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Day 6, Columbus, Ohio

The final day of the cross-country “We Support the Troops and Their Mission” bus tour kicked off with a press conference in the Westin Hotel in Columbus, Ohio.  Despite occasionally heavy rain and a spectacular lightning display, several hardy supporters came down early Saturday morning to hear remarks from Deborah Johns and Joseph Williams.

Joseph Williams comments on an anti-military ad placed in USA Today by Cindy Sheehan.

Several people greeted the bus as it pulled into Columbus.  Norm Emmets and his wife Barbara were there showing off the banner he and his wife have been holding on a street corner in their hometown of Hilliard, Ohio.  Since the war began, he has missed just three days, and his current streak stands at 261.  As the bus pulled away in the morning, Emmets stood in the rain holding an American Flag to send the tour on its way.  “Without veterans, there would be no America,” he said.

The record, to this point, for distance traveled to see the tour goes to Murray Braden, who came all the way from Erie, Pennsylvania, about four hours from Columbus.  She has two sons, one of whom served as a recon Marine at Camp Pendleton in California.  The other served with the 82nd Airborne and is currently in New Orleans helping with the cleanup from Hurricane Katrina.

Jeff Hall, of Westerville, came out to support the troops and to send Cindy Sheehan a message: “Stop dishonoring your son and his ultimate sacrifice,” he said.

The tour will conclude today with stops in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, site of the crash of Flight 93 on September 11, 2001.  From there it continues on to Baltimore, Maryland for a rally at Johns Hopkins University and then on to Washington, DC to complete the trip across the country.