home and in bases. in the civilian world this has been no welcome home ceremony, no end of the iraq war celebration to say thank you to the troops to welcome them home and say we as a country were at war, a war that has ended. it was not just america s military at war. it was america. there s been no ticker tape, no marching band, no welcome home parade anywhere in civilian life. tomorrow, st. louis, missouri, changes that. st. louis becomes the first city to wave flags, float floats and bang drums to mark the end of the war and say welcome home. all because of two friends who decided if nobody else would hold the nation s first big welcome home for the troops for the end of the iraq war they would try to do it as citizens. they started a facebook page, collected donations, met with the may yoornd soon, voila, a parade. floats being built, signs painted, marching bands practicing routines. the anheiser-busch clydesdales are being harnessed.
the old army adage, adapt, improvise and over come. social media helped. you have anheiser-busch and the mayor and a others. the mayflower corporation also contributed. mission continues as well. had a national presence. it s a patriotic city. i hope it s the first of many. i have gotten tweets and facebook messages saying, we want to do it in san francisco, in new york. cool. we hope it continues. mayor bloomberg said it won t happen in new york. he said he s talked to military leaders and the pentagon says they don t want it because of afghanistan. it s inappropriate to mark a homecoming when so many people are still rotating out. what s your reaction? we hear that. there are folks fighting and dying in afghanistan. why not have two parades? have one when that s over? may yr bloomberg isn t in lockstep with everything people say. the people of new york have responded to us and said they want something. they want somebody to recognize people.