Veteran's Day

A Hero Is Called Home

Friday afternoon, October 2, at approximately 5:00pm, an American Hero was called home.  He is my Great Uncle Bruce.  Born in a small farming community in central Iowa, Bruce was a boy when the United States was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941.  His father had taken him, his sister (my grandmother), and several other kids sledding that morning after Sunday School.  At the age of 17, he wanted to enlist in the Marines, but great-grandma wouldn't have it.

So Bruce was drafted into the Army, in a delayed deployment program that was going to send him to college prior to deployment and then bring him in as a 2nd Lieutenant.  But just a couple of days before Bruce was to begin classes at the University of Oklahoma, the whole program was cancelled, and he was on his way to Europe. 

When he crossed the Channel, he landed at Utah Beach (not on D-Day) and began the move through.  He was captured during the Battle of the Bulge and taken to Stalag 12A in Germany as a P.O.W.  On April 12, 1945, the Stalag was liberated by the English 7th Armoured Division.  Until his passing, Bruce still had the boots and uniform that were provided by the 7th upon liberation-the first change of cloths or shoes since early January at his capture. 

Bruce was awarded 2 purple hearts and 2 bronze stars for his service. 

After returning home, he met a wonderful woman, who would become his wife for over 52 years.  They had one son, and two grand-daughters; the oldest of which was married two weeks ago.  Bruce was at the wedding.  The next morning, he began a two weeks of illnes, which ultimately took him home.  He was coherent, giving orders all the way to the end, and told his son on Friday that he was ready to go home.  His wife passed a couple of years ago, and Saturday, October 3rd, was their wedding anniversary, for which they are back together.

It took Bruce over 40 years to talk about his experiences in World War II.  He was an ardent advocate for Veterans, especially in the Des Moines area.  He served on the committee for the first state or national World War II Memorial, which is located on the state capital grounds in Des Moines.  He served as Master of Ceremonies at its dedication.  Follow this link to see pictures of Veterans Day Services at the Memorial.  Bruce is the 3rd from the right in the first two pictures, and 2nd from the right in the third picture.

It is always sad to lose a dearly loved family member, but our entire family takes comfort in knowing he has gone home to his Savior, and is reunited with his loving wife.  We take pride in know that he was a great man, and that we had the honor of being his family.



Bruce you will be greatly missed in this life, but we will see you again, soon.

A Tribute

Today, proper honor was bestowed on one of the greatest American Hero's to grace this country.

SFC Jared C. Monti, was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2006.  Today, his parents accepted his very deserved Medal of Honor.

Words cannot express the extreme grattitude that we all should feel towards Sgt. Monti.  He is one of the greatest heros this country has ever known.

This is a video of the presentation Ceremony, this afternoon.  Caution, it may cause you to get choked up. 




Thank you to MCQ at BlackFive for originally posting.

9-11 Reflections

It has been said that members of my parents generation will never forget where they were when they heard President Kennedy was shot.

And for my generation, it is the attack of September 11, 2001.

I was a Freshman in college at Black Hawk College's East Campus.  That morning, I took my very first college test in a U.S. History class.  Once the test was over, I went out to a commons area to prepare for my Speech class.  I had been sitting for a couple of minutes and opened up my book bag  when a woman walked in and said that a plane had hit the WTC and Pentagon, and another was headed for the White House.  I sat there, dumbstruck for a minute.  Not sure I had heard her right.  I packed my bag and proceeded to the student center where over 100 people were gathered around a 27" TV watching Aaron Brown on ABC with the towers burning over his shoulder.  Some people whispered quietly, but most were just silent.  As I stood there, I muttered under my breath "bin Laden."

That afternoon, the local newspaper editor took an eerie photo.  Jet trails.  7 of them.  In lines across the sky.  By that time of the day, there was only one plane in the air, Air Force One.  Bush was flying from Nebraska back to the East Coast and fly right over my town.



