Posted By:
MAF Blogger Danny
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November 27
Stockton, CA
Fresno, CA
1620 Hrs

Interstate 5, heading South

We have just wrapped another day of the fight for victory tour. Our tour bus chugs along the freeway as the sun hangs low in the sky to my right. I look out at the flat desert of California that characterizes the terrain all the way through Los Angeles. We have had rallies today in Stockton and in Fresno, two cities that always give us a warm welcome.

In Stockton we visited Weber Point where we were greeted by many local supporters, including a local Stockton-based organization called “Packed With Pride” which does many of the same great things to support the troops that Move America Forward does.

The group was started by Becky Mizener and husband in 2004 following the death of their son Jesse who was killed in a mortar attack on the 542nd Maintenance Company in Baghdad which was Jesse’s unit. Jesse was killed January 7th, 2004, and 23 of his fellow soldiers were injured, but Jesse was the only one whose injuries proved fatal. Following their loss, the Mizener family decided to honor their son’s memory by doing exactly what they had done before he died, sending care packages to soldiers in Iraq. Before Jesse was killed, his Mom and Dad had often sent care packages to him and his buddies in Baghdad, but when they decided to continue sending packages after Jesse’s death, it became their mission to spread as much love as they could to troops all over, fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Today the Mizener’s operation has expanded to include office space, having outgrown the garage where the project began. They have a list of over 1,000 soldiers whom they send packages to on a regular basis which includes a very wide variety of items. And unlike Move America Forward’s care packages which are designed to feed a fire team, platoon or company, the packages put together by Packed With Pride are designed to concentrate on an individual soldier.

Having met with the PWP group we felt very encouraged that people all over the country are getting involved and doing whatever they can to help this effort.

After Stockton, Move America Forward hit Fresno. We held our rally at the same convention center as we did in the Fight For Victory tour and were greeted by many familiar faces from the last tour. Others said that they heard about the last tour but were unable to make it, and had mad it a special point to make sure and be available to come to the next tour. Some of you may remember from the September rally there, he was the gentleman whose car was all decked out with Marine Corps slogans and signage that everyone loved. He also beeped his car’s horn which as you might recall plays the Marine Corps Hymn. Fresno was also special because we chose this rally location to embarrass Diana Nagy and also celebrate her birthday!!!

As always we closed up the rally with Diana’s song “Where Freedom Flies” but this time the rest of the Move America Forward team came up and sang Happy Birthday to Diana and presented her with some flowers for her birthday. It was a touching moment, even for all our supporters who came to the rally, and Diana, well she was practically in tears. Its funny how it works on these tours. I mean this is only the second one I’ve been on now, but it doesn’t take long for someone to get a feeling of family when you spend some time with the Move America Forward team. And I say family because just like in a family, we at Move America Forward basically live together. Whether its spending a 16 hour day at the office in Sacramento trying to put together a big benefit concert in Washington (see- “A Song for Their Service”) or plan a 40-city tour of the nation, or digging up dirt on Code Pink, whatever. Then when we are on the road, we’re together constantly! And just like in a family there is stress and conflict and things will come up and cause problems, crises and each time, just like family, you put aside whatever differences you might have and work together because there is a sense that what’s most important is the mission of Move America Forward.

So tonight we wish a happy birthday to one of our most indispensable sisters here at Move America Forward, Diana Nagy. She is truly gifted and what’s more, she uses her talents to spread the message of hope and optimism to people here in America and our troops serving overseas. 

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