As a Marine mom I am especially proud to hear these reports that those same men and women who swore an oath to protect this country and defend its constitution against enemies foreign and domestic will stand to protect peaceful campaigners for Wall Street reform.

The Occupy Wall Street movement may have just received an unexpected surprise – United States Army and Marine troops are reportedly on their way to various protest locations to support the movement and to protect the protesters.

Army serviceman Ward Reilly posted the following on Facebook:

“I’m heading up there tonight in my dress blues. So far, 15 of my fellow marine buddies are meeting me there, also in Uniform.

I want to send the following message to Wall St and Congress:

I didn’t fight for Wall St. I fought for America. Now it’s Congress’ turn.

My true hope, though, is that we Veterans can act as first line of defense between the police and the protester. If they want to get to some protesters so they can mace them, they will have to get through the Fucking Marine Corps first. Let’s see a cop mace a bunch of decorated war vets.

I apologize now for typos and errors. Typing this on iPhone whilst heading to NYC. We can organize once we’re there. That’s what we do best.If you see someone in uniform, gather together.

We all took an oath to uphold, protect and defend the constitution of this country. That’s what we will be doing.

Hope to see you there!!”

Reilly added, “Please note…this is from another veteran, NOT ME. (I was Army, he’s a Marine)…and I am on my way to DC, not NYC. :>) ….but this is fantastic, and he’s not a VFP guy….just a soldier that is outraged by what we have become in this country, as it should be.

Occupy Washington, DC link

“A LOT of veterans get it,” Reilly stated. “Only one third of one percent of our citizens serve in the military, and we are the ones who sacrifice MUCH, and all we ask in return is that civilians control the people they elect. (miserable failure so far) But …the image of police, or anyone else, pepper spraying veterans or even confronting them, is “priceless” as they say, and will help slap this country into seeing what we have become.(totally insane, politically and police-state-wise). And EXACTLY what I have requested from my brother and sister veterans in DC Oct.6.”

Reilly added an edited statement: “I’m no longer in active duty or in any way contractually indebted to the military. Nor are any of my friends that are joining me.

To the officers’ of this thread: I’m aware of the potential, maybe inevitable trouble I can get in. So too are my friends.

I don’t really care about the debate here, the upvotes, the downvotes or anything in here really. Mental masturbation is awesome and all. But fucking hell people get off reddit and do something about it. The decision is made. I just figured reddit to be a useful tool to get the attention of a good amount of veterans.”

This tipping point could be the defining moment that sends the Occupy Wall Street movement into perpetual motion.

In this writer’s opinion, these servicemen, and any other troops who join in, are heroes, just like the everyday heroes who have been there from day 1 along with those who are now joining in.

new TWTR.Widget({
version: 2,
type: ‘search’,
search: ‘#occupywallstreet’,
interval: 30000,
title: ‘Global revolution’,
subject: ‘Occupy Wall Street’,
width: ‘auto’,
height: 300,
theme: {
shell: {
background: ‘#255ecf’,
color: ‘#ffffff’
},
tweets: {
background: ‘#ffffff’,
color: ‘#444444’,
links: ‘#1985b5’
}
},
features: {
scrollbar: false,
loop: true,
live: true,
hashtags: true,
timestamp: true,
avatars: true,
toptweets: true,
behavior: ‘default’
}
}).render().start();