Tonight was a great night. The Reagan Banquet was a great event. I was sitting at a table with Robin Burke, Adam Doverspike, and La Shawn Barber... This was truly a night to remember. Zell Miller was to present The Swift Boat Veterans For Truth with the Charlton Heston Courage Under Fire Award.

Of course, the Swifties in attendance each received standing ovations when they were introduced. When Zell Miller spoke before the presentation of the award, he commended the Swifties efforts, and for having the courage to "call a lie a lie." There was a point when he speaking about Vietnam that he appeared to be choking up a bit.

When John O'Neill spoke, he began saying he didn't want to talk about Kerry, but he wanted to talk about "the real heroes," and he mentioned Zell Miller, and gave the crowd a chuckle when he said he didn't want to go on Chris Matthew's show again unless Zell was with him.

It was great to hear O'Neil credit bloggers for helping to get the Swifties' message out.

Bill Franke, who spoke after O'Neill mentioned the bloggers as well. He mentioned how he didn't really know what we were, and thought that "bloggers" sounded like a skin disease. Ultimately, he would appreciate the role us bloggers played in helping them get their message out. He showed us a few Swift Vets ads, telling us that the first ad run cost $400,000, and the calculated value of the earned media that followed was about $40 million. The third ad he showed was the ad was the one titled "They Served". The dinner guests cheered with a standing ovation.

Roy Hoffman spoke next. He was immediately emotional, and it was a moving speech. He recalled about making the decision to speak out against John Kerry. He said they felt they "had to do something" to stop him, after what he had done to all them. He described Kerry as a loose cannon who didn't obey orders, who was a headache to everyone.

I thought it was great when he mentioned that Kerry campaign manager, Mary Beth Cahill refers to them as the "discredited Swift Boat Veterans for Truth," and challenge her to to come up with one paragraph, one sentence, or one statement that was not true.

The whole event was incredible, and moving to say the least. These are men of honor who doing what they felt was right to do. Kerry betrayed his fellow veterans and the Swifties just couldn't let him become our Commander-In-Chief.

Below you will find the audio of Zell Miller's introduction of the Swift Vets and John O'Neill's remarks:

Robin Burk has posted her reactions to the event tonight as well.