The only feelings I remember feeling that day are surprise that it happend, sorrow for those lost, and a deep burning anger against those who had perpetrated the heinousness.

And now, 8 years later, I am sitting here tonight, listening to Alan Jackson who did such an elegant job of containing the confusion I think we all experienced.  The History Channel is running video footage of the attack.  Tonight, I think it is affecting me more than it did 8 years ago.  Maybe it was shock on that day.  But it is also stirring my anger and resolve that we WILL prevail.  We MUST prevail.

But today is also a day for great celebration in my town. Another group of American Hero's returned from Afghanistan this morning.  They have been deployed for a year.  This is the second homecoming in just over 3 weeks.  And it is appropriate that tonight is also Homecoming at the high school.  There is local news coverage of the homecoming HERE, the coverage begins at 2:33.

It is because of hero's like these, that I can right this blog, and that we have gone over 2,900 days without another attack on our soil.

Baxter Black, the great American cowboy poet, really puts the right perspective on today and every single day.


Thanks to Michael Bane for the Baxter Black video.

Preparations for a return home

This is a video I shot last Wednesday, August 19, of preparations in Galva, IL for the return home of a group of Illinois National Guard Soldiers.

There are flags ever 50'-100' for about 2 miles from the National Guard Armory building all the way to the edge of town. More things were done the next morning, but I wasn't able to get footage of it or the actual return. I simply couldn't get away from work, even though Lord knows I tried.

The video really doesn't do justice to how impressive town was for that day.



God Bless American, and keep and protect our troops. Bring them all home safely.

D-Day + 65

I had planned to right a long post of reflections on this incredibly important day, and then watch the greatest D-Day movie I've ever seen, The Longest Day.

Unfortunately, I had to work 13 hours today, after a 16 hour day yesterday, and more tomorrow. A pitiful excuse, but it is what I have.

So I will simply say this:

65 years ago today, over 150,000 Allied troops undertook one of the greatest military operations in the history of the world, as they began Operation Overlord, and the beginning of the end of WWII. The Allies suffered over 10,000 casualties that day. over 2,500 would never leave the beachheads. No words can acurately describe the sacrifice, the courage, determination, and spirit of all those who landed on the beaches, jumped from the planes, dropped the bombs, and piloted the planes who moved the Allies that next step closer to victory. We owe everything we have to these men, and to all Veterans, who have stepped up to the plate, willing to give the 'last, full measure of devotion."

Thank you.

Great Music Monday-For My Country

This is a day we all must pause and remember.

Originally called Decoration Day, Memorial Day is a set aside on the last Monday of May to remember all those who have, as Abraham Lincoln put it in the Gettysburg Address while dedicating a National Cemetery, given "the last full measure of devotion."

And on this day, I believe it is proper to once again say THANK YOU to all the veterans who were willing to give that measure, but were able to come home. We owe everything we have to the American Heroes. It is by there grace and sacrifice we are able to live in this great country.

To honor all those who have stepped up, "For My Country."

Celebrate 64 years of FREEDOM!

I missed an important anniversary last week.

64 years of Freedom. Not for me, but my Great Uncle (read more about him in THIS previous post).

April 16, 1945. My Great Uncle, who has spent the last five months of his life in a German P.O.W. camp, surviving on a diet of grass, straw, sugar beets, bread made with "tree flour" (a.k.a. sawdust), and charcoal made from potatoes to prevent dysentery, was liberated by the English 5th Infantry. He was 20 when h was liberated.

Last week, he decided to hold a liberation celebration dinner at the building he lives in.

Go read the entire article here.

Also, check the comments. There are several who make a great suggestion that this should be done not with seniors, but with youth. And I think that is a great idea.

Simple Concepts

I thought these were simple concepts that were taught in government or civics classes in high school, but obviously, a very large segment of the population doesn't get it.

1) The United States of America is a SOVEREIGN NATION.

2) Our Flag NEVER flies below another.

