Honor, support and patriotism

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Latanya Reid
  • 6 Air Mobiltiy Wing Public Affairs
MACDILL AFB, Fla --  Every Friday between 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Team MacDill members are greeted warmly by a group of patriots standing and waving eagerly at the oncoming traffic along the corner of Bay-to-Bay and Bayshore. They are a dedicated group of individuals who show their support for America's Armed Forces in a unique way. 

The Bayshore patriots are a group of non-political, retired servicemembers and civilians who came together with a common goal. That goal is to boost morale and thank servicemembers stepping up to defend the American constitution. 

"I've been involved with the group since 2001, six months after the towers [Twin Towers] went down," said Paul Diehl, Bayshore Patriots' vice president and retired Army Corporal. 
Mr. Diehl joined the military during the Vietnam War and has been a supporter all his life. He mentioned the fact that both his sons served in the military have made him proud as well and served in the military. 

While some of the participants have served in the military others are connected through their family.
George Fulton carries the American flag bearing the name of his brother serving in the Army reserves. He has been coming out for five years through rain or sunshine they are devoted to promote patriotism in their community. 

Julie Whitney, Bayshore Patriots' chairman of the board and founder was at the gym exercising when she saw the Twin Towers going down. She felt the need to help after seeing the incident and rallied some of her friends together forming the group. 

However, they were just a group of supporters until deemed the Bayshore Patriots by the local media, the Tampa Tribune. 

"The Tampa Tribune had stopped by to interview us and wrote the story calling us the Bayshore Patriots," she said. "From then we kept the name." 

"General Frank shook our hands and Colonel Woodward drove down to present to them a flag with the 3,000 names of those who died Sept.11 to see them and wave the flag," said Mr. Diehl. 

At the one-year anniversary of Sept.11 the City of Tampa registered tens of thousands of Americans to join the Bayshore Patriots on Bayshore Boulevard. The solemn event was themed "Flags along the Bayshore: Tampa Remembers Sept.11". It was one of the largest remembrance events in the country. Ironically it began to rain but they stood through the rain while the road was closed down to ongoing traffic. 

"It was memorable as hundreds of patrons stood in the rain to show support at the Bayshore shore lines," said Ms. Whitney. 

Some of the more memorable visits they have had so far were President George W. Bush, General Tommy Frank, former commander of United States Central Command and Col. Maggie Woodard former commander of MacDill's 6th Air Mobility Wing. 

Ms. Whitney was the recipient of the volunteer of the year award presented to her by President George W. Bush for her contributions to raising support for all servicemembers both here and overseas. 

She continues to lead the organization and bring awareness to the importance of supporting the members of the armed forces.