Thread: Wounded Marine Conquers Berkeley

Wounded Marine Conquers Berkeley
by Catherine Moy (more by this author)
Posted 02/15/2008 ET



Eamon Kelly stood, a cane holding his battered body on one side, and his mother propping up the other.

The young Marine, who had major back surgery only days earlier, needed to make a stand against the Berkeley City Council, which had denigrated the Marines, calling them “uninvited and unwelcome intruders.”

After the Berkeley actions ignited a national uproar, members of the City Council responded by claiming not to have read the fine print of the resolutions they had passed. But their words reveal the dishonesty in their claims.

Mayor Tom Bates has been hard-pressed to plead ignorance when he declared to the city council and the media alike:

“I’ve been working with Code Pink, and I believe in their cause and I believe that what they’re doing is the right thing, they are bringing maximum pressure to bear on the whole question of the Marines being in Berkeley, they don’t belong here, they shouldn’t have come here and they should leave.”

Marine Eamon Kelly was a living symbol of the national outrage against the Berkeley City Council, and showcased the honor, character and determination that runs abundant among our military men and women. That honor and character appear to be absent from most members of the Berkeley council.

Kelly’s physical pain was intense, yet he refused to leave the pro-military demonstration that was organized by Move America Forward to protest the actions of the Berkeley City Council. After standing in support of the Marines throughout the day and night he was too weak to speak before the City Council when he was finally afforded the opportunity at about 11:00 PM at night. Vietnam veterans offered to carry him into the chambers, past the radical anti-war protesters in pink who taunted those supporting the Marines.

“I can’t do it,” Kelly said. “I just have to listen to them.”

A medic from the Vietnam War told the young Marine it was time for him to go home. He was afraid shock might set in as the pain savaged Kelly.

“The people with whom we gathered asked Eamon to go into city hall and speak, but by this time his head was hanging down, and I was afraid he was going to collapse,” said Elizabeth Kelly. “By now I was struggling to hold him up.”

The standoff between pro-troop folks and anti-war anarchists closed down a part of Berkeley on Tuesday and early Wednesday morning.

Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, folks from across the United States sent almost 30,000 emails to the City Council; with the tally running 15 to 1 against the council’s shameful actions. Move America Forward also collected over 23,000 signatures on a petition condemning Berkeley’s actions.

Thousands of Marine supporters and anti-war activists clashed in Martin Luther King Park, across from the City Council chambers. Move America Forward (MAF) had permits for the space, but Code Pink and their supporters invaded the space and attacked patriots with skateboards, signs, rocks, and bullhorns.

Police made no arrests of the aggressors early on and stood by as the attacks continued. Anarchy reigned. Multiple pleas from MAF for police protection went unanswered. Even the California Highway Patrol refused to help.

Anti-war protesters set a flag on fire that also burned a city sign that said “Peace Wall.” Two bikes, one of a child, also burned in the fire. The “peace” protesters stole flags from patriots and then set them aflame.

Early Wednesday morning after hours of fighting, screaming and flag burning by the anti-war side, the council agreed to rescind its request for the city manager’s office to send the offending letter calling the Marines “intruders.”

But the council refused to apologize to the Marines, or to rescind its gifts of public funds to a special interest group, Code Pink, which has given over $600,000 in aid to the families of Islamic terrorists. The group will continue to harass Marine recruiters in Berkeley, and they will do so with both the blessing and encouragement of the Berkeley City Council.

Council members Betty Olds and Gordon Wozniak were the sole shining lights among the council. Despite their opposition to the war in Iraq, they recognized that the council had wrongly chosen to attack not a policy, but the people who put on the uniform of the United States military. Olds and Wozniak pleaded with their fellow council members to support them in a resolution that would apologize to the Marines and others for the brouhaha that got worldwide media attention.

“We insulted the Marines and they deserve an apology,” Wozniak said. “At this point, the issue is not the war. The issue is what the Berkeley City Council did. We failed our city.”

The behavior of both city officials and far-left radicals stunned and hurt veterans. Vietnam veteran Rod Ferroggiaro of Fairfield, Calif., couldn’t believe what he saw in Berkeley on Tuesday.

“Facing this group was an assortment of old hippies dressed in pink reliving the antiwar years of the sixties - the same ones who spat on us when I returned to California from my first tour of duty in Vietnam in 1965,” Ferroggiaro said. “The frightening people were the young . . . dressed in black shirts with orange bandanas. They were cursing and running into Blue Star moms and veterans with skateboards.