3) The United States of America bows to NO ONE!!!!!

4) No American President EVER BOWS TO ANYONE, be it king, queen, chancellor, emperor, sheik, cleric, or any other head of state.


That is why, no matter how you feel about anything else he has done, EVERYONE should be absolutely OUTRAGED at THIS:




Millions of American Veterans didn't fight and give their lives so that an American President bow to some king living in a sandbox. I don't care who the hell the President is, you do NOT FUCKING BOW to ANYBODY.

We are the Country that refused to tip our Flag to Chancellor Hitler at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. We are the Country that sent our boys around the world twice to save Europe and defeat the Axis.

And then to add insult to treason, I read this tonight at Blackfive.

The American Cemetery at Normandy has NOTHING to do with special treatment for France. And since the administration seems to have missed history class as well as civics and government, besides the 9,387 American Hero's who never left France, there were over 2,700 British casualties on the beaches.

Goosebumps.

I just watched a news story about the homecoming for Sgt. Schuyler Patch. He is the American Hero I referenced yesterday. His body arrived in Moline this afternoon, and was escorted home by family and the Patriot Guard. The route was lined with friends and supports who had to pay their final respects and say thank you to a fallen hero. As they interviewed people at the airport and at a short service in Kewanee's Veteran's Park, I literally got goosebumps and could feel a lump in my throat.


God speed Sgt. Patch. Thank you.

Half Staff

Flags in Illinois are to fly at half staff for two days.

The reason?

An American Hero from Kewanee (12 miles from me) gave the "last full measure of devotion" in Afghanistan. A roadside bomb exploded last week killing two.

Please keep the family of these heros in your prayers.


And it is absolutely right that this country and this state pay homage to our heros. One of the ways is when they fall, we lower our flags. And for the last 7 years we have all see our flags lowered on so many occasions. When I was commuting an hour each way to work, my drive took me past a state park and so many times, I would see the flag at half staff an wonder why or who had gone home.

Then tonight, I was at a Masonic Lodge degree in Kewanee. One of the Brothers at the degree is a Principal at school in the QCA. As we were walking out, he commented on the flag at the Lodge building being at half staff and that he had just received the e-mail today from the state that Gov. Pat Quinn had designated today and tomorrow to be the days the flag flys at half staff, as it should.

I commented that I wished there was a way to find out why the flags are lowered to half staff. Now, I consider myself to be reasonably well informed, but if we lose a Hero from somewhere more than an hour or two away, the odds are that I won't hear about it. But if there was a spot on a state website or something along that line where any current notes on flags flying half staff could be found, would be great help.

And while I am at it, I must give kudos to the Principal. Whenever he gets a notice to fly flags at half staff he shares the notice with the students. Bravo.

Power-Hungry Pansises

via Caleb at Gun Nuts Media:

I read this post that REALLY pisses me off.

The Lib-tard pansies that are living on a power trip by being in student "government" have arrived at the most vile decision in their worthless history.

Background: A Marine veteran in Oregon on the campus of Western Oregon University was falsely arrested on a gun charge for carrying a firearm. But the Marine didn't break any laws because he had not possessed the firearm in the buildings, and the prosecutor dropped all charges. However, possession of the firearm on campus is against the administrative rules of the University.

So the charges are dropped, end of story right?

WRONG!!!!!

The goofy do-gooders of the student government had a blood-lust for justice. And this Marine was their target.

So Marine Veteran Jeffery Maxwell was forced to go before a student tribunal in a "trial," which he asked to be public but was denied.

When the kangaroo court issued its "ruling," they slapped this American Hero in the face. Laughing while they suspended him from the University until he:

1. Writes a mandatory “ten page paper” ” with references, “citing, but not limited to:
a) the importance of following the law, even through civil disobedience.
b) the importance of accepting responsibility for one’s actions
c) and recognizing the impact possession of weapons on college campuses has on others.”

and

2. Goes through a "psychological evaluation stating he is not a threat to himself of others."


AAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

These pipsqueaky little pukes think their shit don't stink.

