I feel compelled to do this and feel strongly about it because the lies, distortions and malignment from the Kerry/Fonda led Winter Soldier were propagated out and believed by gullible people, especially to young people in my age group. My fellow GI’s and I experienced bad treatment from our own peer group and I’ll never forget. We were treated better in Germany than we were in our own country at that time. The “testimony” of Winter Soldier 2008 will not go unchallenged and the veterans and patriots of Eagles Up will be standing should to shoulder in defense of our military and our veterans. The words of the malcontents will not be the only ones heard in Washington DC this coming March.

Jerry did some more research and found that we could take the bus from Rochester to NYC and using discounts such as the Companion Fare and with a 14 day advance reservation, round trip bus tickets from Rochester to NYC would be $92 each. I’m a veteran and with the Veteran’s Advantage card, veterans can get an additional 15% off of that $92 fare. I just checked the Amtrak site and there’s a train, the 67 Regional Service, that leaves Penn Station at 3am and arrives in Union Station in Washington DC at 7am on March 15 and it costs $98 for a ticket and an additional $69 for the return trip. We’s also have to wait until 3am for the #150 Regional Service train and we wouldn’t get back to Penn Station until 6:40am. Then we’d have to catch the bus back to Rochester.

Although it would have been awesome to roll into Washington DC on a train, the schedules don’t work well for getting back home without long delays and it would cost alot more money factoring the train in. I did some research using the Greyhound website and found out the following information. There’s a bus leaving Rochester on Friday, March 14 just after 5pm and we’d arrive in Washington DC on Saturday, March 15 at around 6am.. The returning bus leaves Washington DC at 7:15pm and arrives in Rochester on Sunday morning in time to get to church on March 16. The fare with the Companion Fare discount with 14-Day Advance Purchase is $92 per person. This makes the most sense both economically and logistically.

You’ll save a whole lot of money if you bring your spouse or a buddy and take advantage of the Companion Discount and purchase your tickets 14 days in advance. My good friend and neighbor is joining me on this trip, so consider asking you spouse or a buddy to come along!

Email us at:

goe.rochester@yahoo.com

Please, come and join us in defending our active duty military and veterans from the malignment that Winter Soldier 2008 will surely bring. This is truely a worthy cause and the whole experience will be an adventure! I plan on visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial when we’re there because I’ve never been there.

I looked into taking the bus and it would cost $192 round trip, but we wouldn’t have the long layovers in NYC and we’d be back home by 9am on Sunday, March 16. I’m going to let Jerry B explore the possibilities with going by train and we’ll make a decision on the best way to get to Washington DC early on March 15. Stay tuned…

For the trip back, the earliest train leaving from NYC to Rochester is the #63 Maple Leaf and it leaves NYC for Rochester at 7:15am 16-MAR-08, and it costs $85 (don’t know why it’s $39 more than the Lake Shore Limited!). We’ll have a layover at Penn Station and arrangements will need to be made so we can hang out there and grab a little shut-eye until the train leaves at 7:15am.

I emailed Jerry B about this and my concerns for a place to wait in Penn Station so we don’t get mugged or get hassled by Security. I’ll pass on the information as I get it.