Taking Time to Salute the Heroic 1 Percent

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"life lessons", Afghanistan, America, character training, Germany, gratitude, honor, Human nature, Iraq, Military appreciation, patriotism, patriots, respect, spiritual, WE THE PEOPLE

I talked to my daughter yesterday. She is active duty Army. She asked if I had heard about the 3 MPs killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan. They were from her current unit. The names had not been released yet.

Three US MPs based in Hohenfels, Germany killed in Afghanistan

Three U.S. soldiers died July 5, 2011, in Paktia province, Afghanistan of injuries suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device.

They were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan fighting the Global War on Terror.

The soldiers were assigned to the 709th Military Police Battalion, 18th Military Police Brigade, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, Hohenfels, Germany.

Killed were:

Staff Sgt. Joshua A. Throckmorton, 28, of Battle Creek Michigan;

Spc. Jordan C. Schumann, 24, Port Saint Lucie, Florida; and

Spc. Preston J. Suter, 22, Sandy, Utah.

Politics, in general, is about ideas and ideals. It’s PEOPLE that make up our great nation. Those who dare to serve in uniform, from our local First Responders (police, fire, EMT, etc) to the Border Patrol to the US Military, are our unsung heroes. Their stories are untold and easily forgotten among the really important stories, like the “Casey Anthony” trial that command our attention.

Taking time to salute the 1 percent

“After nearly a decade of war, it’s easy to become numb to it.

“You read the newspaper, you watch the television and it just keeps coming, one day after another until it all runs together. You mourn the dead and you celebrate the victories, but you can’t allow yourself to feel too deeply or it becomes too much. If you’re one of the 99 percent of Americans not actively fighting this country’s battles, war is difficult to understand.

“But we must try. We owe it to the 1 percent.

“For them, it’s not complicated. It’s not about surges and drawdowns and Capitol Hill bickering. For the men and women who will lace up their boots in Afghanistan or Iraq today, their only goal is to complete the mission and lie down to sleep at night one day closer to coming home.” Each of these young men are REAL people, REAL Americans. They have families and loved ones, they have flaws, but they are heroes.

WOUNDED WARRIOR Softball Team

Watch the video!

The quiet heroism of America’s secret warriors

Were they heroes? Or were they fulfilling their job descriptions?

“We know the bare outline of the May raid: Some of the United States’ best sailors and soldiers entered Pakistan undetected, slipping through the darkness in secret stealth helicopters across 100 miles of potentially hostile territory. They continued the mission despite losing a helicopter and dispatched the target — elusive al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. Then they scooped up a wealth of intelligence materials and disappeared.

“Although there’s plenty the public may never know about the operation, the details that have leaked out have been breathtaking, providing a rare glimpse into the ultra-secretive world of the U.S. military’s most elite troops.” CONTINUE READING

In Celebration of Flag Day – June 14th

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America, character training, Flag Day, God, honor, military, nationalism, patriotism, respect, service members, USA

Tuesday is Flag Day in the United States of America.

The Pledge of Allegiance

I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands,
one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

A few interesting things about our Flag. “On June 14, 1777, in order to establish an official flag for the new nation, the Continental Congress passed the first Flag Act: “Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” Subsequently, it took three executive orders to establish and confirm the dimensions and proportions for our Flag today. LEARN MORE

The Fourth of July was traditionally celebrated as America’s birthday, but the idea of an annual day specifically celebrating the Flag is believed to have first originated in 1885. BJ Cigrand, a schoolteacher, arranged for the pupils in the Fredonia, Wisconsin Public School, District 6, to observe June 14 (the 108th anniversary of the official adoption of The Stars and Stripes) as ‘Flag Birthday’. In numerous magazines and newspaper articles and public addresses over the following years, Cigrand continued to enthusiastically advocate the observance of June 14 as ‘Flag Birthday’, or ‘Flag Day‘.

Wave Your American Flag Proudly!!!

America is unique in that her beginnings were noble. The early pioneers, pilgrims, puritans, and dreamers sought a land of freedom. Even among themselves, there was not complete agreement about if or how to form a local government. But they were intelligent enough to understand that together, finding the common ground and building on that. From there, our nation grew and flourished, I believe, because of in inherent willingness to share, to give of whatever we had to those with less. The first settlers from Europe understood hardship and from their own affliction learned compassion … along with some fear.

