Are you going to be part of this?

[darrels joy]

Are you going to be part of this?


Gathering of Eagles
Notes from the Chairman: GOE II To Be Held in D.C. on May 26
Posted: 06 Apr 2007 09:15 AM CDT
Humble greetings from the wilds of eastern North Carolina?Chocowinity, to be exact! It?s not a bad place to live. Check it out!

So many things are happening to GOE that I hardly know where to begin. For starters, the folks in the Northeast Region have already been involved in several activities, one of which was to support a city councilman who was denied the right to vote by telephone because he was deployed to Afghanistan as a Master Sergeant in the USAF! Regional Coordinator Chris Hill has got those folks worked up; keep it up, Chris.

And Southwest Coordinator Larry Reams is so organized that it makes my head swim. Larry, I?m trying my calcified-brain-best to keep track of what you?re doing; bear with me as I try to wrap my arms around it! Great job, my friend!

I mentioned ?humble greetings? above. Let me also use the phrase ?scared to death? to further describe how I am feeling about where we are now. ?Humble? describes how I feel about being ?on point? for GOE, because I fully understand how incapable I am in trying to orchestrate the efforts of so many talented and energetic people. ?Scared to death? describes how I feel about the consequences of any missteps I may make.

Of particular concern to me is how fast we are growing and how little experience most of us have in trying to set up and run a national organization. While GOE will operate best, I think, as a decentralized entity, there are, I confess, some things that we at ?national? (read: a small group of NC volunteers) will have to coordinate. These include national Gatherings and nationwide programs of various sorts.

The next Gathering will be held, as most of you know by now, back on the Mall in Washington, DC, on May 26th. We are teaming with Rolling Thunder to put on one of the biggest ?Support the Troops? rallies ever seen in this nation. Check the website for details and start organizing your car pools and bus charters. The Headquarters Hotel is the Georgetown Holiday Inn in the District of Columbia. We have 150 rooms available at a significantly discounted price; they?re filling up fast, so make your reservations soon.

Our first nationwide project will be ?Operation Recruiter Appreciation (ORA).? On May 19th, Armed Forces Day , Eagles will independently set up appreciation demonstrations outside hundreds of military recruiting offices across the country. Very little guidance will be forthcoming from ?national? (!); each effort will be planned and coordinated by local Eagles, and each effort will, accordingly, have its own ?hometown? flavor.

We will soon have available on the website both paper and rubberized GOE banners that can be used for ORA and other occasions. If you, as a local coordinator, think that this will be a one-time shot for you, then paper is probably your preferred option based solely on cost. If, on the other hand, you believe that you?ll be representing GOE on future occasions, you might consider buying the more-expensive ?permanent? banner. Keep watching the website for more details on ORA and banners.

I alluded to my concern about how fast we are growing. While it?s gratifying to realize that we are rapidly moving to the forefront of patriotic activist organizations, it is inevitable that we have some growing pains. Most of them revolve around the unanswered question of what kind of organization we intend to become. My vision for GOE is that we (1) retain a standing capability to respond to ?moonbat? provocations (such as Cindy Sheehan?s recent Pentagon frolics) and (2) be proactive in promoting the welfare of our troops and our veterans.

?Operation Recruiter Appreciation? falls into the latter category, as does the Tullytown, PA, councilman?s case. We will not stand by while our brothers and sisters are ?dissed? by their non-serving fellow citizens. The Left is going to know that we are here to stay and to be in their faces at every opportunity.

Having said that, however, we must be careful not to use the Gathering of Eagles name, logo, and general ?branding? in ways that could bring discredit on our organization. We must not, for example, be put into a position of appearing to endorse controversial legislation or to support political candidates. We MUST, however, be ever ready to support those principles underlying legislation that advances the cause of our troops and our veterans and to oppose legislation that is harmful to them.

While we will at times have differences of opinion about specific issues, we must unite under the non-negotiable principles of love of country; support of the military; and opposition to the treasonous activities of the Left.

