Vets for Freedom

Good-sized groups hear Vets for Freedom heroes

Uncle Jimbo, at Black Five, provides an update on the Vets for Freedom National Tour:

The Heroes Tour has made it from San Diego to LA, Phoenix, Tucson and now we are in San Antonio. The events have all been special and the reception very warm. It has been heartening to see good-sized groups of people eager to hear from the folks with the real deal from Iraq and Afghanistan. This tour serves multiple purposes starting with allowing Americans across the country a chance to see and hear about the battles we have fought and the progress we have made. But just as much it serves as a counter-narrative to the MSM portrayal of our efforts in Iraq as a failure.

Since we sent the extra troops and changed our strategy to counter-insurgency (COIN), the results could hardly be more startling. That is one of the more compelling stories being told on the tour. Pete Hegseth talks about his time in Doura when it served as AQI HQ in Baghdad and was essentially a no-go zone, and contrasting that with his trip to the same neighborhood 2 weeks ago where kids played in the streets and he didn’t hear a single shot in three days out with patrols. Or Jeremiah Workman, who fought his way through 2 dozen insurgents in a single house in Fallujah earning the Navy Cross in ’04, describe the utter normality of life when he went back last September. We are winning and so are the Iraqis. The losers are the MSM and the Defeatocrats.

READ THE REST (and see an interview).

Vets for Freedom national tour features WOT’s heroes

Vets for Freedom launch event, March 14th, aboard the USS Midway

Updated.

A Medal of Honor nominee and recipients of the Navy Cross, Silver Star, and Bronze Star began a three-week, cross-country bus tour Friday night. They fought in Iraq and will provide first-hand testimony that our troops are winning. The numbers do not lie; the only thing falling faster than American casualty rates in Iraq is the mainstream media’s reporting about it [Hat tip to the Mudville Gazette].

Yes, our troops have paid a price in blood and courage. Since 9/11, on all battlefields, more than 4,000 American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines have earned and been awarded the top six medals for valor, the Bronze Star with ā€˜Vā€™ device and higher. Hundreds of thousands have served combat tours, tens of thousands have been awarded lesser medals for bravery or meritorious service, and more than 20,000 have received the Purple Heart. To date, 4,451 American troops and 9 DoD civilians have died during the War on Terror.

On April 8, the Vets for Freedom Tour will will reach Washington, D.C., where they will ask Congress to honor the service and sacrifice of so many by completing the mission, to fight on to victory.

The Vets for Freedom National Heroes Tour launched from San Diego on Friday, from aboard the USS Midway. More than 1,500 attended. Syndicated talk-radio host Hugh Hewitt spoke with several Vets for Freedom and also launch event MC Jon Voight (the later shown below with U.S. Navy vet, ’63 to ’68, Jerry Koch). Here is an excerpt of his interviews of former Army CPT Peter Hegseth and retired Army LTC Steve Russell:

Jon Voight with US Navy veteran Jerry Koch

These are a few of the warriors on the bus (click on each image to learn more):

Medal of Honor nominee and Silver Star recipient David Bellavia

Navy Cross recipient Marco Martinez

Navy Cross recipient Marcus Luttrell

Navy Cross recipient Jeremiah Workman

Bronze Star with 'V' device recipient Steve Russell

On Saturday in Los Angeles, Peter Hegseth spoke with KTLA TV:

This is where the tour is stopping along the way:

Tuesday, March 18: Tucson, AZ
Wednesday, March 19: San Antonio, TX
Thursday, March 20: Austin, TX
Tuesday, March 25: Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Wednesday, March 26: Des Moines, IA
Thursday, March 27: Kansas City, KS
Friday, March 28: Columbia/St. Louis, MO
Saturday, March 29: Nashville, TN
Sunday, March 30: Fort Campbell, KY
Sunday, March 30: Evansville, IN
Monday, March 31: Louisville, KY
Thursday, April 3: Columbia, SC
Friday, April 4: Charlotte, NC
Saturday, April 5: Fayetteville, NC
Sunday, April 6: Virginia Beach/Norfolk, VA
Monday, April 7: Richmond, VA
Tuesday, April 8: Washington, DC / Vets on the Hill
Wednesday, April 9, 2008: New York, NY

If you cannot meet the Vets for Freedom National Heroes Tour along the way, you can join them online and support their efforts.

Update, March 20, 2008: Michelle Malkin has video of the kickoff event here.