As far as their "sentencing," let me address it in depth.

For the paper
a)Maxwell did follow the law. Just ask the Prosecutor. If Maxwell would have broken any law, he would have been in jail The prosecutor dropped all the charges as they had no legal basis. Done.
b)Where did Maxwell ever not take responsibility for his actions? Was that when he took responsibility for his own safety? Or when he was serving this Country in the United States Marine Corps?
c) The impact on others? I would wager my entire retirement that had someone like Jeffery Maxwell been on the Campus of Virginia Tech or Northern Illinois University, lives would have been saved. How's that for impact.

and for the psych evaluation, I'll tell you the findings:
Marine Veteran Jeffery Maxwell is an American Hero and the only people he is a threat to is criminals who would try to harm him or others around him.


This demonetization of the best this country has to offer will be a major part of our downfall as a Country.

Dear Mr. Obama

I have gotten into a habit of listening to WIND 560 AM during the day while I am on the road for work.

Today, after leaving a meeting I was on the road from noon til almost 2:30 making some deliveries and sales calls. From 12:00 until 2:00 is the Mike Gallagher Show. During the show, he spent quite a bit of time talking about a new video on YouTube with over 11,000,000 views. Just listening to the audio broadcast I got goosebumps and chills.

This is an EXTREMELY Powerful video. Watch it below and pass it around. Everyone needs to see this, no matter what side you are on.

Outrage of the Month

Found at Contagion's.

The WORST form of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) I have heard of in a long, Long, LONG time.

"Neighbors worry about home intended for homeless veterans"

Ungrateful SOB's.

Long story short. An organization called Carpenter's Place purchased a home in Rockford, IL, did a little bit of work inside to fix it up, and are going to move 3 homeless Veteran's into the home-sort of a half-way house.

And the neighbors are ticked. They weren't consulted before the home was purchased.

I will partly blame the media for this. The biggest concern cited in the article is they are worried that someone will "go off the deep end." The media has done so little to report any of the good things that our soldiers do and their success in returning home and focus only on the things that negative. And then the neighbors who don't have a clue and think that since their new neighbors are Veterans, they are obviously going to go crazy or suffer some strange mental disease.

But even with the disgusting media bias in this country, it is a really pisspoor excuse to insult our Veterans. Those "neighbors" represent the worst of this country. Be ashamed of yourselves.

And to Carpenter's Place, we respect our Veterans down here.

Remember

I had forgot until I hit the blogroll this morning. Thanks ThunderPig.

Today is June 6, 2008, 64 years since the Allied Invasion at Normandy. D-Day, Operation Overlord.

Estimates are 2,500 to 3,000 Allied Soldiers lost their lives on those beaches, and another 7,000 to 7,500 were injured. It was the beginning of the end.

D-Day and WWII are important to me on many levels. But the real personal level is because of family ties. On my mother's side of the family, I have a Grandfather and Great Uncle who both served in Europe during WWII. My Grandfather was a 1st Sergeant and was supposed to lead a a motorcade off of the boats onto the beaches of D-Day. However, when they got across the Channel, somehow orders were confused and they were sent back to England. Two or three days later he crossed the Channel again and went into France. My Great Uncle served in the Army and, during the Battle of the Bulge, was captured by the Nazis. At 19, he would spend the next 5 months of his life in a German P.O.W. camp. Finally, after losing 100 pounds, taking 1 cold group shower only to return to the same clothes that were waiting out in the snow, drinking coffee made from blackened barley, and eating a constant diet of bread made of 20% sawdust, their camp was liberated by the English 5th Infantry.

