March 17, 2008

Whoo Hoo!

For those who doubt that our Servicemen's capabilities I invite you to peruse the following picture:

Photobucket

Who else could park the ass end of an evac helo on the roof of a shack on top of a mountain in Afghanistan and hold it there in place to evac wounded troops?

You just have to stand in awe of the courage and capabilities of the American troops.

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March 16, 2008

Hoo-AH!

I think anti-war protesters may have to start holding protests without any prior announcement, at least if the well publicized protest at the mall in Tacoma Wash. is any guide. Pro-military counter protesters arrived earlier and set up lines to prevent the anti-war protesters from accomplishing their goal of "shutting down business of armed forces recruiters". It really made my heart fill with pride to note that the pro-military people showed up at a ratio of five to one to stop the patchouli soaked hippies/"progressive" morons people of the anti-war movement.

Here is the video:

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March 10, 2008

Berkely Update

While perusing through the Internettubes I came upon a " a quarterly, independent, radical, newspaper published in the East Bay since 1988 by the Slingshot Collective." called SLINGSHOT.

One contributor of the site, one "Susan Saxaphone" (MY, how original!) was recounting how she was recruited to participate in a protest of the Berkely Marine Corps recruiting station. "I sat down in a plastic pink lawn chair in the street and lazily waved a sign saying "You can't go to school in a body bag." So far, so very banal.

What interested me was when she recounted, "I put out my cigarette when Linda Maio and Max Anderson walked up to the picket. These two Berkeley City Council members gave stump speeches urging the protesters to keep the banner high."

Of course, Ms. Saxaphone was all atwitter on how even the local government was "speaking truth to power". I, however,was, and I believe any sane person should be, outraged.

This is a case of having American elected officials encouraging insurrection against our military men and women here in America. I wonder if any of those officials heard a single word of the oaths they took when they were seated in office. This is nothing but plain sedition in time of war, compounded and aggravated by the fact that it is being done under color of authority.

Yes, elected officials do have the same rights of free speech as anyone else, but to engage in anti-war/anti-military protesting goes beyond the pale. If an elected official feels that strongly against a general public policy, they should resign their post and then protest to their hearts content. That is what a person of honor and integrity would do ( I know, I know, what politician knows the meaning of those two words, other than as lip service throwaway terms in stump speeches?)

Both Linda Maio and Max Anderson should face some consequences of their actions; at the very least, they should be removed from office. I'm sure that some of my more bloodthirsty acquaintances would prefer to go "rope,tree, miscreant officials; some assembly required" on their asses, but hey I have started to consider the environmental consequences of that action and feel it would be too damned bloody smelly after the bodies had been hanging for a week or so. I would be more content with building concrete cells,allowing only a 1" X 15" slit for bread, water, and air and putting said offenders within to reconsider their actions for a decade or three. Thats just my opinion, your mileage may vary.

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February 29, 2008

Citizen Soldier

You just won a million dollars, what would YOU do? Sgt. Wayne Leyde decided to volunteer for a THIRD tour of duty in Iraq.

"For right now, I'm going to hold off [spending] and let reality sink back to earth. This is a true blessing. I'm going to turn it around and see if I can bless other people with this," Leyde said. (emp. mine-D)

THIS is the kind of attitude is typical of our citizen soldiers today...one of self sacrifice and worrying about the people around them rather than themselves. I can only say I am in awe of such people.

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February 27, 2008

National Guard

This video says it all.

We are truly blessed that we still, despite all the efforts of the Liberal Progressive hate America first and foremost efforts, there are enough altruistic young men and women willing to risk it all for their fellow citizens. They give more than we deserve.

Photobucket To Chrissie

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February 21, 2008

Berkely Buzz

MoveAmericaForward.Org has released it's latest ad calling on Berkely to renounce it's anti-troop message of "...they are uninvited,and unwelcome, guests ; and should leave" :

Join Move America Forward and sign their petition. Let the Pusillanimous Pissants of Progressive of Palifornicate know how the rest of us feel about our troops and that they can take their protests and shove them where the sun doesn't shine along with where the rest of their self-deluded notions of intelligence are.

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February 13, 2008

Update to Progessives hate the Military

Here's a video of the fine folks patchouli smelling socialists of Code Pink in action on Tuesday in front of the Marine Recruiting office in Berkely CA:

The police took no action, saying "we wish to remain neutral".... so tell me Bubba, just how is allowing any group free reign to blockade a legitimate and legal enterprise from being able to conduct business "neutral"?
Code Pink has a legal right to protest, but they have no right to physically block people from conducting legitimate and legal business in such a manner so as to (almost)constitute a civil disturbance. (that means RIOT, for those from Rio Linde, or "graduates" of governement schools)

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February 11, 2008

Cold War 2 beginning?

