During the 3 day battle at Gettysburg, there was a regiment called the 14th Brooklyn Red Legged Devils, who carried a flag with the motto, “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.” This quote sums up for me our greatest need as a nation that must NEVER be dropped…NEVER, NEVER, NEVER.
This is why the Killion family has been to every possible local Tea Party and Town Hall meeting since April 14th, when 700+ Tea Parties were held all over America; 2000+ patriots rallied at the Capitol Building in Raleigh and we had a ball as we’ve peacefully protested bloated govt, out-of-control spending and taxation without representation, cap-n-trade (aka cap-n-tax), govt-run Health Care, etc. We even went to an Americans for Prosperity “Hands Off My Health-Care” event in Bill’s BBQ parking lot, here in Wilson, NC.
And we are proud to be a part of history that was made this past Saturday, on September 12, 2009 at the March on Washington (Visit The Official Website). My mom and dad, James Miller (a long-time friend of ours) and I drove up to DC on Friday night, spent the night in Maryland with one of my wife’s relative’s, woke up early to catch a ride on the subway from Carrollton Station to Federal Triangle and arrived at Freedom Plaza where 1000s upon 1000s were already gathered. We soon learned that each state was meeting in different places at Freedom Plaza, designated by state-specific flags, banners or standards. So we found NC and joined in. As we stood there (I found a high concrete wall to stand on so I could see everything), we saw the size of the crowd that just kept on growing and growing. It looked like people were flowing in on every side street like dozens of rivers flowing into an ocean and as Freedom Plaza filled up, the streets started backing up, including Pennsylvania Avenue, all the way back to the White House. The whole area was shut down for this sea of peaceful humanity and, guess what…there was not even one arrest the whole time.
Then, the march started. The crowd was so big that it took a lot to get it moving and when it started moving, it flowed very slowly, with the people almost on top of each other (To see an aerial shot, click here). When we finally got to The Mall, we all were amazed to see that thousands upon thousand were already flooding the front and sides of Capitol Hill. As we made our way around the pool in front of the Capitol, we found a place to sit and sat amazed at how many were there and STILL flooding in from Penn Ave and even every direction.
I eventually got a text message from my brother, Tyler, at 11:33am which read, “Having fun? I wish I could have gone. Take pictures. Be careful and I love u all. Tyler.” I then responded to him, at 11:52am, while we were sitting in front of the pool in front of the Capitol Building, “It’s amazing. 100s of 1000s and they r still POURING in. We heard 800 to 900 thousand and also heard over a million. Every1 is SO polite. The Mall is filling up QUICK! We r safe. Wish u were here 2.”
According to what I heard from Metro police and others who heard the same thing, 1.2 million people were present. Parks and recreation said 1.5 million. The UK Media reported 1 million. Mail Online and others have heard 2 million. Many in the mainstream media are saying this was “the largest rally against President Barack Obama since he took office” but, obviously, this is an incredible understatement. The New York Times said, “Many came on their own and were not part of an organization or group. But the magnitude of the rally took the authorities by surprise, with throngs of people streaming from the White House to Capitol Hill for more than three hours.” Michelle Malkin wrote that this march “rivaled the ‘Million Man March’ and the ‘Million Mom March’ for sure.” [By the way, I just heard that a 500,000+ anti-Obamacare petition is headed to D.C. Also, last week, 10,000 doctors signed and submitted a petition directly to Congress, opposing their Health Care Reform proposals; they also provided their own Health Care Reform ideas (i.e. TORT Reform, Intra-state Health Insurance marketing, etc)]
Soon after we sat down behind the pool in front of the Capitol building, I got antsy and had to get up so I could investigate the size of the crowd. I also had to pee. So I got up and headed down toward the Washington Monument, away from the Capitol building. As I walked I saw “Don’t Tread On Me” flags, American flags, tea-party/protesting signs, shirts and hats everywhere and I do mean everywhere. As I walked down The Mall and looked down every side street, I saw protesters down every one of them. We truly took over the entire area. I wondered if all these scattered folks were counted in the numbers the police and the parks and recreation personel had calculated. When I finally got to an art museum to pee, protesters were in there too, all over the place, resting and waiting to use the bathrooms. The spirit of freedom and life and liberty was everywhere, in everyone’s eyes. The elderly and youth and everyone in between were present, standing for the greatness of America. It was inspiring. I didn’t see one racist sign or hear one racist remark because, for us, it wasn’t about race and never has been. It’s about “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” It’s about the maintenance of all our founders fought and died for.
And yet David Axelrod says this protest does not represent the views of the broader public when it comes to health care reform. And the funny thing is that there wasn’t one ACORN, SEIU, AARP, union thug around, as far as we could see and hear. I guess George Soros and the rest of Obama’s funders could afford to pay anyone to face us.
At around 2pm, we decided to leave so we wouldn’t get caught in heavy traffic once the March disbanded. As we started back, we kept seeing and meeting tea partiers all the way from The Mall, at the subway stations, on the subway and at the parking lot where we parked at Carrollton Station. It was a great experience, another of many more to come because, “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.”
Oh ya, I took pics – Click Here. Enjoy!
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