We have parts of my Grandfather's uniform, we brought it from Iowa to Illinois when we moved Grandma here following his passing in October, 2004. The Great Uncle is still alive and living in Iowa. He still has the uniform that was given to him by the English upon their Liberation, including the boots. He also still has the pocket bible that he had when captured. It was the only bible in their prison camp area. For him, it took 40 years to even talk about what happened there, and since then, he has become a prominent veterans advocate in the Des Moines area, and served on the committee to establish the country's first WWII Veterans Memorial, and served as Master of Ceremonies at its dedication.

From a website about the Iowa Memorial, there is this description of my Uncle: "An infantryman who served in many skirmishes in the European Theater before being captured in the Battle of the Bulge, after which he was held captive in a German POW camp for nearly six months before being liberated at the end of hostilities. Bruce is well known for his keen sense of humor and his ability to see the lighter side of any situation. He has provided us with the authoratative recipe for "WW II Black Bread", a staple of the POW camp diet as well as his formula for the effective treatment of disentary. Click here for the details." There is also some pictures of some ceremonies held at the memorial. My uncle is the third from the right, in the trench coat without a belt. In the bottom picture, he is second from the right in the black leather coat.

The amazing thing about the Iowa Memorial is that it was the first State Memorial in the country, and was completed 7 years before the National WWII Memorial in Washington D.C.

My Uncle and 11 other Iowa WWII Veteran's stories were chronicled in a book and play completed by two Iowa State University Theatre Professors. The book "Heroes Among Us" is based on interviews conducted by the professors, who also wrote a script based on the interviews and made a stage show that premiered on the 60th Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.


So, on this Anniversary of the beginning of the end, we all need to remember to say "Thank You" to the "greatest generation" for their sacrifices.

And while we are at it, make sure to say "Thank You" to every Veteran you meet.



From me to Grandpa, Uncle, and all of our Veterans. THANK YOU.

Petraeus Moving Up

General David Petraeus is moving up and I am not exactly sure if I like it.

For the last year, Gen. Petraeus has led Coalition troops in Iraq. Between his leadership and the increase of on the ground troops, significant progress has been made.

I like what Gen. Petraeus has done there so far and thought he would stick around to keep up the leadership and get us into a position to get the majority of our troops out. (Yes folks, I want out of Iraq. But I do not believe that pulling out at the present time is possible. I do not like war. I wish we were not in one, but we are and we must prevail.)

Now, Gen. Petraeus is moving up from the head of combat forces in Iraq, to lead the U.S. Central Command. A position held from 2000 to 2003 by Gen. Tommy Franks (who also lead the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan). U.S. Central Command, for those of you who don't know, oversees all U.S. operations in the Middle East. He will still, of course, have a hand in the future of Iraq, but not in the same level as before.

I hope this move works well, for both Gen. Petraeus and the U.S.

GAH.....HIPPIES!!!!!!!

I have talked about this before.

And I saw the video somewhere else yesterday but can't remember where for the life of me.

At one of my favorite blogs, In My Arrogant Opinion, a.k.a. IMAO, FrankJ has put a video from "The Daily Show" which is actually mind-boggling, "If Only There Was an Organization Sworn to Defend That Free Speech."

Just for the record, I really, REALLY HATE Hippies.

And the scariest part is that these people actually believe what they are saying. A couple of the strangest quotes,

"So if there were no police, then there'd be no crime?"

"Umm... potentially."

Or

"The Marines, we don't need to be worrying about their rights. It's not an equal relationship."

There is no hope for their future.

Worth the Read

Go over to the Haag-Rant and read Gym's position about the War in Iraq. Very well put.

2,345

Two-Thousand-Three-Hundred-Forty-Five.

Do you know what this number is?

It is the number of days since America was attacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001. On that day, the day I took my first test in a college class, time stood still. I can still tell you exactly where I was that day and recount my actions for most of the morning after I learned of the attack.


Now, we are 2,345 days removed from that day, "a day that will live in infamy," without another attack on this continent. And it seems to me that far too many people have forgotten how we all felt that day. In the ensuing days, there was a feeling of National Unity that I had never seen before, or since.

