I was there yesterday too. Myself and members of my club, Second Brigade MC, and the Viet Nam Vets MC traveled to DC from the state of Kentucky Friday morning. The trip was unpleasant to say the least. We drove thru a nice little snow shower in the Virginia mountains. Rain pretty much the rest of the way.
At 4:30 Saturday morning we were rousted out of our lest than sound sleep… 13 guys in 3 hotel rooms. We went from there to a quick breakfast and caught the train. Instead of the usual exit point the organizer had asked the we go a bit further than Foggy Bottom station. They did not want any trouble and neither did we. It still got us to the memorial. When we got there it was quite a site. We came in from 18th street on constitution. We went by the place where the Gathering of Eagles set up. It was impressive, but I had friends that had never been to the wall so that was our first stop. The park service had set up security literally on and around the wall… Security included metal detectors and searches. You could not get near the wall with pack of gum.
The security was both a disappointment and a relief. I hated that we would have to worry about our own citizens defacing a memorial to fallen solders… Solders that fought to protect the constitution that the protestors were hiding behind.
After I took my brothers to the wall we went to the Lincoln Memorial. That was were we had agreed to meet. There were brothers from all over the country. In addition to the Viet Nam Vets, Legacy Vets, and the Second Brigade there were other motorcycle clubs, Legion Riders, Patriot Guard, and representatives from every veteran's organization. There were active duty solders and retired veterans. I had one young man, maybe 15 years old, that was standing next to me… He thanked me for coming to the event and told me that when he was old enough he was going to join the Marines.
What your friend said was true, there were a lot of people on both sides. There was yelling back and forth from both sides of the street and a lot of emotion. Myself an many of my club brothers walked thru the protesters camp too… We did it before the reinforcements came, and eventually we were prevented from visiting. They did not have as much to say to us as your friend. I think they were a bit surprised, but they were pretty uneventful.
The reinforcements for the police came and the bicycle racks were set up, but the focus was not on us, but the protester. We made our stand and invited the protestors to visit us, but the invitation was declined. They preferred staying on their side of the street. When the parade started it was loud and there was a lot of yelling on both sides, but nobody was harmed, that I saw. At one point all of us at the Lincoln Memorial turned our backs on the protestors, but I do not think they even understood why we did it or what it meant. They did not seem to understand the concept of respect.
They were mostly kids with a few leftovers from the 60s peace movement. The kids did not understand what they were doing. That was clear. What disturbed me was the adults that were teaching the kids in their camp. The old "Students for a Democratic Society" were there. There was a lady flying a PLO flag. Another group called out that an Iranian visitor was a hero of their movement. It was insane.
Greasy, I have rambled quite a bit… I will leave you with this last comment.
On our side of the street we all stood proud. We knew our cause was just and stood by it. On the other side of the street many of the participants were wearing masks. When the "happing" was over nobody carried their protest signs home proudly, like we did the US Flags we were given. Instead, if they kept them at all, they hid them so nobody could see. A few of the protestors showed up in the train car we were riding in… We did not bother them, that is not our style, but they tried hard to hide who they were.
That is when it hit me… Like so many things the mob carries a lot of power. As a group they were pretty loud, but once the mob broke up there was not much for them. They hid from the world what they believed in so strongly only hours ago. There is a not so old song that makes the point. If you do not stand for something you will fall for anything.
If you made it thru this whole note forgive me for rambling. If I can ever digest all that happened yesterday I will try to come back with something more concise, but I cannot make any promises.
LRB
Danno
Second Brigade M/C
Chapter H
Kentucky