Two Russian bombers played cat to the aircraft carrier Nimitz's mouse over the weekend.

As noted in the story, such events were all too common during the (not so)Cold War, but haven't occurred since 2004. Nothing to panic over as yet, but the increasing Soviet activity in the Western Pacific is a little troubleing.

With Putin stepping down in March to his "elected" (and hand picked by Putin)successor, Dmitry Medvedev, (and presumably taking over the post of Prime Minister) it seems that the Russian government is trying to rattle the saber a bit to divert attention away from Russian internal politics.

I don't believe that Russia is THE major threat to U.S. security at the present moment, but eternal vigilence is required to ensure that the threat level stays at the current low level. As the greatest leader we've had in the last century, Ronald Reagan, said: "TRUST, BUT VERIFY"

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'Progressives' HATE the Military

Berkely 2008

It seems that the insanity is spreading among the 'Progressive" political elite.

First it was Berkely City Council telling the Marines they were "uninvited and unwelcome guests" and that Marine recruiting stations would be treated the same as if they were Porno shops in their placement.

Then the Mayor of Toledo got his panties in a wad and cancelled a prescheduled Marine Reserve Urban Warfare training session in his city because it seems that while every other pertinent department in the city was aware of the excersize, they forgot to tell the Mayor ;“The mayor asked them to leave because they frighten people. He did not want them practicing and drilling in a highly visible area.", according to the mayors spokesman.

Now it seems that one of the council members of Arcata, CA. (naturally california, land of fruits,nuts, and flakes...it's like living in a bowl of Granola!) has decided that Recruiters of any branch of the Armed Services shouldn't be allowed to actively recruit any person under the age of eighteen.

WHAT is it in the "Progressive" pschye that just doesn't "get it"? Truly they live in a dreamland of rainbows and Unicorns if they believe that our own Armed Forces are to treated as if they are the enemy.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) proposed legislation to rescind almost $2.5M in earmarks slated for Berkely in response to their actions in trying to "demilitarize" their city by booting Marine recruiters out. I Think Sen. DeMint should broaden the scope of his proposal and make it known to these smaller governmental units that if they want to participate in the money trough; they are expected to participate in the common defense. After all, that is one of the few Constitutionally MANDATED responsibilities of our government, unlike education, welfare, and a myriad of other federally funded programs.

That we have sunk so low as to have elected leaders ignore their duties, nay, not even KNOW their duties,makes me fear for our future. And this ignorance seems to reside for the greater part on the Left side of the aisle.
The last twenty years of "liberal"/PC education has left us with a large segment of the political class seemingly unaware of the realities of the real world. Theirs is a world of blaming the productive for their productivity and squeezing them dry to provide vote getting largess to spread among the unproductive and regarding our Military as, at best, a pesky relic from a past era.
After all, they reason, if we demonstrate that we truly wish only peace and harmony in the world (at OUR {taxpayor} expense, of course), no one can possibly want to bother us, much less want to harm us. And the World will gather by the fire and sing Kum-Ba-Ya as it roasts marshmallows in the ruddy glow.

Lord, save us from such perfidity and ignorance, for we seem incapable of doing it ourselves.

Brothers and Sisters, it may soon become incumbant to take it upon ourselves to water the tree of Liberty with the blood of those that would dessicate it with their ignorance and greedy lust for power, lest that tree wither and vanish from the face of the earth.

Gather your supplies and prepare to lock and load, I fear the time is all too near.

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same. Ronald Reagan


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February 09, 2008

Support the troops, but hate the war?

There is a monotonous drone from the Left side of the aisle that they "support the troops, but hate the war". Personally, I don't believe that you can really do both and still be honest in your stance. That is NOT to say that you have to love war; NO ONE loves war, least of all those that have to be on the front lines.

A contributor to Blackfive that is a front line, boot on the ground type, says it better than I can:

If you don't support this war I'm calling you out. I've had enough of people sitting in their living rooms watching the lying media and jumping on the bandwagon against this war. Don't ever say to me, "I support the troops, but not the war." You might as well be telling me that I'm committing a crime. You are in effect saying that my cause is unjust and everything I believe in is a lie. I have held my tongue in the past, but I will never allow you to have it both ways again. You cannot support me if you do not support this war. I am this war. It embodies everything that I believe in. If you believe that what we are doing here is wrong then you are in effect supporting the evil we seek to destroy. If you believe I'm wrong for trying to stop evil people from taking more innocent lives then I fear there is no hope for you. If you choose to dishonor my service and the sacrifice of my fallen brothers by taking a position against this war you are free to make that choice thanks to guys like Mike and Nate, but don't expect me to sit idly by and bite my tongue while you do it. Do it in my presence and be prepared to try and support your feeble position while I enlighten everyone else on the reality of this war and the nature of the enemy we face. I will ensure that you look like the fool that you are.

