With a picture of her husband held high in the air, Pamela Yohn used her voice Friday to show her support for the troops fighting the war in Iraq. As did her son Michael…and her daughter Ashley…and her mother-in-law…and the hundreds of other people who attended Friday\u2019s \u201cRally \u2018Round Our Troops\u201d gathering at the Bellwood-Antis High School.
\n\u201cI just want to let everyone know that we\u2019re thinking about them,\u201d said Yohn, whose husband Michael is currently moving with the U.S. Army Reserve in Iraq. \u201cAll of them.\u201d
\nThe crowd at the auditorium of the high school resembled a sea of red, white and blue as those who attended donned this nation\u2019s colors and waived Old Glory high in the air.
\nThe rally, sponsored in part by parents of local service people and the Bellwood-Antis High School Fellowship of Christian Athletes, offered numerous speeches by local dignitaries, songs by members of the B-A Chorus, and poem and scripture readings.
\nBlair County Commissioner John Eichelberger was attending his third rally in about 10 days. He said Friday\u2019s rally in Bellwood was a little different than others he had attended.
\n\u201cThis group has a little bit more attitude and I feel a lot of love and passion in this room tonight,\u201d said Eichelberger. \u201cThere\u2019s a vibe here \u2013 an American pride that just can\u2019t be beat.\u201d
\nWith the crowd chanting \u201cU.S.A\u201d and other slogans, Eichelberger discussed why he believes America will win the war in Iraq.
\n\u201cWe have the best fighting force in the world,\u201d said Eichelberger. \u201cIt\u2019s not because we have the best educated military leadership on the planet. It\u2019s not because we have the highest trained fighting force in the world and the best equipped.
\n\u201cIt boils down to one reason why our troops are better than anyone else in the world \u2013 it\u2019s because they are Americans.\u201d
\nThose Americans, according to State Sen. Robert Jubelirer, are the reason that protesters all around the country have the right to express their opinions.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s always been protesters, and frankly, the war is to protect the rights of those protesters to be able to protest,\u201d he said. \u201cIf these people were in another country, they\u2019d be shot, or killed or jailed. But not here.
\n\u201cI\u2019m glad to live in a free country where I can express my views while others express different kinds of views,\u201d he said. \u201cRegardless, we all are under the wonderful flag of the United States of America.\u201d
\nJubelirer reminded those in attendance that freedom can\u2019t be taken for granted any longer after the events that unfolded on Sept. 11, 2002. He called this freedom \u201cprecious.\u201d
\n\u201cAs we walk out of here tonight \u2013 not as Christians, not as black or white or Muslim or Jew \u2013 we walk out as proud Americans,\u201d said Jubelirer, \u201cWe have a sense of pride that can\u2019t be tainted by the unjusts in the world. We are American and we walk under this flag because we are proud \u2013 proud to be who we are.\u201d
\nState Rep. Jerry Stern, like Eichelberger and Jubelirer, has attended a good number of rallies over the past two weeks. A recent gathering in Martinsburg really tugged at his heart strings.
\n\u201cWhen I went home from that rally, I was quite emotional,\u201d said Stern. \u201cAfter reflecting on the songs and statements that were made, I was touched and felt really connected with the troops.\u201d
\nStern said he flicked on the television to see a 48 Hours program concerning a missing American troop named Jessica Lynch.
\n\u201cI was not aware of her up to that time, but that program really drove home what our men and women are facing over there,\u201d said Stern.
\nThe next morning, while teaching his regular Sunday School class, he asked those attending to keep Jessica Lynch in their hearts and minds and to pray for her recovery and delivery.
\n\u201cSure enough, a few days later, my wife called and told me that Jessica Lynch was rescued,\u201d said Stern. \u201cAll I could say was \u2018Thank God\u2019 and \u2018it\u2019s true, God does answer prayers.\u201d
\nPrior to finishing his talk, Stern asked the hundreds of rally attendees to say a short prayer for the men and women overseas.
\n\u201cEveryone can do something for our people in the military and it\u2019s pretty simple,\u201d said Stern. \u201cJust say a prayer. And just don\u2019t say a prayer for our people in Iraq. We have men and women stationed all over the globe that need to be in our hearts and prayers. Let\u2019s not forget about the ones serving in Bosnia and Serbia and Korea. They, like the ones in Iraq, are all there for a single and important reason – Freedom. And they need our support.\u201d
\nOthers who presented speeches at the rally included BAHSFCA officers Jackie Davis, Tyler Elvey and Ryan Myers, Pastor Dave Ervine and Bellwood Borough Mayor Jim Bonsell. Songs for the evening were performed by the B-A chorus, including \u201cThe Star Spangled Banner,\u201d \u201cAmerica the Beautiful,\u201d and \u201cGod Bless America.\u201d
\nThere were also solo performances by Andrew Hostler and Pastor Norman Huff, and a duet by Melody and Jeff Plummer.
\nEmcee for the evening was B-A School Board President Ken Loucks.
\n\u201cEverything went exactly as we wanted it too,\u201d said Worthing, who helped organize the event. \u201cWe started out with 500 small flags, and there weren\u2019t any left when it was over. I think we got our message out that we support everyone who are fighting for this country.
\n\u201cSo much support was a beautiful sight to see.\u201d
\nOrganizers gave yellow ribbons to all families who have relatives serving overseas. Worthing said nearly 50 bows were given away.
\nInside the evening\u2019s program, a detailed list of local service people were included. Listed were:
\n Navy
\nMatt Bell, PJ Bobak, Dan DelGrosso, Jeremy Diehl, Jeff Dry, Wade Finch, Nick Graham, Tommy Kovac, Lance Kustaborder, Chris Laird, Amanda Partner and Eric Schmidt.
\nAir Force
\nChad Anthony, Bill Benner III, Angela Cherry, Ryan Cherry, Derrick Dean, Mark Hanna, Nathan Hoffer, Shawn Hoffer, Jeffrey Hostler, Christine Lewis, David Patterson, Joe Stuby, John Watters and Lindsey Cherry.
\nMarines
\nScott Dickson, Jess Hanna, Joe Henry, Aaron King, Eric Liddick, San Maillard, Patrick Thornton, Andrew Walker, Adam Worthing and Mike Grazier.
\nArmy
\nBob Allen, Joe Bagley, Rachel Bower, Robert Boyer, Eric Detwiller, Brian Edmiston, Wade Finch, Comanche Garcia, Michael Hartz, Fred Loucks, Derrick Dean, Evan Good, Adam Culp, Christopher Ingram, Matt Miller, Daniel Moyer, Dustin Moyer, Phil O\u2019Donald, Brad Snyder, Jerry Snyder Jr., Tammy Weiser, Chad Wesbrook, Mark Yohn, Travis Yarnell, Doug Walters and Michael O\u2019Doud.
\nArmy National Guard
\nMichael Allen, Christine Dell, Mark Decker, Lee Hayes, Sam Hayes and J.H. Nedimyer Jr.
\nBranch not noted
\nMike Kissell, Jendi Marshall, Scott Brooks, Jason Treese and Jacob Pierce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With a picture of her husband held high in the air, Pamela Yohn used her voice Friday to show her support for the troops fighting the war in Iraq. As did her son Michael…and her daughter Ashley…and her mother-in-law…and the hundreds of other people who attended Friday\u2019s \u201cRally \u2018Round Our Troops\u201d gathering at the Bellwood-Antis […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46887\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}