“They would get face to face with an older man or woman and chest-bump them trying to provoke an altercation. I saw one rip an American flag from a 46-year-old Blue Star mom and later set it on fire,” he said. “This was all witnessed by the Berkeley police, who did nothing to stop these radicals. Later I learned that they were Berkeley High School students who were brought there by their teachers.”

There will be no apologies to Marine Eamon Kelly or Vietnam veteran Rob Ferroggiaro, but across the nation reasonable Americans are letting it be known that they are not alone in their protests against the Berkeley council.

Lawmakers at the state and federal level are pushing legislation to take more than $5 million in earmarks for Berkeley. Groups around the country are boycotting Berkeley, and businesspeople have said they will close shops or refuse doing business in that liberal city.

“The action by the Berkeley City Council indicates that they have a disdain for and do not appreciate Marines for what they do and have done for this country, our democracy, and our freedoms,” said Rep. John Campbell, who is introducing the Semper Fi Act in the U.S. house.

“If they have so little respect and understanding of that, there is no reason for the rest of us, outside the city of Berkeley, to subsidize their actions with our taxpayer funds,” Campbell said Thursday.

California Assemblyman Guy Houston has also introduced legislation that would strip Berkeley of millions of dollars of state transportation funds since the city has given the parking space in front of the Marine Recruiting Station to Code Pink with the request that the Marxist organization use it to “impede… the work of any military recruiting office located in the City of Berkeley.”

As people left the pro-military rallies outside the City Council chambers late Tuesday and early Wednesday, one thing was clear: Berkeley is no longer the home of liberals who honor and protest the First Amendment. It is now a city that embraces fascism that allows radicals to suppress the free speech of those with whom they disagree, even those who have died to give America her freedoms.

“Driving home on Hwy 80 I pulled off on an exit, walked away from my truck and wept,” Vietnam veteran Ferroggiaro said. “I really do not know why. But as I watched those thousands of cars and trucks that passed by, I knew that most never knew what was happening in Berkeley -- and most more than likely did not care. I also thought back 40 plus years and wondered if we have gained anything in this country.”

Ellie

All I can say right now is.....well, I'd better not.
In my perfect world trucks, helicopters and other mechanized vehicles would swope in, grab all of the anti-war anarchists (now there is an interesting conflict of interest term)and the Berkeley City Council members opposed to the Marine Recruiters within Berkeley's city limits; whisk them off and deposit them in Sadr City and have them find their way back on their own. Okay, so in my perfect world I violated someones First Amendment. Too bad. I didn't start the confrontation.

No matter what their ideology might be,they are traitors,pure and simple! They have been giving aid and comfort to the enemies of our nation for years! Berkley is a festering abcess on California's buttocks! And they have "Arnold" to lead them!

Sgt Eamon Kelly USMC

Jim

I sign the petition to buy Sgt. Kelly a cold one for being a true American hero.

The sad thing I see when watching videos of the Code Pink is that it looks very much like bad community theatre or an open mike. I am all for freedom of expression and feel that Code Pink can say whatever the hell it likes. When you do it and impede other peoples movement and trade, it becomes criminal and illegal.

Sgt Kelly's silence says more than all the bullhorns you can find in that city.

It's ashame these *******s are breathing MY air!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pinko commie mother****ers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SEMPER FI,

Jim

TO CODE PINK, FROM CAPTAIN LUND



What more is there to say?
Semper Fidelis in God and Country
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Commentary: An Open Letter to Code Pink
By Richard Lund (10-02-07)


While the protest that you staged in front of my office on Wednesday, Sept. 26th, was an exercise of your constitutional rights, the messages that you left behind were insulting, untrue, and ultimately misdirected. Additionally, from the comments quoted in the Berkeley Daily Planet article, it is clear that you have no idea what it is that I do here. Given that I was unaware of your planned protest, I was unable to contest your claims in person, so I will therefore address them here.

First, a little bit about who I am: I am a Marine captain with over eight years of service as a commissioned officer. I flew transport helicopters for most of my time in the Marine Corps before requesting orders to come here. Currently, I am the officer selection officer for the northern Bay Area. My job is to recruit, interview, screen, and evaluate college students and college graduates that show an interest in becoming officers in the Marine Corps. Once they've committed to pursuing this program, I help them apply, and if selected, I help them prepare for the rigors of Officer Candidate School and for the challenges of life as a Marine officer. To be eligible for my programs, you have to be either a full-time college student or a college graduate. I don't pull anyone out of school, and high school students are not eligible.

