Post staff report
At SundayÕs gathering to thank volunteers who have supported them since their son was captured, Carolyn and Keith Maupin were given with a van from Mulberry Motors. Sgt. Jerry Angst joined Carolyn as Keith was hoisted in the air by SSG Paul Brondhaver, a soldier wounded in Iraq.
For the past 504 days, ever since Matt Maupin was captured in Iraq, people throughout Greater Cincinnati have supported Maupin's parents and the troops in Iraq.
Sunday, Keith and Carolyn Maupin responded with a big "Thank you."
They and other volunteers at the Yellow Ribbon Support Center in Eastgate displayed their gratitude to people who have not only supported the Maupins and the families of other troops, but also donated food and other supplies that have been sent to troops.
Several hundred people turned out for a "Thank You Open House" at American Legion Post 72 in Mount Carmel that featured speakers, singers, dancers, games, raffles and lots of donated food and drink.
In a tribute to Matt Maupin, 504 balloons were released - one balloon for each day Maupin has been missing.
"What we want to do is tell everybody thanks for what they've done for us and for Matt and the troops," said Keith Maupin.
"The support helps us get by every day - knowing that people care and haven't forgotten Matt."
Keith Maupin said he doesn't agree with some parents of American soldiers killed in Iraq who have been protesting against the war.
"Everybody grieves the way they grieve, but that's not my way of doing things," he said.
"I would think they would protest the war before they went in, not after.
"From my standpoint, I know we need to be there and I know that Matt does or he wouldn't have went in the first place."
Barbara Darnell of Neville, a volunteer at the Yellow Ribbon Support Center, brightened the open house by wearing American flag slacks, a red, white and blue headband and a gigantic Uncle Sam top hat.
"This is just positively wonderful," she said as she looked around the crowded American Legion hall.
"Everybody who lives around here, your countryside, your city, has joined together to support the troops."
Darnell said protesters who want American troops sent home now are just plain wrong.
"If we pull our soldiers out now, everything we have done will have been in vain," she said.
"All the soldiers who have lost their lives, our dear Matt, missing since April 9, 2004, all will be in vain. It's a fact, if we don't settle it over there, they will come here."
Robert Feeley of Delhi Township, who wore a "Support the Troops" T-shirt, said he wants more people to get behind the troops and support what they're doing in Iraq instead of calling for them to be brought home.
"If we don't continue in Iraq, it's going to be another Vietnam, another Korea, where we just go so far and then we quit," said the Army veteran.
"I think a war is a war. You have a winner and a loser.
The last few wars we've been in, we've just quit."
As for the anti-war protests, Feeley said: "This is America.
"Everybody has their right to freedom of speech.
"But, I think in some ways, that helps the enemy."
June Izzi-Bailey, who organized the open house, said she and other volunteers at the Yellow Ribbon Support Center are interested in troops, not politics.
"We're not about issues," she said.
"Some of us don't believe in the war. Some of us believe in the war.
"What we've done is pack over 3,000 boxes of snacks and clothes and just about anything the troops could use and sent them to the troops.
"This open house is not a political thing.
"It's just strictly to say thank you to the community for what you're doing to help the troops."
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