Fast forward to 2008. We have been fighting a war on 2 fronts for going on for over 6 years in Afghanistan and for almost 5 years in Iraq. Over 3,000 American Service Men and Women have given their lives in this fight.

(Please take a moment now to remember those who have given the last full measure of devotion to their country, pray for their families, pray for all of our soldiers still fighting, and pray for their families)



The National Guard unit in my hometown was deployed for 18 months, spending 12 of that in Iraq patrolling the most dangerous stretch of highway in the world, and all of them came home alive, which were are all eternally grateful for. Now they are in preparations for another deployment to Afghanistan, probably leaving this summer. And this little hometown of mine will support them like we did the first time around, in every way possible.

Which gets us to the whole point of this entry. I am just a simple country boy, so I have a really hard time comprehending the concept of "I oppose the war, BUT I support the troops." How can ANYONE say they support anything, but oppose what they are doing? This is a concept outside of my realm of understanding.

And before anyone get the wrong idea about me, I wish with all my heart that we were not fighting a war. I wish we had not been attacked 2,346 days ago. I wish nearly 3,000 American citizens were not killed on that day. I wish that over 3,000 American Soldiers would not have given the last full measure of devotion. I wish there was not people in this world who hate us so vehemently, and have corrupted their own religion, that they want to kill themselves to kill us. But we were attacked. The towers fell, the walls were knocked out of the pentagon, a plane came down in Pennsylvania. And people in this world do hate us. The Taliban harbored those who hate us supported them. Saddam's regime supported and harbored those who hate us.

So many people are quick to say, "There were no weapons of mass destruction." Maybe we didn't find fully assembled WMD's, but we haven't probed every inch of sand yet either.

But here is the perspective I take on it, and Dennis Miller put it so eloquently, "Saddam and his sons drew the Wonka Ticket in the Asshole lottery." We can either fight terrorists on our own soil while they kill more civilians, or we fight them on the ground of our choosing. We chose Afghanistan and Iraq. And while we are at it, removed a dictator cut from the same mould as Hitler and Stalin, committing mass murder of their own citizens. Unfortunately, thousands of Iraqi citizens have lost their lives in this war.

But while war is never an attractive option, I believe in this case, it was the only option. Terrorists do not have a government to hold responsible. How do you hold diplomatic talks with a group that has no representatives.



I am sure that everyone has heard about actions of the Berkley, California City Council. How could ANYONE say "We support the troops" while telling them they are not welcome in the city. Define: Hypocrite. There is no difference between this and saying "I oppose the war, BUT I support the troops." Do those who say this think this supports the morale of our Soldiers.

I wish we were not in a war. It is my most sincere desire that all of our Soldiers can home soon, and that not another family has to be informed that their husband, son, father, mother, daughter, or wife has given that last full measure.

But you will never hear me oppose the war (because I believe this is the fight we are faced with at this time). And if you do oppose the war, I believe you should BITE YOUR DAMN TOUNGE.





To see a good example of really supporting our troops, visit Blackfive.

And I will close with this sentiment. From the bottom of my heart to ALL of our Soldiers, THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU HAVE DONE, AND CONTINUE TO DO, which gives me the right to write this. May God bless you and watch over you, protect you until you all come home.

---------

Update: To read more about the treasonous scum in Berkley, go to Blackfives post: The Battle is Joined. (disclaimer: I am not responsible for damage to you computer when you read this and get so sick you actually vomit. Yes, it really is that bad)

It makes me want to puke

Over at Blackfive there is a post that everyone should read, and then watch the video.

I haven't ranted about this yet. But I will try to get a post up today.

I will reiterate the health notice from Blackfive about the video. Make sure you are sitting down, and have taken your blood pressure medicine. And it might not hurt to have your A/C on or the windows open, cause it will make your blood boil, as long as you actually support our troops, instead of just paying lip service.


Does anyone know what the law is on Citizen's Arrests and how much physical force a citizen can use in the execution of said arrest?