Now, a word to all our great volunteers: don?t be put off by our initial inability to put your talents to good use, as we at ?national? are in a perpetual state of overwhelm. There are just so many things to do that some of them get put on the back burner. We WILL, however, be in touch with you in the coming months.

Finally, about contributions. While I think letters have been written to those who have contributed by check or money order, very few of you contributing via PayPal have received notes of appreciation. I apologize for that delay, and I plan to rectify that situation soon.

See you in DC on May 26th!

Eagles Up!

Larry Bailey

[Masatsune Sato]

No. I am Japan.

Ganbatte ne, omehhhh!




regarding,

M. Sato.

[Keith_Hixson]

[For starters, the folks in the Northeast Region have already been involved in several activities, one of which was to support a city councilman who was denied the right to vote by telephone because he was deployed to Afghanistan as a Master Sergeant in the USAF! Regional Coordinator Chris Hill has got those folks worked up; keep it up, Chris.]

The Law clearly states that if an elected official cannot be present at said meeting he can't vote. When I was in public office we enforced that (at least in the state of Washington). The law is in place so that elected officials families and friends cannot use their influence and vote by proxy. Having a person at site during voting is so very important. They have all the materials before them, they can be apart of the debate, etc. In my opinion the Gathering of Eagles is on the wrong side in this one. All my years as a public servant, 15 years, never once was a person allowed a vote who was not present. That included those who were in the National Guard on Weekend Duty, etc. They need to drop this one. It may back fire on them.

Keith

[darrels joy]

Keith,

I agree. They (Gathering of Eagles) say...

We have nothing to do with specific ?veteran?s issues,? simply because we are focused on one mission and one mission only. The bottom line is, if it?s not in the mission statement, we?re not involved with it. No politics, no side issues, nothing. We are here to ensure the troops know we have their backs here at home. End of story.

Our Mission Statement
1. Gathering of Eagles is non-partisan. While each member has his or her own political beliefs, our common love and respect for America and her heroes is what brings us together.

2. We are a non-violent, non-confrontational group. We look to defend, not attack. Our focus is guarding our memorials and their grounds.

3. We believe that the war memorials are sacred ground; as such, we will not allow them to be desecrated, used as props for political statements, or treated with anything less than the solemn and heartfelt respect they?and the heroes they honor?deserve.

4. We are wholly and forever committed to our brothers and sisters in uniform. As veterans, we understand their incredible and noble sacrifices, made of their own accord for a nation they love more than life itself. As family members, we stand by them, and as Americans, we thank God for them.

5. We believe in and would give our lives for the precious freedoms found in our Constitution. We believe that our freedom of speech is one of the greatest things our country espouses, and we absolutely hold that any American citizen has the right to express his or her approval or disapproval with any policy, law, or action of our nation and her government in a peaceful manner as afforded by the laws of our land.

6. However, we are adamantly opposed to the use of violence, vandalism, physical or verbal assaults on our veterans, and the destruction or desecration of our memorials. By defending and honoring these sacred places, we defend and honor those whose blood gave all of us the right to speak as freely as our minds think.

7. We vehemently oppose the notion that it is possible to ?support the troops but not the war.? We are opposed to those groups who would claim support for the troops yet engage in behavior that is demeaning and abusive to the men and women who wear our nation?s uniform.

8. We believe in freedom at all costs, including our own lives. We served to protect the freedoms Americans enjoy, and we agree with Thomas Jefferson?s assertion that ?From time to time, the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of patriots and tyrants.?

9. We will accept nothing less than total, unqualified victory in the current conflict. Surrender is not an option, nor is defeat.

10. We stand to challenge any group that seeks the destruction of our nation, its founding precepts of liberty and freedom, or those who have given of themselves to secure those things for another generation. We will be silent no more.


Will individuals do more and use the organization's name when they do? Of course they will.

[Keith_Hixson]

Joy,
He should have left that paragraph out.

Keith