Tuesday, December 16, 2008
El Paso Rally

We awoke in Tucson and left the hotel promptly at 8:30 AM.  The sleep deprivation on these tours is something that starts to wear on you by about the 2nd or third day, especially if you didn’t sleep much on nights leading up to the tour! I slept on the bus for a while, it was supposed to be a 4hour drive to get to El Paso and I slept for about an hour on the bunk in the bus so the time passed quickly.

We had budgeted lots of time to make the trip so we actually arrived an hour early. We asked the manager of this Wal Mart where we would be allowed to park the bus and they allowed us to put it right up front!!! Awesome!

There were lots and lots of people passing by, doing their holiday shopping and wandering curiously over to see what was going on and why there was a huge red bus sitting on the sidewalk at their local superstore.

Even though it was a Monday and therefore not the weekend, one might expect to have only a sparsely populated Wal-Mart at 2pm, actually though, the parking lot was absolutely JAM PACKED. Another thing you notice, walking through the store, is that El Paso is REALLY a military town! We saw soldiers from Fort Bliss walking around all over the place!

This is also the first stop on our tour at Wal-Marts…we chose to do lots of Wal Mart stops to try and encourage new people to find out about MAF, instead of only those who hear about us and get our emails from friends. Well we also needed some more pens and we were sorely in need of more printer paper (you never remember what you forgot to pack until you need it!) so Calvin and I were secretly plotting a shopping list while we helped people get shirts and explained the Candy Diplomacy tins.

While standing around I met a wonderful lady, the mother in law of Sgt. Javier Cardenas who is in Iraq right now serving his country. Her daughter is still here in El Paso taking care of their little boy who is six years old and who already seems like he wants to follow in his daddy’s footsteps. She told me that when he hears the pledge or allegiance he knows how to salute, and does so. Just thinking about that caused her to shed a tear or two while Diana was singing our national anthem.

Let us also not forget Suzanne Pollack, whose son Robert Eby just joined the U.S. Army. She told me that her son Robert joined in the Army’s delayed entry program, so he signed up even before he was 18 and went straight from high school right to basic training.

Robert is 18 now and is stationed at Ft. Gordon, GA in the Signal Corps. He is an only child which worries his mother sometimes, especially because it’s a very real possibility that Robert could go to Iraq next year. “If he does get sent to Iraq, that’s the real nail biter,” Suzanne told me, “but I am proud of him. I am so proud.” Robert comes from a tradition of military service, his father and uncles served and that, his mother says, is what she thinks inspired him to join the Army.

We also got a chance to talk at length with Duane Simmons and Benny Modkins who work on Ft. Bliss. Duane, originally from Charleston, SC is an instructor and Benny, a native son of El Paso, is training for deployment to Iraq.

Benny told me he would be leading an infantry group on missions such as day to day security patrols but with the emphasis and lead taken by Iraqi security forces. He also emphasized the transition of Iraqi National Police and Sons of Iraq into a regular, more conventional police force. This transition is probably the most important mission our troops have right now and our troops are helping and training the Iraqis every day to take over security for their own neighborhoods.

It was an awesome time to be out there with all those soldiers walking around the Wal-Mart. This store really supports it’s troops and it’s community. But…leave it to Move America Forward…we got there early and yet somehow managed to start late and run the program late!!! We were already pressed for time and we hadn’t even made our supply run yet! After a rushed shopping spree where we got some Airborne to keep us healthy and some duct tape, we were off on the road again!

Monday, December 15, 2008
Blog Posts and News Coverage and Videos!!!

It has been a couple days since the beginning of the HHH-II tour but we found these videos and news reports from some of our stops! Enjoy!

Henderson, NV

Video and News Report from KTNV Las Vegas



LINK: http://www.ktnv.com/global/story.asp?s=9524045




Phoenix, AZ

ABC 15 Report and short video: http://www.abc15.com/content/news/phoenixmetro/story/Tour-to-collect-troop-care-packages-stops-in/_TX6nM18wUyQzjIs_3zewA.cspx






NBC 12 Report and Video! http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/2008/12/14/20081214troopcarepackage12142008-CR.html






Also: Blog Post and AUDIO on Marc Alan Lee: http://greggjackson.com/blog/?p=28 Thank you Gregg!

Sunday, December 14, 2008
Meeting Old Friends in Phoenix

Wow that was an amazing little reunion, and we even made some new friends too!

UPDATE: Russ from KNIX has posted OVER 60 PICTURES from the EVENT!!!! Thank you Russ!!!!


We just left the Phoenix rally, I have a lot to talk about so I can't write it all right now but here are some pictures real quick!!!



So the scoop that I failed to give you on our last post was the significance of meeting old friends out in Phoenix. Tonight’s rally at the VFW reunited MAF with our old friend the Chaplain Rachael Coggins from the U.S. Army Reserve. We met Rachael in 2007 when MAF sent a team to Iraq to hand out Christmas and Holiday cards to the troops in Baghdad, where MAF also saw firsthand the kind of work our troops are doing in Iraq.