The stories of the first encounters with Native Americans are mixed. Some were heroic and honorable, some were not. While there are many things in our history for which we can be ashamed, there are many more acts of kindness and compassion. In my opinion, this compassion has been in past times, a driving force, an underlying current that kept us moving in a good and worthy direction. There are times in our history we forgot our compassion only to be reminded by some cruel and harsh reality. In America, I don’t know one way or another about other places, as my personal experience in other nations is limited, but in America, it has often been true that hard times bring out the best in us.

Look around. Do you see neighbors in need? If you are able to help, consider it. If you cannot, perhaps you might pray. Care. On this Flag Day, care …

We really can’t depend on the government. But together WE THE PEOPLE can re-build Joplin, Tuscaloosa, and America!

We must honor those who serve in uniform here and abroad, and remember that they sacrifice friends and family at the very least to protect the interests of the United States. Visiting Europe may not seem so severe, but living there for a year or more … well … it’s not HOME! THANK YOU, Service Members wherever you are!!!! Keep safe!!!!!

GOD, please continue to bless our GREAT nation, and flood her with your MERCY!

Who Ordered Life’s Changes, Anyway?

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"life lessons", changes, existence, Japan, observations, people, resilience, respect

Life … In my last post, I related a dream, a nightmare I had. It is fairly obvious that I went to bed feeling rather overwhelmed with the “issues of life.” I need not furnish details, as I’m certain every adult experiences some of the same from time to time. What I have noticed, however, is the reluctance for most of us to admit our frailty. Instead, we “buckle down,” we “persevere,” and we “put our nose to the grindstone.”
I’m not sure that is the best course of action at these times.

The natural world has its Seasons: four of them! There is a time of new beginnings – SPRING. There is the passion (heat) of life – SUMMER. There is the beauty of truth and reality – AUTUMN. Lastly, there is death – WINTER. Is Summer better than Winter? No, just different!
There is great wisdom in Seasons. First, without the natural progression, the natural changes of life, things would become pretty boring. But beyond that, the very definition of life is change. If there is no change, no growth, there is no life.

Most of us learn at an early age that change is not desirable. We’re out playing on a sweet, spring evening when our parent calls us in to bathe. We resist the proposed change, because we’re having fun. We learn our family must pick up and move from Albuquerque to Pittsburgh. We resist because we’re comfortable in Albuquerque. We resist change because we’re comfortable where we are, and we’re not certain where we’re going. Some of us resist more than others. Most likely, we all resist in our own way.

“Resistance is futile!” a strange, green alien proclaims to confused and fearful earthlings. Exactly! Change comes whether we like it or not. Today is different than yesterday. Tomorrow will be different again (or still?) There are changes that need to be fought … illnesses, abusive situations, involuntary limitations of freedom, just to name a few. There are changes that need to be embraced, aging, for example. I’m not telling everyone to go out and buy their rocker just yet, but there are things that I could do when I was 25 that, let’s say, are not gracefully done now.

I went into the US Army upon graduation from college in Massachusetts. My first assignment was in Maryland. I thoroughly enjoyed it! But then I got orders to Alaska. ALASKA? I fought those orders for months. All I knew of Alaska was igloos and Eskimos, and I wanted no part of it. I had generals call the Pentagon on my behalf. I wrote letters. I did everything I could think of, everything suggested by those over and around me to change those orders. All options failed. While packing my belongings the thought occurred to me, “Why choose to be miserable? I cannot get out of going, so I might as well decide to enjoy it.” I did! Alaska is one of the highlighted chapters in my life’s novel for both content and setting.

Change is uncertain, and therefore, fearful. If we can move forward with some basic understandings, change can be easier to live with. It is important to understand that life is a progression. Nature doesn’t jump from Spring back to Winter. It always moves into Summer. There is generally an order to life. Do what can be done to fight, to resist, then make the required changes and embrace the new place of life.

The writing of this draft began in the wake of unbelievable devastation in Japan. No human could have foreseen the extent of damage from the series of natural disasters there. A record earthquake, followed by a quick hitting tsunami strong enough to disrupt and corrupt the nation’s nuclear facilities was not in the scope of expectation. Thousands of people are lost, and yet in the midst of the rubble and catastrophe, a beautiful life lesson has emerged. The people of Japan, the Survivors, continue to demonstrate the root framework of their culture – Respect. Instead of the animalistic behavior seen in previous crises around the world, the people of Japan are not looting, not pushing through lines to get supplies, and not taking from one another. Rather they have corporately chosen to respect one another and value one another’s life as much as their own. They have embraced the changes, as horrific as they are, and they have decided to survive and go on. It is a beautiful thing to see.

Change is an integral part of human existence. It can be overwhelming at times. It can be unpleasant. It can be downright ugly, but the single most remarkable thing about the human psyche is its resilience.