A million vets are coming to DC to demand their monuments be opened

A million vets are coming to DC to demand their monuments be opened - Susan L Ruth, Washington Times

WASHINGTON, October 7, 2013 — A march is coming to Washington this weekend that might make the lawmakers on both sides of the aisle take notice and rethink all of the political grandstanding in order to gain campaign contributions for themselves and their party, yet are hurting real Americans.

On Sunday October 13, 2013 the Million Vet March is going to take place t 9:00 a.m. at the World War II Memorial.

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The protest has been organized by individuals with various connections to the military, either as children of veterans, spouses of veterans or those who have served themselves, who are outraged and deeply disappointed that individuals who have served in the military have been blocked from the memorials honoring their service across the country. They are most concerned about blocking access to monuments in the nation’s capital, Washington D.C.

According to the Million Vet March website, the organizers are not concerned about what anyone’s political leaning are, be they Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, if anyone who saw the World War II veterans barricaded from their memorial this past week and felt outrage, they want you to join them in their protest.

The organizers believe that the veterans are being used as pawns that have unwittingly found themselves in the middle of a political battle, and according to the organizers statement, that should never happen.

Daniel L. Kaifetz, executive director of North Country Honor Flight, has reached out to the Million Vet March organizers due to the fact that there are going to be five Honor Flights in Washington D.C. on October 12, 2013.

Kaifetz is hoping for a large presence of veterans and supporters to be at the Iwo Jima Monument on Saturday to assist the World War II marine heroes to gain access to their memorial.

Honor Flights is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to bringing veterans of wars to see their memorials in Washington D.C. at no cost to the service member.

These flights were started after it took almost 60 years after World War II to complete the memorial to honor that war and it was realized that many of those who were being honored would never get a chance to see the monument erected to thank them.

The flights arrive at one of the Washington D.C. area airports, National Airport, Dullas Airport or BWI Airport on a variety of airlines although Southwest Airline is the official airline of the Honor Flight organization.

American Legion Unit 180 in Vienna, Virginia organizes the Hero’s Welcome project so that when the veterans leave the airliner, they are greeted by a cheering crowd.

The Million Vet March’s Facebook event page has over 23,000 “likes” and states that almost 2,000 individuals have committed to attending.

The March also has organized a petition to ask that the memorials be opened which has received 3,254 signatures at the time of this writing. The petition states that veterans should never need to storm their own memorials and are asking not only for the immediate opening but also for legislation so that these monuments can never be closed again.

Rally’s are being organized in each state for those who are unable to travel to Washington D.C. but who still want to show their support for the veterans.

The Million Vet March will be joining the previously planned Truckers Ride for the Constitution protest on the same weekend.

The trucker protest was organized after the 9/11 Two Million Bikers Rally. The truckers say that they are coming into Washington D.C. to protest the corruption of the government and to participate in a strike as part of the protest by not hauling freight during the days of October 11 – 13.

If enough truckers converge on the streets of Washington D.C., there is no doubt that they will truly shut the city down.

It is unclear how many truckers have committed to attending the strike/ rally in Washington D.C. this weekend but the Facebook event page currently has accumulated 46,427 “likes”.

Anyone who is planning on entering the district this weekend to lend their support to these protests should plan on taking the Metro in and out of the city. It is also recommended to buy metro tickets beforehand either at a station or online as some believe that when rallies became too large in the past, metro ticket machines were shut down.

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