Before making it to Iraq we had to stop off in Kuwait, which is basically where almost everyone going to Iraq has to cycle through. We had to stay in Kuwait for several days waiting for visas to be approved for entering Iraq. While we were waiting there we befriended Chaplain Coggins who was able to show us all around the huge Kuwait base and engineered many opportunities for us to meet and talk to the troops.

She once got Melanie and Debbie Lee an audience of over 300 troops and they gave Debbie a standing ovation, it was really an amazing sight to see. She also organized a meeting where we were able to think troops on their way back home to America on emergency leave. Basically meaning there was a family emergency at home and we were able to thank those troops on their way back.

It was during that visit that Melanie met the recruiter who carried the hero bracelet of the Marine who he recruited and wanted Melanie to find the boys mother and give her the bracelet. She finally tracked down the other some months later but reunited her with the bracelet.

Well it has been almost a year now since we last saw Chaplain Coggins but in the time since we last saw each other she has returned to the U.S. and now lives outside of Phoenix, so she showed up at our rally today and reunited with Debbie Lee and Mary and I. It was awesome to see Rachael again and we even found out that she had gone and written a book about her experiences in Kuwait.

Being a chaplain, one whom the troops come to confide in, to talk about their problems and seek advice, Rachael had a lot of interesting perspectives and stories that different troops had told her about their service in Iraq or Afghanistan. Her book is a chronicling of those stories and she calls it “Gateway to Iraq: A Chaplain’s Story.”  Rachael also informed us that Chapter 15 or the 24 chapter book is about MAF!!!
Can’t wait until it’s available in stores!

We also met another gold star family at this rally. Nick and Martha Aguilar live in Phoenix with their family. Martha’s brother  ,Emigdio Elizarras who was killed during an IED attack in Afghanistan on February 28, 2006. He was 37 years old and had 20 years in the U.S. Army. He volunteered to serve in the Middle East and was deployed with U.S. Army Special Forces. Here is a photo of their family.

Our hearts go out to the Aguilar family for their loss. Master Sgt. Elizarras sacrificed a lot for his country, as many have done. They have sacrificed more than anyone should ever be asked to and they did it without fear or without even flinching from their duty.

Where would this country be if we could not count on such men with nerves of steel and infinite determination?

Our first stop! Henderson, Nevada loves our troops !

We just finished our first rally stop since leaving Sacramento yesterday!

Henderson, NV has a great pro-troop community, especially the civic organizations who support the troops. There are a wealth of American Legions, VFWs wand Marine "Leatherneck" clubs in Henderson and Las Vegas.

At American Legion Post 40, where we staged this first rally stop, Ron Michalski is the commander and Earl Bishop is the Adjutant. Post 40 does a lot military family and veteran support as well as several community service based initiatives. For example they host a little league baseball tournament every year and they have also been collecting toys for the families of troops for Christmas.

In addition to Post 40 we also had members of American Legion Post 149 (Las Vegas) attending. Jon Sloan was present with friends Arthur and Pat Sloan who own this awesome PT Cruiser that has patriotic paint and decals all over the place making it basically a mobile promotion for our troops!

I'm in the bus right now boy are we tired!!! I need a nap but we are also on our way to Phoenix! Check back in with us later tonight for more details on how that rally goes!

Saturday, December 13, 2008
We’re on the ROAD for our Troops!!! Bring your Christmas Cards and Cheer for our Heroes!!

The big day is here and Move America Foward has already held our first tour stop on the Honoring Heroes at the Holidays II tour. The Sacramento crowds were good as we all stood up to honor our men and women in the Armed Forces. The air was cool, as it should be in Northern California as we approach Christmas. Special attention today went toward our Vietnam Veterans, as Sacramento held a parade for them!!! It warms my heart that we in the United States are trying to make up for the horrible way we treated our warriors as they returned from Vietnam. No man or woman serving our country should EVER be spat upon or called a baby killer.

Gold Star Mom Debbie Lee, whose son Marc was the first Navy SEAL to give his life in Iraq, is traveling with us. She will forever have an empty place at her table and in her heart, but she wants to make sure that our troops are remembered every day. That is why she has taken time away from her family to travel with Move America Foward across the country to send a strong message: We REALLY support our troops AND their mission!!!!

We are especially excited about this year's tour because we have a surpise ending!!! Due to security concerns, we cannot disclose our final destination. But we can tell you that we will be bringing holiday cheer to our brave men and women who have given their lives to the effort of American safety and security.

Our next stop is at 9 a.m. Sunday 9 a.m. tomorrow) in Henderson, Nevada, at the American Legion Post 40 425 E Van Wagenen St.

From there we will go to Phonenix, Ariz., for a 4 p.m stop and rally at the Veterans of Foreign Wars 804 E Purdue Ave.

During these stops, you may sponsor a care package for our troops and drop off Christmas cards that we will deliver to our troops!!!

Please keep coming back here and to MoveAmericaForward.com for continual updates.

We will also update this blog with photographs from the road!!
Here are the first pictures we've been able to get


An don't forget to buy a commemorative T-shirt. We only have a limited number for this year's historic tour!!

HHHII T-Shirts