He also has some to say about the nature and type of enemy we are facing in this conflict; do yourself a favor and go read his message from the front in it's entirety.

I for one will join Angry American and try to call out those that try to have it both ways and atttempt to (respectfully, for now) make them see the illogic and disrespect inherant in their position.

GuyK, a man I respect for his horse sense as well as his long service to his country, has stated on his blog several times that we are not really fighting a war in Iraq, and that we should take a decision to either REALLY fight a war as war should be fought, whole hog, or pull the troops out as soon as humanly possible and prevent any further causelties for a losing cause.

I believe we owe it to those that have already gave their last measure, and those that are risking giving that measure the TRUE support they need, and at long last "let loose the dogs of war" in truth and not just play at fighting a war; it is asinine to make our troops operate under unrealistic ROE's that place more empathis on "religious/cultural sensitivity" than on their own safety. We have to come to grips that war is a nasty, dirty, and often gruesome business, and go on and get business done. The Islamofacists seem to have no problem putting their Mosques and other religious centers to use in conducting their operations, so we should have no compunction in razing those places to the ground when we ascertain that they are part of an enemy action. We should have the same respect for their religous buildings that they exhibit...NONE.

The Islamofacists seem to have no qualms in using innocents to do their work or as shields to prevent themselves from being attacked. It's terrible to even think it, much less do it, but we must realize that our reluctance to allow ANY so called collateral damage is giving the Islamofacists much greater power and abilities to operate than they would otherwise have. If they knew that using innocents wouldn't protect them, maybe they would discontinue the practice, and a far greater number of innocents would be saved in the future. Furthur, the innocent ? civilians would be encouraged to work more in their own defense and against those that would put them in a fatal position in the middle. In other words, make hostage taking unprofitable to the goals of the enemy and it will occur much less; saving more lives in the long run.

No participant is left unsavaged by participation in a war; that is why war should never be undertaken lightly. But when it is decided to sound the drum and call the call, it is best for all in the long run to fight it as savagely as needed to win as quickly and decisively as possible.

We have tried to have it both ways in this conflict, trying to hold ourselves to a mythical "higher moral ground" while we fight an enemy that doesn't have any moral restrictions on accomplishing their goal ; that only leads to stalemate and higher causelties on the battlefront and alienation between the various segments of the population at home.

Truly, only our troops are at war, America at home is at the Mall. Until that changes, we are expending our best and brightest in an unwinnable, though just, cause. It is not the troops that will failed us, but WE will have failed our troops

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February 02, 2008

OUTRAGE of the YEAR

Seems that the City Council of the Pepuls Soculist City of Berkeley Ca. have decided that they cannot in, good consciounce, support the Marine war machine and demand that the Marines remove their recruiting office from their
fair(ly repugnant) city, and to that end are trying to write city ordinances to require that any such recruiting office meets the same requirements as a pornograghy store does to exist (i.e. over 1000 ft. from any church, school, government buildings, etc) and giving Code Pink free reign to protest in front of the recruiting office at their discretion. They further stated that should the Marines remain in place that they should consider themselves as ""uninvited and unwelcome intruders" in the city.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) has proposed that if Berkeley doesn't rescind it's fiat that ALL Federal earmarks for the area should be withheld. I wonder if any other of our "leaders" will show any such backbone?

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January 17, 2008

MSgt Hook Speaks

Sgt. Hook has a great "Letter to the Candidates" that should be required reading for anyone trying to gain any office of public trust.

I don't know if his plea to consider Honor in a profession not known for it's adherence to Honor will be effective or not, but it never hurts to try to hold Pols to the higher standard that Military men and women hold THEMSELVES to on a hourly basis.

Laughing Wolf of Blackfive stated that in his latest embed the ENLISTED men told him on a continuing basis that the "cut and run" talk of many politicians is having a negative effect on the situation as they see it and could those engaged in such discourse please just STFU.

These are the guys doing the heavy lifting in Iraq and Afghanistan, not the policy makers, and if anyone should know the day to day effects of any political pandering; it is they. Almost to a man, they want to GET THE JOB DONE and then come home with their heads held high in the knowledge that they kept their implicit and explicit word to the Iraqi and Afghanistani people, and to their comrades in arms that payed the price for freedom with their blood and last breaths.

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January 02, 2008

Chicago Hijinks

BlackFive has the skinny on an incident that occurred in the Windy City last week between a scumbag legal beagle and a United States Marine.

I hope that Sgt. McNulty pursues this to the bitter end and extracts every last drop of blood from the asshole Mr. Grodner.

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December 09, 2007

A Different Christmas Poem

My sister sent me this today; I'd seen it before and (I think) posted it before, but we can't be reminded too often to whom we owe our way of life to, especially in this Christmas season.

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

'What are you doing?' I asked without fear,
'Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!'

