Posted By:
MAF Blogger Danny
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December 9
Tampa FL
2:30 PM

We arrived at the park in Tampa not really knowing exactly what to expect. The story about Tampa starts with yours truly, MAF Blogger Danny, being tasked with the job of finding a suitable location to hold a rally. When I called the parks and rec’ department for the City of Tampa, they told me that I would need at least 45 days advance notice to secure a permit for a public park. Well it was already less than 30 days away, so basically I had no options except for trying to find some private property, but without knowing anyone in Tampa who owned property, etc.

Then I got an E-mail that Ryan forwarded to me from this guy, Ron, who was near the Tampa area, an enthusiastic and patriotic supporter as well as a vet who wanted to help out. So I asked Ron if he could help me find a place to hold our rally and he totally came through by suggesting the Veterans Memorial Park controlled by the county, not the city.

So when we arrived at the park I was a bit scared, not really knowing what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised to see an awesome crowd of people gathered and waiting for our arrival. We parked the bus off to the side of the cul-de-sac there and hopped out, setting up the sound system and the tables to face the lake.

At the conclusion of the rally Ron came up and recited a poem he had written about a visit he made to The Wall. It was a really moving piece and I was impressed that Ron had it memorized…but he wrote it after all, so I guess that might make sense. It was called “Someone Who Came” about a guy who visits the Vietnam War Memorial and sees another person who is also visiting the wall, and seems very emotional. So the poet asks the other visitor if he knew someone in the war, or why he was there…and is told that no, the visitor knows no one who died in Nam, served in it, or ever served in the military at all. The visitor was just grateful, and understood the sacrifices of those brave servicemen and their importance despite not having been touched personally or in his family by that sacrifice.

I thought that was a great message…because most of the people who come to our rallies they are either a vet themselves, knows a veteran or knows someone who is active military. It’s somewhat of an uncommon event when anyone at our rallies are just there because they are patriotic or just there because they honor and respect the military. I think that’s sad because every American should know and recognize the importance of our military even when they don’t see or think about them every day.

Our soldiers don’t just protect their own families and friends, they don’t defend freedom for any one part of society…they defend freedom for ALL OF US. Democrats, Republicans, Rich, Poor, White, Black, Brown, Conservative, Progressive, Religious, Atheist, Young, Old, Patriotic, even the Unappreciative. They defend our freedoms whether we care to recognize them for it or not.

I also had the opportunity of talking to the fine young ladies who head up “Operation Baby Battalion” which is an organization based in Florida but has operations on the west coast as well. The project was founded by Cindy Surace with her daughters Tina and Tracy and son Ted. The group produces a visually amazing and emotionally moving calendar featuring the infant sons and daughters of servicemen. These images cut to the core of you when you see them, and when our servicemen receive them while away at war they serve as a reminder of what we are fighting for. Visit their website at www.operationbabybattalion.com and order one of these awesome calendars!

Finally there was Ltjg. Joe Vermet of the United States Coast Guard who works in Tampa at Central Command in the Public Affairs Office. Lt. Vermet has been in the Coast Guard for 7 years and is a spokesman for Central Command to the press, media and to the public. Catherine Moy, Move America Forward’s Executive Director (acting) came into contact with Lt. Joe while trying to get our applications to go to Iraq through CENTCOM and forwarded to MNF-Iraq. Lt. Vermet helped us expedite our applications and has done a lot of MAF to help us achieve our goals of reaching out to the troops in person for Christmas. Joe came to the rally simply to drop off these here boxes of Christmas Cards. CENTCOM receives cards all the time, but due to restrictions set by the Department of Defense, they cannot actually be sent to Iraq by CENTCOM themselves. So Lt. Vermet donated these cards, over 6,000, to Move America Forward so that we could get them to Iraq in time for Christmas! What an amazing blessing to have the cooperation and support of individuals like Lt. Vermet to help Move America Forward spread the good word!

E-mail any questions/comments/corrections to mafbloggerdanny@gmail.com. Thank you for reading