dream.
Just days after 9/11, I signed up to fight the War on Terror. I enlisted to defend our freedoms here at home, but I soon found that I was fighting for something even bigger: to give complete strangers abroad a chance to enjoy the things many Americans take for granted.
A two-time infantry veteran, I served proudly under General Petraeus's command. Our work was tedious and dangerous, but on January 30, 2005, I knew it was worth the bloodshed. That was the day we stood guard as Iraqis flocked to voting booths for their first free election.