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said 'Its really all right,

I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.'

'It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,'
Then he sighed, 'That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers.'

My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..

Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.'
'So go back inside,' he said, 'harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right.'

'But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
'Give you money,' I asked, 'or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son.'

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
'Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.'

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November 17, 2007

P.T.S.D.

Grim over at BlackFive has a great post on PTSD that anyone that has a relative/friend/loved one that is having problems post tour of war duty should read.

I think that the main point he makes is one that we living here in "civilized" society don't really know and/or ackowledge; and that is that those with "ptsd" are not "broken"; they are the ones that are truly aware of the true reality of our existance.

They have to relearn putting the blinders on to function in our society, but in fact, they are the ones living in the TRUE reality and we are the the ignorant ones. We need the blinders (or as Grim put it "the walls" ) for society to function, but we must never lose sight of the fact that "society" is an artificial construct we all agree to make life easier, not the true reality of life.

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November 02, 2007

R.I.P. Gen. Paul Tibbits

R.I.P.

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Paul Tibbits 2/23/1915 -- 11/2/2007

An Americon icon has died. Gen. Paul Tibbits died Thursday in Colunbus ,Ohio.

Gen. Tibbits commanded the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima , Japan on August 6, 1945, leading to the surrender of Japan and the end of WW2 about a week later.

As pilot of one of the most famous flights of WW II, which brought about a quicker surrender from the enemy and a reduction in the loss of Allied lives, and for his leadership and skill with both airplanes and people in times of stress, Paul W. Tibbets, Jr. is enshrined with honor into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

Gen. Tibbets held the following medals and awards:

Distinguished Flying Cross
Air Medal
Purple Heart
Legion of Merit
European Campaign Medal
Joint Staff Commendation Medal
American Defense Service Medal
W.W.II Victory Medal
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
American Campaign Medal

Historical revisionists have tried to make Gen. Tibbits out to be the ultimate war criminal, but in the hearts of anyone that truly knows history, he should be revered as someone that saved at least a million lives. Because of the ongoing controversy over the use of the atomic bomb over sixty years later; Gen. Tibbits requested that there be no public funeral, and no headstone placed over his grave, as he did not wish to give detractors of his service a focal point on which to focus their activities upon.
Another example of his selflessness, even in death. This man should have received a state funeral and a monument in tribute to his service and his life; instead he was quietly laid to rest with no fanfare in an unmarked grave.

We have lost a hero and we are all diminished by that loss.

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October 31, 2007

Phelps Phucked

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Fred Phelps preparing to protest at a soldiers funeral

FINALLY ! A military family finally took the bull by the horns and used the courts to send a message to the hateful morons of the Westboro Baptist "Church" and let it be known that they wouldn't take the members of this so called church publically
disrupting their private grief without paying a price.

There are some commenters at Hot Air that decry the ruling against the Phelps as being a case of being a bad first step on the slippery slope towards making unpopular public speech actionable.

But does it really do this? The Phelps clan certainly have an unpopular view, but I think that the venue is what makes their speech actionable, not the speech itself. Funerals are not really public events to be disrupted by anyone wanting to get their name in the news, or at least, they shouldn't be.

The commenters at Hot Air say that the problem thay have is that the standard of what constitutes actionable speech is "too arbitrary" and "drawn differently for different people", and they are correct in that the standards ARE different in different circumstances.

Unpopular, especially radicaly unpopular speech, should be protected in the public arena without fear of legal censure. BUT with that right of public free speech comes responsibility. The courts have long held that you can't yell "fire" in a crowded theater without bearing a responsibllity for the consequences.

I believe that we can all agree that private funerals really aren't the correct venue for the type of antics that the Phelps clan seem to like to perform to bring publicity to their political/religious views.

I hope that Snyder family does receive a just recompense for the emotional pain that the Phelps tribe inflicted on them, not because they deserve cash for their grief, but because it seems that with some groups, only monitary pain can provide the common sense decency they otherwise seem to lack.

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October 10, 2007

War, Huh!

This is self explanitory, and should be the response to those that say "violence never solved anything", when clearly, sometimes violence is the ONLY answer...

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September 04, 2007

Hoo-Ah!

One of my readers gave me a pointer to this, but I forgot who it was...but I still want to say thanks, and may the Corps live forever.

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September 01, 2007

Happy Belated Birthday

DogGONE it! I forgot that yesterday was the birthday of a very special group that I {B Co., 3rd S&T Bn,(attached 3rd Armor), 3rd ID 72'-75'} just happen to belong to...the "Rock of the Marne". The dog-faced men of the 3rd ID. 90 years young and still going strong.

Thanks to Black Five for the reminder!

And a hearty THANK YOU to my "decendents" now serving in Iraq; You're carrying on a proud tradition in the finest way possible.

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GO ROCK !!

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