Million Vet March on Memorials Not Too Happy with Politicization of Their Event [View all]

[Emit]

Last edited Sun Oct 13, 2013, 09:27 PM - Edit history (1)

On Their Website Home Page:

The political agenda put forth by a local organizer in Washington DC was not in alignment with our message. We feel disheartened that some would seek to hijack the narrative for political gain. The core principle is about all Americans honoring Veterans in a peaceful and apolitical manner. Feel free to check out the 60+ rallies of the Million Vet March across the nation at our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Million-Vet-March-on-the-Memorials/539097822833735.

http://1mvetmarch.wordpress.com/


On Their Facebook Page:

~snip~

For some, it is hard to separate the politics from the issue at hand. Some will blame the President, some will blame the Congress. Make no mistake about it Americans. We, as Americans, voted everyone of our elected officials into office. We are ALL responsible for this mess. It is up to us, as Americans to correct this mess. We all have opinions, but we need to drop them and get to the business of fixing what is wrong with our government, not what is wrong with America. America is a great nation with people from all over the world and to blame one party, faction or group over another is counter productive to democracy in a Constitutional republic.

Why were Veterans prevented from visiting their memorials and monuments dedicated in their honor? We don't know. We would really like to know the justification for why this was done. However, to us, it is one issue. Monuments, Memorials and Parks dedicated to honor the sacrifices of our American Veterans and their brothers and sisters-in-arms know NO politics.

~snip~

It is our official position that the purpose of this march and the accompanying rallies is focused on the re-opening of the Veterans memorials and keeping them open. While we understand that a Constitutional republic requires the equilibrium of checks and balances to maintain the democratic process, the memorials, monuments and parks built in honor of Veterans should NEVER be closed, blocked or restricted from use. We take the official position that no government office holder shall have ability to abridge the freedom of access to these hallowed grounds.

We have, as a group, been prevented from certain groups that have piggy-backed off our grassroots efforts, to effectively create a comprehensive media message campaign. We made the mistake of trying to partner with some Washington insiders that thwarted many of our genuine concerns for keeping this apolitical and grassroots. While we support many of those groups common causes for Veterans, we do not support the manner in which they go about it. We chose instead to not incite or create panic.

~snip~

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Million-Vet-March-on-the-Memorials/539097822833735

Here's one of the comments:

XXXX 10 days just think We vets thank you it was an opportunity to help and support other vets as well. I was disappointed when Ms. Palin and Mr. Cruz walked up to us to say hello but then walked down to the center to try to use us for they're own purpose so I left to visit the viet nam memorial ty Brats

And on their blog:

Supporters, We Came To You A Week Ago

October 11, 2013 by 1mvetmarch | 5 Comments


Supporters,

We came to you a week ago with a pure mission. We opened a Facebook Page and asked you to gather at the World War II Memorial in Washington DC this Sunday to peacefully object to our government closing the monuments to our Veterans.

We have been overwhelmed by your support. Our group – all either military brats, veterans or spouses of veterans – are amazed at how our numbers have climbed daily!

Our simple message – that our National Monuments and parks should always be open for Veterans, regardless of the political climate – resonated and we were encouraged to inspire others to hold gatherings at National Monuments throughout the country.

Unfortunately, an idea that started as an unbiased show of support for Veterans has now turned into something political activists are exploiting.

Building off the success we have obtained through community organization and event support, several political groups are piggy-backing off our momentum and have interjected hatred, racism and even the possibility of violence into our efforts. We have also had extremists post threats on the page.

And while we appreciate these third party sites pointing to our event page, we can’t condone their messages and believe their motives to be out of sync with ours.

We want to make it clear: Any messages you read on any website at other than our own (http://1mvetmarch.wordpress.com/) or within our Facebook page are not associated with our group or our vision for this event. WE ARE NOT ACCEPTING DONATIONS.

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http://1mvetmarch.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/supporters-we-came-to-you-a-week-ago/