San Diego,CA- My friend and I got there at Balboa Park around 12, we looked for others like us but no one around, I was mainly looking for others with blue shirts thinking that was our code color, but all I could find were the anti-American pink slip people. They were looking at me so I pulled out my “Bush 2004” button and wore it proudly until more of them showed and I didn’t want to get my butt kicked and put it in back my pocket, I now wish I didn’t do that. We kept looking for my fellow Warriors; unbeknownst that there was an email sent out that very morning saying where to meet; I did not get the message.

Finally after walking some more in the other direction I noticed some signs leaning against a tree and I walked up to them and sure enough there were my fellow Americans message, though no one was around, I could tell a patriotic sign from a mile away. Eventually some guys came to take the signs to the meeting place so I ran to my car and got out the sign I made the night before. It read “FREEDOM ISN’T FREE!”

I was so proud of it, my first sign. When I followed the guy to the meeting place I was ecstatic, I was so afraid that it was going to be just me protesting, but it turned out that this was their largest group to show ever (in San Diego at least). I was nervous, people looked at me with this uneasy look, I think that in part was because Tom was with me and he was dressed weird, he says he is ‘neutral’ and I guess he dressed the part. I think they thought at first he was from the other side, in fact he was there as my photographer, they eased up after a while.

We gathered for a meeting explaining the rules, what out mission is, and who is on security duty, and yes, we needed security! Then we took a group photo, passed around the sign in sheet, and then headed off to “battle”. If you can imagine, we weren’t taken with the greatest warmth, but everyone was moderately civil. To give you an image of where everyone was: the protestors were behind us far off on the grass, and we were aligned on the sidewalk of the entrance to the park, so the drivers coming and going could see us and our signs, but since the protestors thought we were infringing on their first amendment right they decided to bash our lines and planted themselves next to us. We didn’t have any problem with that, it’s a free country, we just smiled and held our signs higher.

The challenging part was when they wanted to debate us, and no one is harder to debate than an Anarchist who knows their Constitution. This guy wearing a beret comes up to me and starts telling me about how he

killed hundreds of innocent lives in Vietnam just because the U.S. told him too, and that no war is just; even WWII, because I asked him. And though he humbled me with my lack of knowledge (meaning that I don’t know it ALL) I came with the conclusion that this man, no matter what we say and do will never ever change his views, and that’s when the epiphany came to me, that is was the face of the “Enemy Within”! This guy still wanted to debate me, but thankfully a fellow Warrior joined in and gave me back up. But this guy was pounding us into the ground with his perverse views of the facts, so one of our security men rescued us by moving us up the line. Not to say that I was running from a battle, but this guy just wanted to argue for argument sake.

Time went on, I chatted with other Warriors, more people called us names, infiltrated our lines, but it was all good, the fact we were getting our message out was all that mattered. I remember this old lady there, maybe around 70 or older using a walker, she had an anti-Bush sticker on her back but was saying stuff that was contradicting to her exterior message, we think she was either delusional or on medication, in any part she was entertaining.

Soon after that was when the protestors started their march, there was maybe 200 or 300, I’m not good at judging sizes of crowds, but there was a lot. When they went on their march they left us and we were the only ones around, that was bliss, but it didn’t last long, after they had made their rounds of the park they came marching down the street (Park Ave to be exact) with their cultic chants and drums beating, that’s

when it got intense. Before, most of the protestors stayed away from us, but now we had ALL of them coming our way, yet we stood fast and had our signs waving high and proud, smiling as they marched by. The funny thing was that they were shouting ‘peace’ but they weren’t acting at all like it. People were cussing at us, giving us the bird, and a lot more. If it weren’t for the presence of Law Enforcement (who we also supported) things could have gotten a lot worse.

After the march things got a little hairy, people tempers got high and arguments broke out between the protestors and us, and when I say arguments I mean the protestors yelling at the top of their lungs as we were calmly retorting their rhetoric, thankfully the Police were right there waiting, God bless them for putting up with this.

All in all it was a victorious day for Protest Warrior, though we were out numbered, we got our message out. There were in fact a surprising number of drivers honking and giving thumbs up to us in support of what we were doing. I just hope they will come out next time and join us to support our country and the people fighting for them, but at least they understood our mission and message. The only hitch that happened was at the very end, one of our fellow Warriors was leaving the parking lot in his car and was stopped by a mad man (who by the way gave us grief earlier in the day) who proceeded to attack this Warrior. The mad man punched and broke with his fist Brian’s (being his name) front shield window. Brian was not hurt, but I’m sure mad, but he took no action against this man, which was good. The man was arrested and taken to the hospital I believe due to his bloody hand. But you have to expect this insanity that accompanies these types of people.

After Action Report: It was great, we got out our message, we did it peacefully on our part, no one was hurt (other than a car), and I think our cause is growing. I do plan on attending all that I can, and I pray that someday all will hear our message and begin to stand up for what was once their, given with the price blood, and defended it with the strength of the American Spirit! If you don’t stand up to these people, they will stand over you someday!

Flawed Society Staff Writer

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