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Patriots' coup
By BABITA PERSAUD, Times Staff Writer TAMPA -- As part of their Friday ritual, the three smiling women were waving the American flag along Bayshore Boulevard when a black Chevy Suburban pulled up. Out stepped Army Gen. Tommy Franks, the man running the war in Afghanistan. "You girls are what America's all about," he said that December day. Now these women, the Bayshore Patriots, have hooked their admirer as the keynote speaker for their huge Sept. 11 tribute. Franks, head of U.S. Central Command in Tampa, committed Thursday to speak at the Patriots' Flags Along Bayshore. Some 11,000 flag-wavers -- decked out in red, white and blue -- will line the 4.5-mile sidewalk of Bayshore Boulevard from 8-9:30 a.m. Gov. Jeb Bush is scheduled to speak. An estimated 8,000 schoolchildren are expected to be there. They got special permission from Hillsborough school officials to miss school. MacDill Air Force Base is preparing three military flyovers, and two processions are planned for 8 a.m. One will consist of firetrucks, the other of military vehicles. There will be three moments of silence, and a brass band will play. All of this started with three friends: Linda Alfonso, Julie Whitney and Julie Sargent, who sat in an aerobics class on the morning after Sept. 11 and said: "Let's do something." Their mission: "To show the world that no act of terrorism can diminish our patriotism or demoralize our spirit." The operation is massive now. Gasparilla organizers are lending crowd expertise. Dozens of volunteers are answering phones. Alfonso, Whitney and Sargent are busier than ever, doing television and radio spots between meetings with the mayor and officials from MacDill. But they still manage to attend the occasional aerobics class. "It's funny how women can get things done," Whitney said.
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