I moved my office to Berkeley in December of last year. Previously, it was located in an old federal building in Alameda. That building was due to be torn down and I had to find a new location. I choose our new site because of its proximity to UC Berkeley and to the BART station. Most of the candidates in my program either go to Cal or to one of the schools in San Francisco, the East Bay, or the North Bay. Logistically, the Shattuck Square location was the most convenient for them.

Next, you claim that I lie. I have never, and will never, lie to any individual that shows an interest in my programs. I am upfront with everything that is involved at every step of the way and I go out of my way to ensure that they know what to expect when they apply. I tell them that this is not an easy path. I tell them that leading Marines requires a great deal of self-sacrifice. I tell them that, should they suc c eed in their quest to become a Marine officer, they will almost certainly go to Iraq. In the future, if you plan to attack my integrity, please have the courtesy to explain to me specifically the instances in which you think that I lied.

Next, scrawled across the doorway to my office, you wrote, 'Recruiters are Traitors.' Please explain this one. How exactly am I a traitor? Was I a traitor when I joined the Marine Corps all those years ago? Is every Marine, therefore, a traitor? Was I a traitor during my two stints in Iraq? Was I a traitor when I was delivering humanitarian aid to the victims of the tsunami in Sumatra? Or do you only consider me a traitor while I am on this job? The fact is, recruitment is and always has been a part of maintaining any military organization. In fact, recruitment is a necessity of any large organization. Large corporations have employees th at recruit full-time. Even you, I'm sure, must expend some effort to recruit for Code Pink. So what, exactly, is it that makes me a traitor?

The fact is this: any independent nation must maintain a military (or be allied with those who do) to ensure the safety and security of its citizens. Regardless of what your opinions are of the current administration or the current conflict in Iraq, the U.S. military will be needed again in the future. If your counter-recruitment efforts are ultimately successful, who will defend us if we are directly attacked again as we were at Pearl Harbor? Who would respond if a future terrorist attack targets the Golden Gate Bridge, the BART system, or the UC Berkeley clock tower? And, to address the most hypocritical stance that your organization takes on its website, where would the peace keeping force come from that you advocate sending to Darfur?

Finally, I believe that your efforts in protesting my office are misdirected. I agree that your stated goals of peace and social justice are worthy ones. War is a terrible thing that should only be undertaken in the most dire, extreme, and necessary of circumstances. However, war is made by politicians. The conflict in Iraq was or dered by the president and authorized by Congress. They are the ones who have the power to change the policy in Iraq, not members of the military. We execute policy to the best of our ability and to the best of our human capacity. Protesting in front of my office may be an easy way to get your organization in the headlines of local papers, but it doesn't further any of your stated goals.

To conclude, I don't consider myself a 'recruiter.' I am a Marine who happens to be on recruiting duty. As such, I conduct myself in accordance with our core values of honor, courage, and commitment. I will never sacrifice my honor by lying to anyone that walks into my office. I will never forsake the courage that it takes to restrain myself in the face of insulting and libelous labels like liar and traitor. And, most importantly, I will never waver from my commitment to helping individuals who desire to serve their country as officers in the Marine Corps.



Captain Richard Lund is the United States Marine Corps' officer selection officer for the northern Bay Area.


Here is another response to code pink.

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No one can doubt this fact......... Be Proud Of Your Service To Your Country. For if it were not for YOU. They would have no rights,or Constitution. We gave them the balls to choose THEIR evil ways. Now celebrate your victory and pay no attention to them. They may just go away............

bootlace15 out

It is a sad that the US has had to defend themselves from the Benedict Arnolds of the world. But it is so and as to the legitemiticy of code pink they fall into the Earth First and other radical extremests place of honer........what is the difference from code pink and the PLO ? they appear to act, talk and walk the same? just a thought

Semper Fi, Ellie...well written...you do us all proud. Thanks...

hey! if you missed it, contact your congressmen/women about endorsing the Semper Fi act!!!

do it now! yut

Originally Posted by SSgt Petzold

hey! if you missed it, contact your congressmen/women about endorsing the Semper Fi act!!!

do it now! yut

What is the Semper Fi act?

I am ****ing fuming right now. I'm from California, and live about an hour away from Berkeley. If I were back home there would have been some bad things happening. Military Discipline would go right out the ****ing window and I'd be challenging every one of those mother ****ers to stand up and make a sacrifice for their "cause". When I go home I'm gonna go to UC Berkeley Campus in my Alphas and hope to God that some pink hippey ***** starts some **** with me. I'm not gonna stop at an ass beating, I'll go to jail to prove a ****ing point. They had kids from highschool attacking our vets? When I get back to California, heads are gonna roll, and then we'll see if they're so ****ing tough.