Posted By:
MAF Blogger Danny
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Greetings all ye patriotic visitors to MoveAmericaForward.org. I regret to inform you that I am going to have to post a double whammy today. My sincere intention was to have a separate post for each rally but that just is not logistically possible if we intend to maintain any semblance of efficiency.

I will still separate it into different posts, but I would just ask the reader to bear in mind that in such a situation it is more difficult to keep the events of one rally fresh in one’s mind.

I’m in the RV with Buzz, Debbie Lee, Diana Nagy, Gary and Comrade Sal Russolini. We’re on our way to Los Angeles and the caravan is amazingly still almost-on-time!!
We hope to rally in LA at 3:15 this afternoon at Griffith Park. Hopefully after that rally we will have more a more detailed account. I sure hope people show too.

This morning in Modesto we had a very intimate rally and there were some very touching moments I have to tell you about. The crowd was not as massive as in other places; I counted about 30 people at the very beginning of it. What amazed me was that the rally was at 0800 hours instead of the usually 0900 that we hold most of the morning rallies.

I expected turnout to be horrible because of the early time, but to my amazement I saw a big group of at least 15 or 20 people walking out of the hotel at 7:30. I was amazed. I woke up at 6 and I was the first person in the lobby at 6:40, Buzz showed up 2 minutes later as I was printing directions. By 6:50 it seemed like everyone was awake and getting ready for the rally and Ryan and I had started setting up the audio and merchandise/victory blanket table.

So I figure, “This is great, I’ll have time to set everything up and we’ll still have at least half an hour before anyone gets here so we can go eat breakfast at that really good lookin’ buffet they had in there.” It was no sooner that I had internalized these fateful words that the 15 or 20 that I mentioned earlier came out of the hotel lobby en masse. I was completely taken aback, we weren’t halfway through setting up yet and already these people were ready to get started! It was well before 8:00 and everyone was asking if they could help set up.

These were a really dedicated and energized group of folks from the Modesto area. I was really happy with the rally there. Deborah John lead the rally this stop and she did a wonderful job! In fact her speech about her Son’s commitment and his tours of duty brought her and several others to tears. I expect to see a lot of this in the next few weeks. Debbie Lee also spoke from the heart and she brought to my attention ANOTHER Gold Star Mom in the crowd.

Corporal Michael D Anderson Jr. was killed in the line of fire, doing his duty for God and Country. And just like Debbie Lee says about her own son EVERY TIME she retells his proud story, Michael’s life was not taken from him by terrorists. Michael was willing to GIVE his life for his fellow soldiers and Americans back home. Whether they believed in him or not. That was how strongly he felt. I am trying to get more information on Michael’s Story, so check back for an update soon!








One last note on the Modesto Rally was that one gentleman in attendance who is a frequent poster on FREE REPUBLIC (little shout out there!) Dave Jersild. Dave makes wind chimes as a hobby and made two sets of patriotic wind chimes with the chimes painted in an American flag pattern. It took Dave 2 weeks to finish his projects which he donated to Move America Forward for the tour to give to a gold star family or wounded veteran.